My First House Flip

[Ari Zartarian]

My first flip was about 2 years ago.  A guy that I was looking for apartment buildings with introduced me to another young guy that was just completing his first flip in Ferndale, Michigan.  We went and looked at his completed product before it hit the market and decided that we would be interested partnering up with him on a subsequent flip.

The three of us found a single family home that was bank owned in Clawson, Michigan and decided to all three purchase the property together.  My friend and I were inexperienced when it came to flips so we deferred to our new partner, and we financed the repairs.

We split the profits after all equity was returned 30 30 40, 40 to our new partner.  In the end, we sold the property for about 40% more than the purchase price plus renovation costs and were all happy.  Since that first flip, we've done 5 more flips together, and have structured the deals more equally since, but still paying our partner that facilitates the flips a set "contractor's fee" upon every sale.  We've also purchased three apartment buildings as a trio as well.  We all bring a different skill set to our partnership (our flip partner is an architect, I'm an attorney, and my original partner is an accountant) and it has continued to prove productive and lucrative.