We made $35k on our first flip!! (But it took 12 months)

[Thea Linkfield]

Hey BP! We finally closed on our first flip on Friday and I now feel like I can post about it! After being under contract 4 different times, I feel numb to the whole selling process and it hasn't actually hit me that we're done. Okay, numbers:

Purchase Price: $47,200 cash (County Foreclosure Auction)

Renovations/Holding Costs: $33,792 cash

Sale Price: $129,900

Closing Costs: $14,378

Total Profit: $34,630

Renovations (Contracted):

• New Roof
• New Windows
• 2 New Electric Subpanels for A/C

Renovations (DIY):

• Gutted the kitchen, opened up wall into Bedroom #1
• Relocated front door
• Framed out closet in what was the living room to make it Master Bedroom
• Added a half bath to the laundry room area which became master en-suite (the home was permitted as a 1.5 bathrooms and when we got there there was only 1 bathroom so we added the half bath)
• Redid the kitchen entirely
• Completely redid the bathrooms, turning one into a 4-piece
• New floors throughout house
• New landscaping

I estimated about $30k in repairs (after initial walk-through and having already purchased the property). We went a little over but it's because we ended up adding the 1/2 bath and rearranging the entire layout of the house to make it open concept. I conservatively estimated ARV at $100k. We were able to sell at $129k because of a few reasons including the market having gone up in general in the past year, and also because we spent the extra money and time to add that half bath and open it up. We ended up making this house the nicest house in the neighborhood which many people say not to do, but because we were doing everything ourselves, it wasn't really more money to make the finishes nicer; and I feel in drew in more buyers because they fell in love with it the minute they walked in.

We cursed A TON. We cried A TON. We learned A TON. 

I think the biggest lesson was that we should have contracted out almost everything. We saved probably around $15,000 doing it ourselves, HOWEVER we spent an extra probably 9 months doing it ourselves because we could only work nights and weekends. So when you factor in the opportunity cost, and the cost of our labor, it was not worth it. Although, I am a proponent of doing a whole renovation yourself because if we are ever in a pickle in the future, we literally know how to do everything.

Okay so everyone's favorite part, pictures:

Exterior before/after:

Kitchen Before/After: 

Bathroom Before/After:

Hope you guys enjoy!

[Thea Linkfield]

@Barrie Roesler bidding on the foreclosure auction is definitely a different type of process than normal buying. Here are some tips/information:

• The difference between the assessed value, the plaintiff max bid, and the final judgment amount.

Judgment amount: This is the amount that the person is being foreclosed for. So if it's a first mortgage being foreclosed on, say someone owed $100,000 left on a house plus $10,000 in interest/court fees, this will be $110,000.

Plaintiff Max Bid: This is the highest that the plaintiff (the plaintiff is the lender) needs to be able to walk away. USUALLY this is the same as the final judgment amount. So basically the first bid on said property needs to be at least like $100-200 more than the plaintiff max bid. If you're not willing to start your bidding there, then keep looking.

Assessed value: this is the county assessed value, so like what you'd find on your county website. For Duval it's coj.net. In my experience the assessed value is typically lower than actual market value, so it's just a good reference point. Market value should be calculated by you using Sold comps in the neighborhood.

• You want to know if you're bidding on the first mortgage or not. If you are not, you are basically bidding to pay off someone's debt for them, but not actually acquiring title. 
• If the final judgment amount is like $2,000-$5,000 on a house assessed at $200,000... it's probably an HOA lien or some other secondary lien. A big giveaway for HOA liens is the plaintiff will be some sort of "association".
• 90% of auctions don't actually go to bid because of cancellation, bankruptcy, or whatever reason
• If you win an auction, you have to pay all cash and you have until the end of the business day to wire it over.
• You get the title within like 1 week if you were low bidder on a first mortgage