1910 Mill House in Durham NC - Gut Job

[Zac Hales]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $200,000
Cash invested: $95,000
Sale price: $384,000

Full gut remodel of a 1910 mill house in downtown Durham NC. Looking back it may of been easier to knock it down and rebuild but my contractor partner is absolutely awesome and we got through it. Lots of suprises along the way. This was absolutely a learning experience in the best sense.

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

Early in my career in real estate I wanted to get into fix and flips. This was the very first!

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

I was a partner and the agent on the deal. This was listed in our local MLS and I knew there were developments in the area that would be fruitful.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money

How did you add value to the deal?

I found the deal, priced it and sold it as a partner and the agent. I coordinated everything with the contractors including design, as the other partners were out of state.

What was the outcome?

We came out on top. Lots of unforseens along the way.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Several! The home had termite damage that could only been seen once the subfloor was taken up due to the height of the crawlspace. The original framing was very odd but thats to be expected with something over 100 years old. My biggest takeaway was that beyond a certain age, homes get immensely more complicated to remodel.

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

I was the agent and there was a hard money lender involved. I will be happy to answer questions about the lender privately.