All Forum Posts by: Sean McDowell

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $17,000
Cash invested: $107,000

Fix and flip that ran into new county permit issues. Now in Richland County, SC, you have to get a licensed General Contractor or Residential Builder to "run" your project when you purchase as an LLC. Imagine trying to find your investor friendly GC/RB that agrees to put their license on the line while you run it yourself. It added SO MUCH time to this job with the county, but we are nearing the end. Fingers crossed we close at the end of this month.

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

We use Fix and Flips to fund Buy and Holds.

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

Through a partner.

How did you finance this deal?

Personally funded.

How did you add value to the deal?

Dirt to roof renovation turning it into the nicest house in the neighborhood.

What was the outcome?

Awaiting.....

Lessons learned? Challenges?

County government can turn on a dime and require new things that they didn't care about last week.

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

Yes. A partner, a project manager, a realtor, a general contractor, and many exceptional subcontractors.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $17,000
Cash invested: $107,000

Fix and flip that ran into new county permit issues. Now in Richland County, SC, you have to get a licensed General Contractor or Residential Builder to "run" your project when you purchase as an LLC. Imagine trying to find your investor friendly GC/RB that agrees to put their license on the line while you run it yourself. And then you are beholden to them asking for inspections and making sure everything is square before they even submit requests. It added SO MUCH time to this job, but we are nearing the end. It has been on the market for 24 days and we have had three offers. One we accepted but they wanted EVERY item on the inspection report completed. The teeny tiny nit noid stuff that the inspectors find because you re-did all the major components and they want to look like they did some work. Fingers crossed we close at the end of the month and this can be updated with our final numbers.

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

We use Fix and Flips to fund Buy and Holds.

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

Through a partner.

How did you finance this deal?

Personally funded.

How did you add value to the deal?

Dirt to roof renovation turning it into the nicest house in the neighborhood.

What was the outcome?

Awaiting.....

Lessons learned? Challenges?

County government can turn on a dime and require new things that they didn't care about last week.

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

Yes. A partner, a project manager, a realtor, a general contractor, and many exceptional subcontractors.

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mackay Oakey:

Have other states taken similar actions yet? What effects would you expect to see from this legislation change?@Jay Hinrichs

yes to my knowledge there are other states that changed regs.

Off the top of my head.

SC  no longer allow assignment fees.
Iowa same thing no longer allow assignment fees.
IL  must have RE license allowed to do one a year with no license.
TX has defined wholesale laws and mandatory disclosures.

So on an so forth I think you will see a slow movement throughout the US for this.

 We went through this in South Carolina this past summer.  Basically, "wholesaling" is no longer permitted.  Gap funding has been helpful to some so that the "wholesalers" can own the property before they market it to other investors.  We are still waiting to see how this will play out in the state when someone is made to be an example by not following the rules. 

Quote from @Ifeanyi Umezurike:

@Sean McDowell Sent you a Dm. I’d be happy to discuss how I can assist you. I’ve been securing great deals for clients in the Hampton Rd area.

Thx!  We'll reply to your DM.

Quote from @Jacob Sloop:

Sent you a message Sean !  Would love to have a chat about how I could help, I've been getting people a lot of deals in the Norfolk Virginia Beach area

Message received. Thx!

We have a duplex in Norfolk that we house hacked.  It's a cash cow for us right now.  Still interested in buy and holds in that area.

2025 - Columbia, SC
-Focus on continuing to build our lead pipeline to get to 5-6 fix and flips for the year.
-Evaluate our rentals for cost savings/reduced expenses/potential sales. (Maryland/North Carolina/Virginia)
-In South Carolina, wholesaling is no longer allowed, so we are working on a private lending business that bridges that gap for people that now need to purchase before they can sell it to a fix & flipper.
-Purchase 1-2 rentals with a focus on being able to BRRRR them in the near future in our local market.

Quote from @Johnny Lynum:

You're welcome! Keep that momentum going; this is just the beginning! 💪 I just noticed... you're from Norfolk? I'm from Leesburg. Let's connect!

We moved to Columbia, SC, but still open to investments in the Norfolk area. Sean lived in Leesburg in the past. lol

Thanks Johnny for the encouraging post!  We appreciate the positivity on our first flip win from you and Jonathan. :-)

Thx Jonathan!  Great point about the subs. :-). Our current flip is trucking along and in 2025, our goal is 5-6 flips.  We aren't trying to go crazy. lol.  But move into a retirement "job" for Sean.  Happy Holidays!