Profitable First Deal in Altoona, PA

[Eva Dees]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $3,000
Cash invested: $25,000
Sale price: $75,000

Purchased at judicial tax sale (my first time purchasing ANY RE) along with another property. I rather quickly sold the other property for a 600% profit without doing any renovations but the that property was too big of a project for me to take on. I focused on rehabbing the one house that had tenants from the previous owner living rent free (FOR 2 YEARS!!!). I paid them $800 to exit the property and clean it (it was absolutely disgusting). I then lived there for the next 18 months and slowly renovated it while also working 60 hours a week between 2 other jobs. It got a new roof, windows, doors, electric panel, new stairs, roof over the back door, new flooring throughout, paint throughout, carpet in attic, drywall in attic, new sink and cabinets in bathroom, brick repair, this list goes on... This was an amazing and profitable first deal for me and although I may never take on a project that big again, it was an amazing learning experience. I avoided A LOT of headaches by listening to 17,000 Bigger Pockets podcast episodes before embarking on this journey. I joke that I have a bachelors degree from the college of Bigger Pockets Podcast. lol

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I was able to pay cash at the tax sale for this property and then live in and fix up as I had the money over the next 18 months.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this house on a list of houses going up for sale at the judicial tax sale in Blair County, PA.

How did you finance this deal?

I paid cash for the house. My renovation money came from a combination of a PLOC, credit cards (no interest), and money I was making at my other jobs.

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat Equity and waited to sell until the market was peaking

What was the outcome?

A $40,000 plus profit

Lessons learned? Challenges?

You can fit 8ft lumber inside a Honda Fit and be able to close the hatch if you lay the front passenger seat down and push the lumber onto the dash. Amish labor is cheaper, faster, and more accurate than non-Amish labor.