Purchase price: $275,000 Cash invested: $45,000 Sale price: $400,000 Contributors: Adam Schooley This townhouse, which had gone through probate, suffered from significant water damage to the drywall and required updates throughout.

Start by leveraging your skills to identify undervalued properties, perform cost-efficient renovations, and build sweat equity.

My wife and I move into the house since we are looking to move to the area anyways, and we all do a lot of the rehab ourselves, probably with my wife and I doing a little more since we would be living there.In this case, how does the friend with cash get their money out of this deal in a time-efficient manner, since they're primarily looking at this as a flip? 

One misstep and you could be in hot water. 

Purchase price: $275,000 Cash invested: $45,000 Sale price: $410,000 Contributors: Adam Schooley This townhouse, which had gone through probate, suffered from significant water damage to the drywall and required updates throughout.

Principal Paydown: $2,441 Total Gain: $58,317 ROI: 360.32% (on $16,185 upfront investment: 3.5% down payment of $8,715 + 3% closing costs of $7,470).Year 2 Analysis Cash Flow: -$752 Home Appreciation: $6,120 Principal Paydown: $2,617 Total Gain: $7,985 ROI: 49.34%.Year 3 Analysis Cash Flow: -$375 Home Appreciation: $6,242 Principal Paydown: $2,806 Total Gain: $8,674 ROI: 53.59%.Year 4 Analysis Cash Flow: $9 Home Appreciation: $6,367 Principal Paydown: $3,009 Total Gain: $9,386 ROI: 57.99%.Based on these numbers, you’d have negative cash flow for the first three years and only break even in Year 4, assuming a 2.5% annual rent increase.Adjusted Scenario see second picture: Landlord Covers Gas and WaterIn the second scenario, I assumed the landlord would pay for gas and water at $300/month while maintaining the same 2% home appreciation rate.

Purchase price: $275,000 Cash invested: $45,000 Sale price: $400,000 Contributors: Adam Schooley This townhouse, which had gone through probate, suffered from significant water damage to the drywall and required updates throughout.

Purchase price: $275,000 Cash invested: $45,000 Sale price: $410,000 Contributors: Adam Schooley This townhouse, which had gone through probate, suffered from significant water damage to the drywall and required updates throughout.

I do see lots of self storage and warehouses going up, so my default assumption would be that the old shopping malls do NOT trade for less than build cost, but it's possible that the marketplace is not perfectly efficient. 

It's wise to stick your toe in the water first and fail fast in a small way if you're going to fail, right Vanessa?