Fix and Flip in La Crosse, WI

[Colin Luz]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in La Crosse.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $12,000
Sale price: $202,000

I bought this property from a family friend back in 2021. I rented it out for $1,300/month while I slowly plugged away at renovations. I installed a new furnace, bathroom drain, oven/range, refrigerator, new fence posts, and new vinyl plank flooring throughout the house over the course of one and a half years while tenants paid the mortgage and it cash flowed about $300/month. Listed it at $184,000 with the hopes of getting $190,000-$195,000, but we ended up getting an offer for $202,000!

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

I was able to buy the house off-market and for a good deal since it was from my wife's cousin. Since I felt like I was buying it at a reasonable price, that helped me use funds to put towards other projects over the next year and a half.

How did you finance this deal?

ARM 20 year loan with a 3.25% interest rate. Only needed to put $12,000 down, because I use a small community bank and my lender was able to work out a deal that didn't force me to put 20% down.

How did you add value to the deal?

New furnace, bathroom drain, oven/range, refrigerator, new fence posts, and new vinyl plank flooring throughout the house

What was the outcome?

I was thrilled that we sold it for over $200,000. I wasn't necessarily expecting that to happen so it was an awesome surprise to get such a good offer. The buyer used a VA loan, so we had a few more hoops to jump through than usual, but it all worked out.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The tenants we had in there did not take care of the place as well as most of my other tenants have maintained other properties of mine. It was a disaster when they moved out and I had to spend a couple thousand dollars on cleaning and junk removal services. This was my second rental property I had ever bought, and it forced me to create a new rental application process that has been working great ever since then.

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

My wife was my real estate agent at the time! Great to have her help me buy and sell this house and use the money for our new baby on the way!