All Forum Posts by: Doug W.

I am in Northern VA and flipping in a city and county that border DC. A starter home in the neighborhoods I am in starts at $350-$400 and that will get you between 900-1200 sqft of finished space. I'm in that range as well as the range selling between $500-$750 and soon to be doing one with an ARV of $1.2.

Like Russell mentioned earlier, I plan on spending about $50/sqft on countertops. I source tile from both Home Depot and Floor & Decor. I pay roughly $3/sqft to have hardwood floors refinished. The rest of my finish materials I source from places including Amazon, Build.com, and HD (toilets and tubs, mostly). Building materials come from local lumberyards which I find to be of much higher quality than the materials (and service) at HD or Lowes. I buy my cabinets (all wood boxes w/ dovetail drawers) from Next Day Cabinets although I have used Wolf cabinets previously via a GC who is a distributor for that line. 

I see some folks here flipping in the higher price range and installing crap finish materials and.... surprise surprise... their homes sit on the market when they try to sell. Often I see other poor quality work like bad drywall finishing and cheap paint used. 

@Shaun C. this is the definition of GO BIG or go home. You went BIG and the place looks awesome. Great job.  

There is a lot going on in DC related to REI.... just not on BP. Check Facebook groups and Meetup.com

Next Day Cabinets. I have no idea if they are regional or national. I have received many compliments on the quality of their Forevermark Cabinet line. 

I put a sign in the ground shortly after I close on the purchase. I also use a sign rider that states something to the effect of that I buy with cash. It occasionally refers phone calls from people who claim to want to purchase the house. I take their contact info down and send it to my Realtor. The only issue is that, generally, if a person is calling because they saw my sign they more often then not do not have a Realtor that they are using nor have they been pre-approved for a mortgage. In other words, they are just tire kickers.

I did once receive a call about 2 weeks into a rehab from a guy who wanted to buy my house with cash and do a live-in rehab. He said he is in the construction industry and does such a project about every two years. If he had called me prior to work starting I likely could have sold to him and realized a small (yet nice) sized profit. 

As I get close to the end of my rehab I change my sign rider out to "Available Soon". 

Even if he apologies to you today and agrees to show up tomorrow I would still cut him loose now. It seems clear that he has shown his true self and no amount of wanting to get them job done would make me keep him on. 99% chance that he will pull the same crap again and the only one getting hurt is you and your money. 

Good points @Marshall Hooper. Part of my dismay with the method is that I see A LOT of people advertising that they offer this service. These offers are rampant in some online REI communities I belong to. My guess is that many people are told that they can make a lot of money by doing such services. It's like a get rich quick scheme and I fear that it is predatory in nature.

This thread is 2 years old and people are talking about his pillow placement. 

:) 

I've been approached by "consultants" who want to help me open up no interest credit cards with cash withdrawl limits upwards of $100k. The last guy offered to do this for the low fee of only $12,000. <eye roll>

Be careful. My understanding is that if you end up not being able to pay the cash back before the "free" interest rate period ends you will be hit with a huge interest rate on the entire amount you borrowed. 

Congrats on jumping in the deep end and getting started. Consider the $1400 roof bill as part of the cost of education. 

On my first flip I did a lot of the work myself. I now shudder at the thought of having to do the physical work. And I am a guy who LOVES working with my hands. Like Will said... you make money by finding deals. 

$17,000 is admirable on your first with that ARV. Did you figure in your closing costs when you sell (beyond Realtor commissions)?