starting on the right foot

[Ayman Elmasik]

Hello,

I wanted to share with the community here my little success story.

I work full time for an oil and gas company in Houston, and with things being the way they are, I decided to find alternative ways to compliment my income and replace it when needed.

Real Estate was the investment of choice for me, I started reading about the RE business in July 2015 and I then came across BB where I learned a ton of information.

Was so motivated and I committed myself to doing my first deal in 2015, I bought the deal in Nov. 2015 the house was in a good school district but on a very busy street which –I think- scared other investors.

The house needed new roof, foundation work, new AC and full interior update which is not a typical first deal but the numbers looked good so I decided to jump in.

The rehab work took about 3-1/2 months and when it was done I had a full time offer in 2 days, just closed on it on March 13th.

Could I make more money? Sure but it was my first deal and was just happy to even break even.

Here are some few take aways:

• Don’t rush into starting the rehab until you are sure that you have the best offer from “reliable” general contractors, this may delay the start of the rehab but it will save you on the long run (less notes from inspectors and lower rehab cost)
• Make sure you carefully read the survey (the house had 200Ft extra that were included in the appraisal value but I did not include in the listing on MLS, this could increase my sales price by 10K).
• Add at least 15% extra to any estimate you get from your contractor
• Add a buffer of 1-2 months (holding period) to your numbers (the deal was sold in 2 days but still took 3-1/2 month to rehab and 45 days to close).

And now the numbers 

Purchase price: $180,000

Repair value: $57,500

Total holding costs: $17,500 (interest, utilities, Tax, Insurance, closing costs to buy, title policy)

Realtor’s commission: $11,600

Sales price: $290,000

Total profit: $ 12,000

I have another house on market that I will share my story with it once it is sold (hopefully another success story)

some before and after pictures are below