Profitable first flip in Colorado Springs.

[Brandon Espino]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000

My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

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

The stars aligned...

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

A member of my real estate team found this deal. It was a pre-foreclosure. We walked in and looked at the home without a GC (which was probably not the wisest move), and made an offer on the spot based on what we guessed it would take. We ended up being in the ball park which was great, but at the same time I wouldn't do that again.

How did you finance this deal?

We ended up having to partner with an experienced local investor who ended up giving us 90k to fund the deal for a 50% equity stake for the proceeds.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Make sure you know what your funding is going to look like down to a T and with a reputable lender that someone you know has used with success in the past. We could have avoided so much stress and money pitfalls if we had just lined up the deal better on the front end. Also, don't be afraid to partner up with someone who has been through the rodeo before. You'll take home less, but it'll be worth it if they agree to help and mentor you.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shairie Rivera ((719) 233-4624) on my real estate team definitely helped solidify the deal. Without her expertise and negotiating we would have fallen apart early on. She was even able to secure that investor to work with us under such unexpected circumstances. 99/100 agents would not have been able to do that.