My First Live In Flip

[Cole Oraham]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Anderson.

Purchase price: $125,000
Cash invested: $28,000
Sale price: $182,000

I double dipped in house hacking this one. I purchased it with an FHA as my primary. I invited my previous roommate to move in with me to split the mortgage. We fixed up the home as we lived there. It stayed as my primary for over 2 years, so I was able to avoid capital gain taxes. It was a great experience. My only regret was that we didn't keep good records for expenses, so we don't have an accurate breakdown of scope of work. It was a full cosmetic flip. We fortunately did not have any major unforeseen things come up with it. Can't wait to find the next!

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I am a real estate agent. I found it in the MLS. It was a short sale, and the agent who listed it did a very poor job trying to sell it. I was able to get a great deal on it.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA

How did you add value to the deal?

Appreciation from buying in the right neighborhood really helped. We brought the home back to life and brought it up to date. There were 7 different types of flooring in it when we purchased it!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Keep better records/spreadsheets. Trying to keep track of all receipts and then remember what they are for was nearly impossible. Also, some vendors did not provide receipts and we paid with cash, so we can't remember the exact cost of some items we replaced when we purchased.