Lebanon, Pa - Our First Flip! What an adventure so far!

[Maureen Wilkerson]

To start out my boyfriend Neal and I have only been dating for just over a year.  When we met we knew our backgrounds gave us a lot in common.  What we didn't realize is where and how quickly it would lead us.  We both work in the home improvement industry him day to day hands on me on the design, estimating and books side of things.  We have both worked on numerous investment properties for others.  Both of us being in our thirties we are looking at the future and long term goals.  We decided that we should try our own hands in real estate investing.  Are we ambitious or just crazy?  I'm not sure yet!

It started with lots of research which lead to a business plan.  Then finding a lender.  Before we knew it we had found a house in a non-conventional manor.  

The house had been auctioned and was purchased by someone who resells properties to investors.  He wanted to do a dual settlement on the house.  This house is also about 1 1/2 hrs from mine but in the area we were looking because Neal does a lot of work on investment properties in Lebanon.  Neal was able to walk through the house one time for about 15 minutes he took a few pictures but that was all I was able to see before we purchased the property.  The house is a 2400 sq. ft. farm house from the 1800's.  It consisted of 2 separate units and an addition added likely in the 80's on the back of each section.  Also on the property is a  30' x 70' detached garage. 

Settlement was set for while Neal was away fishing in the White Marlin Open (a trip that had been planned for some time).  I figured that's ok I will take my friend for moral support he owns the construction companies that I do the book work and estimates for and has flipped several houses himself.  After settlement we drove to the property for the first time.  I walk through each unit and very quickly buyers remorse set in.  For whatever reason I just couldn't wrap my head around what to do with it.  There is nothing that is salvageable on the interior the floors where so out of level (What had Neal gotten me into?).  I was sooooo overwhelmed!  This isn't like me I can usually come up with a plan for anything.  While my friend said very little I could tell he was a little scared for me.  I spent very little time there that day I just wanted to run and hide.  I wasn't able to talk to Neal until around 7pm that night at which time I told him how freaked out I was.  He reassured me that he had a plan and that when he returned home that weekend we would go to the house and go over everything.  Needless to say it was the longest 4 days of my life! 

That Sunday we traveled to Lebanon.  It quickly became obvious that the best thing to do was turn the house into a single family home.  We started taking measurements (I should have done that on settlement day it was in the plans but I just hadn't been able to.)  and talking about how we would lay out the house the walls that would be removed etc.  The next day Neal began demo and I completely laid out the entire house including the design for the Kitchen and Bathrooms.  At this point we were extremely excited everything was going to flow very nicely and I could see how the finished product was going to be a beautiful, functional home.  By the time Demo was done we were left with basically a shell on the main level we even had to tear out most of the floor joists. 

We are now a couple months into the project the exterior of the house has all new siding.  The front porch has been rebuilt.  All new windows have been installed the house has been completely re-wired the HVAC system has been installed and plumbing rough-in is done.  This week as drywall goes up it seems like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Doors and trim get delivered tomorrow! 

Even with all of our knowledge and experience this has been quite a ride!  We knew going in it would be hard work and long hours which it has been.   Turning our relationship into a business partner ship as well has been a little stressful but we have handled it pretty darn well!  Throughout the process I have often wondered how people not in the construction industry do this for the first time?  We already knew where and how to get the best prices on materials and we have relationships with other trades I honestly couldn't imagine doing it without those things. 

This is our journey so far!  We hope to finish the project next month!