I have wanted to fix up old and neglected homes since I was about 5 years old, at 24 I was in the position to take the jump and do so. I also house hacked this deal by renting out the other 2 bedrooms to roommates and lived in the third bedroom myself. The project took two years which allowed for me to avoid capital gains tax on the sale profits.

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

MLS! It was one of those properties that sat and sat and sat for months. After viewing the home and meeting the owner I slowly built a relationship with the owner over about a month that resulted in her coming down from her original asking price of $250K to the purchase price of $215K. Life is all about people, do not let the house get in the way of the people involved.

How did you finance this deal?

I financed this deal with a traditional conventional 30 year primary residence mortgage.

How did you add value to the deal?

The home was previously owned by a hoarder and was seriously neglected, so any and all clean up instantly added value. I completed almost all of the remodeling work myself including interior paint, floors, baseboards, cabinet paint, windows, and tile work. The only work contracted out was the roof, the exterior paint, the paver driveway, and some light plaster repair.

What was the outcome?

The outcome was two years of therapeutic manual labor and a creative outlet. When the home sold, agents and title were paid and the credit cards were all paid off I had just over $100k in profit. Over the 2 years of house hacking there was an additional $25K in rental income.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned a lot! My trade skills improved and expanded. Trusting yourself and taking risk pays off, but working in a market that steadily increased while I improved the home also helped. Being my first deal I learned more than I can even articulate about hard work, real state law, contractor relations, and so much more.

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

Yes, Desert Financial Federal Credit Union was a great lender and helped me utilize the Home Ready program which is a conventional loan program that allows first time home buyers to put 3% down. Jason Roetter helped me with the purchasing process and Cole Nasser with Property Hub helped me with the sale.