The "Hamm" House Flip

[Josh Folsom]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Nashville.

Purchase price: $123,000
Cash invested: $72,000
Sale price: $220,000

This is my second flip in North Nashville, and actually the second one of the exact same house floorplans. This house was 704 sq ft, 2 bedroom 1 bath. Great floor plan in my opinion to flip because they are so small that its hard for the original builders to mess much up. You have very little plumbing to go wrong, its real easy to rewire if need be, and typically the flooring system is pretty solid. Exceptions to everything of course.

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

I think this is a great area to invest that is just going to keep developing.

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

I found it on the mls. We made an offer and they said this multiple offers they were to require a best and highest. They did not accept ours. Until about 2 weeks later they asked if we were still interested. So they ended up accepting our first offer.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash and a HELOC.

How did you add value to the deal?

Adding a Laundry room, and general restoration.

What was the outcome?

All in all we are proud of what we did to the house. Some people in the area buy the same house and just leave the vinyl siding on, and that's fine but that's not the kind of work I'm looking to do. I want to put a quality house on the market to get top dollar because I know its the best house of its kind. Always real hardwoods, granite, and new appliances. Sometimes some of the things don't pay for themselves, but its worth it to me to know I did everything the way I would want it in my house.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The idea of not adding any square footage was fine, if its a quick flip. Because I'm doing it all on the side it took me too long. We ended up having to replace just about everything. New roof, siding and soffit, plumbing, complete electrical, insulation, hvac, and of course all the kitchen and bathroom. I don't regret making all the repairs, but I think the downside is that if you are going to do all those things you don't have economies of scale in footage to help up the sales price.

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

Yeah our agent Emily Pritchard with Village Realty is great! Especially in that part of town, but just good in general. I would highly recommend her as a buying or selling agent.