Neglected Rental Home Rehab

[Stephany Johnson]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Acworth.

Purchase price: $275,000
Cash invested: $70,000
Sale price: $400,000

This was a rental for 6-7 years with an owner that lived overseas. It needed a lot of love.

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

The home was in bad shape. Very outdated. Neglected. Good subdivision. Great schools.

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

I found it in the MLS. The seller's buyer had just walked away, so it was back on the market.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money lender.

How did you add value to the deal?

We did a lot of the work ourselves.

What was the outcome?

The home turned out beautifully, but it did not appraise at the amount the buyer was willing to pay, so we didn't sell for as much as we thought we were going to. We had great traffic at the open houses as well. Great reviews on the design and quality of work.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We should've negotiated better when we bought, but the seller was very rigid. The appraisal came in under, so I appealed, but only got it increased by $500. We didn't have any true comps, which was an issue.