Folly Beach SC - Totem Pole House

[Peter Volk]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment in Folly Beach.

Purchase price: $410,000
Cash invested: $80,000
Sale price: $520,000

House Hack - Lived on the beach for 2+ years, fixed up a historic gem using sweat equity and then sold it FSBO (before we had our realtors license) for a $30K profit.

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

We were interested in moving to a new area and wanted to find a property that we could invest and live in. This was a rental property in disrepair that we repaired and rehabbed.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

We improved HVAC, added a 1/2 bath, replaced windows, painted, tiled, added a salt water generator to the pool, improved landscaping dramatically by installing a sprinkler system and new sod.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Our biggest issue with this property was that it was in a flood zone without the possibility of raising the house off the ground onto stilts. After Hurricane Sandy, FEMA announced they were increasing rates for flood plain houses up to 10x. Our key take away here was to pay more attention to flood plain issues and to be wary of properties that can be affected by hurricanes and flooding.