All Forum Posts by: Steven Foster Wilson

@Tara Wright thanks for the encouragement and affirmation of my decision. This most definitely has had a negative impact on my social, emotional, and marital life. I look forward to hiring this out to someone who enjoys this!

I will keep this somewhat brief.

5 months ago my wife and I bought a duplex to fix up and rent out. We got a contractors quote to redo the 1st unit bath and kitchen for 15k full gut, make really nice. We opted to save some money and do it ourselves. Well... the bathroom is almost finished, still no running water, kitchen is almost finished, still no countertops. It has been a long 4 months of after work/school renovations, and we haven't saved all the much money. In fact we've probably lost more money because of not renting out the unit. At this point my wife and i are tired, we are burnt out.

Is it giving up if we call the contractor to come finish up and do the second unit? Or should we persist?

@Max T. @Daniel Hyman this winter it snowed about 3 times and the snow lasted no longer then a couple days. The Snow removal guys lost money on unexpected warm weather.

I am wondering if it is possible to finance 20%down with a business line of credit. And if it is economical to use our construction crew to renovate the houses?

Heres the back-story: My father has run a successful landscape business for the past 31 years. He has grown the company to 1.5 million in sales per year. His typical year starts in April and goes through October, as we live in Ohio and winters don't make for good landscape work. He usually takes a vacation / holiday November through March. (This is where I come in). I presented the idea to him about flipping real estate during his down time, that way he could keep his employees (10 good employees , 7 seasonal so-so workers) working year round, and he could earn some extra income during those months.

My plan is to buy a small family home for 20% down with the business line of credit, in my name, getting a personal mortgage. Then having the employees come in and renovate the house (they have a construction background and I am confident they can do most of the work). Then sell the house for profit, putting money into the business, and into my pocket. Then repeating this for the down months.

I am very optimistic but I have no experience in real estate flipping, but I do want to venture in. What are some thoughts, pros and cons to doing it this way, and if this is even possible thanks!