Our home practically a live in flip

[Tara S.]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $98,000
Cash invested: $25,000

We found this home in an online auction. We bought it as our first home... and our first fixer upper. We moved in about 3/4 of the way through the renovations!

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

We wanted to have a lot of equity in our home and we wanted to be able to customize everything. Also my fiancé always wanted to invest so I agreed and it was the best decision ive ever made this home was my introduction to real estate investing and I LOVE it!

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

I found it online and put in an offer for full ask at 95k. My offer was rejected due to it going to auction. We waited for the auction and got it for 98k (and they replaced the roof for the auction so win-win!)

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money and then rolled into a conventional mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

We renovated the kitchen that was a full gut. We converted the "family room" to a master bedroom with full master suit (we didn't need a living room and a family room). We fully gutted and renovated the two bathrooms. Also since the bank replaced the roof for the auction that helped a lot too!

What was the outcome?

We now live here with our 5 kids and absolutely love being here .. well for now until we build a new house!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We learned all the dos and donts on this house. Also we learned how hard it is to renovate a home with 4 kids and pregnant with the 5th and at the time it was only Justin and myself doing all he work. Occasionally we had help from some friends and family members.

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

At this time I was not an agent and we were working with another agent at the time but I was still finding all the deals myself I just didn't have my licenses to get the lock box codes