First Fix and Flip - Completed by 21 years old!

[Joseph Ziolkowski]

I have decided to share my first flip project on a 2/1 property I bought in central Wisconsin. These types of posts really intrigue me, so I decided I would share my own experience on my first fix and flip. I bought the house in December of 2016 and closed on September 29th, 2017. The reason it took so long was because my father and I did most of the work ourselves,with the exceptions of a few things we had to hire out. Anyway, the purchase price was $10,500, rehab costs were around $40k (included a complete rewire, all new plumbing, new electric baseboard heat throughout, new insulation, new windows and doors, new water heater, new flooring throughout and pretty much everything else including cabinets, counter-tops, fixture, etc.), holding costs of $1000 and closing fees around $3500 making my all in at $55,000. I ended up selling the house for $68,000 and made a decent profit of $13,000.  My profit would have been greater if I would have taken the time to find a good, trustworthy contractor. That is definitely the biggest mistake I made on my first fix and flip, but I still ended up positive because I factored in unexpected costs that might have occurred. Overall, this was a great learning experience and I am excited for the new year to hopefully get some more deals under my belt!

Here are some before and after pictures of the property:

[Ashley Childers]

You did your first flip at 21 and made money?? Awesome!! 21 years ago, I did my first flip at 19 and it did not go so well to say the least lol. I had no help, no knowledge and I actually used a paint brush to apply drywall mud (let's keep that between us). I survived it and went on to do many more, even branching out into small mom and pop business flips. The biggest piece of advice that I can offer you is, don't let the early success go to your head. Confidence is great but ego can make you reckless and that's when mistakes and bad purchases happen (speaking from experience here). Stay cautious, continue to make good judgement calls and ONLY buy when the numbers work. You can have a very bright future ahead, and I wish you the best of luck!