All Forum Posts by: Trista Fenner

Looking for someone who can remove an old rock fireplace so we can update it. We took off one chunk of it and it appears it was installed directly over the wood paneling.

Where are looking for properties?

Do not use Lily Ann Cabinets! I used them on our first flip and they were terrible. They have cabinets in multiple warehouses so they have to communicate between all of them which went terrible. They also sent the wrong cabinets and when they sent the correct cabinets they changed the glazing so we had to finish it ourselves. Customer service was terrible. For our primary house we tried Kitchen Cabinet Depot in CO and they were much better. Good customer service and everything arrived on time and as we expected.

-What steps did you first take to make the jump?

Lots of reading.  I originally wanted to get into rentals first but my husband was scared of the terrible tenants so we changed to looking for flips.  I started reading J Scott's material which was great and worked with a realtor we knew who has been involved with flips.

-What type of property was it?

3 bed, 1 ba which we converted to 3 bed, 2 ba to increase our profit margin.

-Were you able to do it using someone else's money, or did you have to save for years to jump into that first property?

Luckily I've been able to get our funds from my family.  We developed contracts and kept it professional, and in the end everyone in our family gets money.  It was a win!  We also made it so they were guaranteed their money back.  We put the pressure on ourselves and made sure the numbers worked.

-Were you feeling discouraged at all during the process? If so, how did you overcome it?

We did most of the work ourselves.  We had a primary residence that we were also fixing up to sell so we had to move into this halfway thru as our next primary residence was also a complete gut job and not ready to move in.  It put a lot things on the plate but everything came out great. 

-In the end, how did the first one turn out, and where did you go from there?

Made $24,000 which we were pleased with since we had no idea what to expect.  We sold that back in February so we have been patiently playing the waiting game until the next one arises.  Don't feel discouraged if you can't find much.  It's competitive.  Just keep going.

If anybody is looking for handymen work my husband is providing some on the side when we are not currently involved in our own projects. Message me for his info.

I'm looking to work with an investor friendly real estate agent from the Wichita, KS area.  Any recommendations?  

@Evelyn Kop, my husband and I live here and started investing last year.  Let me know if we can help you at all.

We bought one at that auction last year and have also been working on the same process with our lawyer. He's working with the title company to try to get something cleared but it's definitely been a lengthy process so far since we started this last September.

What kind of work do you need? My husband and I are in real estate and he provides rehab work on the side. Message more for me info if you're interested.

Woohoo!  Congrats girl!