My YEAR-ISH in review and 1st Flip with PHOTOS!

[Tony Wooldridge]

I have seen people do a year and review of their 1st year of REI and always thought that was a GR8 idea to reflect on what you have learned in that time frame. So here we are and here I go.

I joined BP on November 12th, 2016 (I am a little late on writing this as I have been a busy boy working on my 1st Flip.)

I came in like most newbie's wanting so badly to buy my first property.  Every time, I saw what I thought was a potential deal that I didn't get to before it sold, I thought to myself, I was never going to make it in this REI thing.  But then I actually started to pay attention to others that have been in the game for awhile and were considered successful.  The good majority of them would say it will happen when you least expect it.  It was like a light switch had been turned on in my head, quit trying so hard to get your first deal, stick to the #'s and in time it will come.  And what do you know it happened!

I had taken a good four to five months of reading forums, listening to Podcast soaking up everything I could on BP to help immerse myself into the world of REI. I also through educating myself realized it was just as important to not only learn your niche and strategy to purchasing my first investment property but more importantly take the time to learn and really know your farming area. I think most newbie's me included as mentioned earlier saw a cheap house and had assumed that if it was cheap certainly it had to be a deal. Most might have been a deal if you wanted the constant head ache of ALL the things that come along with purchasing in the wrong area (you savvy investors probably know all to well what I am talking about). However, after continued efforts it all paid off in the end.

Now, nine months later I am about 4 days away from my very 1st Flip hitting the market and boy has it been a journey.  I have learned so much from the process from education to finding and purchasing to rehabbing and now to listing a property.  I am here to tell you it is a gratifying process but also an extreme amount of dedication and work that goes into this.  If you don't like work this business is not for you.  I feel that I need to qualify that statement a little bit.  

I told myself from the beginning that I wanted to prove to myself that I could do the REI thing on my own at first as I felt it was important to go through every aspect both good and bad of the RE investor world to see if I was serious about it and if I had what it takes to be successful in the business. I pretty much ran my marketing (direct mail) I drove around the town learning every street both good and especially the BAD, I did A LOT of the work on the property as the GC which I learned a GR8 deal but what I learned the most is trying to do that with a full time job is a TON of work. Something I don't think I will be doing again in the future. However, after looking back on the whole process I wouldn't change a thing because like many before me have said it is a GR8 educational experience.

So now that I know through hard work and dedication I can do this thing on my own, I will start to lean heavily on building a team that will help me to be even more successful in the REI world of flipping. Now that I have traveled through the process of flipping a house I know (not everything) what to look for on the next one to help me avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes that I made in my first one.

On to the house!  It was build in 1920 in a cute little neighborhood but what made this neighborhood not so cute was the house I bought.  It truly was the typical eye sore that you read about.  When I bought it everybody thought I was crazy (to include myself at times) cause it was such a mess that I could never bring it back to life.  There were definitely times that I just wanted to sell it and give up but I didn't.  It needed everything.  So I started the process of getting busy and 9 months later here she is.  ENJOY cause it was a lot of work and I am not seating back with a GR8 big smile on my face!  Thanks BP for all your help!  

Before

After

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I will disclose all of the numbers when it hits the market here in just a few days. I have to have a cliff hanger! Thanks again BP for all of the help and for allowing me to share my story! Here is to wishing you all a success in your 2018 REI ventures!