First live and flip

[Monica Lauzun]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $239,000
Cash invested: $35,000
Sale price: $339,000

My husband and I found a great opportunity for a live and flip in Novi, MI. Novi is a great city with highly reputable schools and is a highly sought after area for families. When we saw this home on the market a couple of years back, we knew this was the perfect home to start with. Seeing as the home already had 5 offers on it, we had some serious competition! Thankfully our offer and being a newlyweds (using all of our wedding money to purchase the home) became the most appealing offer to the bank owned property (Who knew they had a heart!). We lived in the home for about 1.5 years. We put some serious sweat equity into the house and fixed it up nicely in between our 9-5 jobs! Will provide some photos below.

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

This is a great area for a live and flip as its mainly single-family homes. It needed a new kitchen and mostly cosmetic fixes which we felt confident in completing. The home itself was in a great location and the neighborhood had a nice blend of homes with much higher values. We happily bought the cheapest house in the neighborhood!

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

Found it on the MLS. The home was priced fairly as it was bank owned and considered affordable for us which was a home run! We went in full ask and also offered an earnest money deposit. The bank liked the fact that we were a couple and preferred a couple live in the home rather than traditional flippers. Then again, we were planning to flip the property anyways, as it needed the work.

How did you add value to the deal?

New kitchen, updated bathrooms and full cosmetic updates (paint, fixtures etc)

What was the outcome?

Profiting money from our first flip was a dream. All of the work and sweat was so worth it. After we sold we were both hooked!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

It was challenging to complete the projects outside of working hours but we pushed through and got everything done. Our goal is to be in Real Estate full time but for now the live and flips are a great option for us to get experience and build some cash for future investments.

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

Yes, would recommend Real Estate One.