All Forum Posts by: Galit Garsiel

 In the current market, be careful. Are you considering a live in flip? 

Maybe, but it has to be first floor, and me having the yard all to myself, because of my cats. I need a fenced in yard. 

And if I live in teh flip, it would be temporary. 

 Nope, maybe I did not make as much as I wanted bit never lost. Not a bad track record for doing about 500 deals ,,

I personally have not lost money in the flipping business but I sure know a number of people who have. The number one reason people fail at flipping: They pay too much for the property to begin with. Always make sure you are buying under or at low value. Second, many rehabbers try to fit the construction budget to their pocket book. That does not work. You must be able to afford to rehab the property to the standards required to get the ARV you are projecting. If you cut corners you lose or break even. (That is also also a loss as you've wasted you time. Which is your most precious commodity).

Unscrupulous general contractors are another major reason that projects fail. If you are using a contractor make sure you get a complete written contract (With scope of work and materials clearly defined) and only allow changes that are evidenced by a signed written change order. The change order should contain the cost of the change in the work. Talk to people who have used that contractor recently and get their opinion of the timeliness and the quality of the contractors work.  An old recommendation is worthless because contractors evolve over time. One that was good two years ago may not be good today. Also either you or someone you trust be on your job site regularly. This avoids costly construction delays and disputes about the quality of the work.

I believe in attaching yourself to a meetup or group in your area and to pick the brains of the more experienced rehabbers who attend. Than put what you learned to work on your project.

                                                Good Luck!

Yes, I have. Two reasons....1) I was naturally drawn to high-end work and finishes, being a custom Contractor/Builder. So I overspent on time and money to make the house more beautiful than it really needed to be. Time turned out to be the killer. 2) Because of the time overrun, we missed the market....we got into October and showings and prices went down dramatically.

Ended up losing $9k from our projected break even......