My First Flip: Fixer-Upper Tested My Sanity (and My Wallet)

[Karma Abdula]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $15,000
Sale price: $180,000

2017, I tackled my first fix-and-flip—a 2004 double-wide mobile home on over an acre that needed a complete transformation. From a leaky roof to a backyard jungle, it was a crash course in problem-solving and patience.

I bought it for $145,000, powered through the chaos with a hard money loan, and sold it for $180,000. It wasn’t the biggest spread, but the experience was priceless. This deal taught me the true meaning of “expect the unexpected” in real estate!

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

Found this gem through a wholesaler who swore it was “the deal of the century.” Turns out, the only thing historic about it was the amount of problems I inherited. Negotiating felt like a game of chess—except I was playing against a grandmaster, and my queen was missing. Still, I managed to lock it in for $145,000 by emphasizing how much TLC (and cash) it needed to bring it back to life.

How did you finance this deal?

Financing was a juggling act. I used a hard money loan for the bulk of it because, let’s be real, no bank was touching this place with a ten-foot pole. For the rest, I scraped together savings and maybe skipped a few Starbucks runs (okay, a lot). Let’s just say the hard money lender became my best frenemy for the duration of this project.

How did you add value to the deal?

Oh, where do I begin? The house looked like it hadn’t been loved since 2004 (its build year). I fixed a leaky roof, revamped the kitchen that time forgot, and transformed the backyard jungle into something a human could actually walk through. Every flip is like peeling back layers of an onion, but this one came with tears, sweat, and the occasional scream into the void. In the end, I added a ton of value by turning a headache into a dream home.

What was the outcome?

After months of blood, sweat, and bargaining with contractors who seemed to vanish into thin air, I finally flipped it for $180,000. The spread wasn’t as wide as I’d hoped, but the experience was priceless (and so were the life lessons, aka “what not to do next time”). This project was the definition of learning by doing, and now I’ve got the battle scars to prove it.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always have a contingency fund. Lesson two: Double whatever time frame your contractor gives you. Challenges? Let’s just say this house taught me the importance of staying calm when your plumber says, We’ve got a problem, and your electrician just stops answering calls... It was a crash course in perseverance, but it also solidified my passion for flipping houses.