All Forum Posts by: Max Madler

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $235,000
Cash invested: $5,000
Sale price: $305,000

We purchased this home to be a live-in-flip. We refinished the garage, had some repair work done in the patio room and roof, had some repair work done to the HVAC & replaced the outside condenser unit. We also installed an artificial foliage privacy fence around the pool in the backyard and replaced the pool sand filter.

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

We needed a place to live and thought we could make a good profit in the meantime. The location was close to both of our jobs at the time and had a lot of things we liked about the home including the in-ground pool.

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

I found this deal on the MLS, we actually had to win it in a multiple offer situation. We called the listing agent and convinced them we were the right buyers for the home.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan

What was the outcome?

We made about $65,000 profit during the time we lived there and basically lived for free during that period of time.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I would have preferred to keep this home as a rental, however, the pool was older and required a lot of maintenance. There were some other concerns about the longevity of the roof and some other things that could have potentially been costly repairs in the future. For all of these reasons we decided to sell the property rather than hang onto it.

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

We purchased the home ourselves through my current real estate brokerage.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Bethel Park.

Purchase price: $82,500
Cash invested: $10,000
Sale price: $115,500

This was my first home purchase, renovations we completed included re-doing the upstairs floors to all tile, having the basement waterproofed with an air purification system, having basement walls secured with an anchoring system for stability, adding a new rear retaining wall & exterior lighting, and having full interior repainted.

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

This was a live-in flip and allowed me to basically live for free during these years once we sold it.

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

I found this deal on the MLS, we submitted an offer and received a counter, but stuck with our original price and the offer was accepted.

How did you finance this deal?

FHA loan

What was the outcome?

We made about $23,000 in profit, which was tax free because I lived in the home as a primary residence longer than 2 years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Never buy a home with visible signs of structural issues. Also, I rented it for a period of time and learned how frequent repair requests from tenants can add up, especially in a cold climate area prone to pipe freezing.

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

My agent at the time was Judi Agostinelli with Century 21 of McMurray, PA. She was excellent and her husband wrote the mortgage.