Vacant 5 acre flip... Long distance

[James Greenwood]

Investment Info:

fix & flip investment in Great Falls.

Purchase price: $6,000
Cash invested: $6,500
Sale price: $15,000

5 acres (vacant land)

Sold with owner financing, trust endenture, $10k down and five $1,000 payments at 6% interest.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I wanted to do this deal primarily to gain experience in investing and secondly to make a buck.

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

A friend was looking at houses for his primary home. His realtor mentioned it in passing, he then told me in passing.
It was off market. The woman obtained it when her brother passed and she wanted to sell.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

I didn't add value. Just bought it cheap.
I did luck out though when a month after closing the cummunity graveled the main access road. No HOA, I never found out who paid for it. All I know was that it went from mud to graded gravel! Huge plus!

What was the outcome?

Sold for $15,000 after one year and a week of holding.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned that it is fairly easy to buy and sell vacant land without ever seeing a property, if you do your homework.
I learned how to do owner financing using a title company and trust endenture. I was surprised how easy the process was. Buyer pays the title company and they direct deposit into my account monthly.
My biggest challenge was deciding on its projected resale value with poor comps.
Even with a very low purchase price and limited risk it was very hard to pull the trigger.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I bought it through an agent that was way behind the times and I didn't feel comfortable using him to sell.
Found Gena Gremaux at Ridgeline in Great Falls through a friend. She was awesome. Investor oriented