Twenty Ninth Week – Expanding Your Comfort Zone

Here is what happened during the Twenty Ninth week of documenting our flipping houses adventures. If you missed the first post explaining what I am doing, please visit this page: See How We Are Flipping Houses.

These are the things I did this week:

Worked On Expanding My Comfort Zone

Needed a break from the business, finishing the work on our house, and getting ready to move so I decided to schedule a lesson on aerobatics with my flight instructor.

I went yesterday afternoon. What a blast! We went through the sportsman known routine for the 2011 national aerobatics contest. I’ve flown aerobatics once before with my instructor in his Pitts S2B but just to go through some of the basics. This time was all about learning and focusing on precision.

Loops, rolls, going straight up and straight down, flying upside down, spinning and combinations thereof. Very disorienting to say the least. It took a lot of focus and the hardest part was handling the forces put on my body as we were pulling through some high Gs (high to me at least). Very difficult to stay focused and coordinated when your body feels like it weighs over 6 times what it does. I’d be lying if I said I was comfortable and confident throughout the lesson.

The reason why I bring all of this up is that it gets into expanding my comfort zone. This lesson was not comfortable and was very challenging. Afterwards I wasn’t elated, I was exhausted and wondering whether it is something I want to pursue. This questioning is normal in anything new that we do that takes us out of our comfort zone. After some more thought and looking back at the flight, I am again excited about it and know that I can push through the tough start and get comfortable doing it.

The same is true for beginning in flipping houses. It will be very uncomfortable in a lot of the things you will need to do. Working with contractors, Realtors, buyers, sellers, other investors, etc., making low ball offers, worrying about whether you are making a good investment decision and so many other things. It will be uncomfortable, but will eventually become comfortable and you will succeed if only you push hard enough to work through it.

Please remember this. You must push through even though it feels like the biggest mountain you’ve ever climbed. Take it one step at a time and work through it.

Closed on The Flatulent House

Closed on the house I contracted mid week last week. From contract to close was a little over 48 hours. The title company worked fast and got the commitment within a day. All was clear and it was easy to close.

The name is a little crude I know. If you would like to find out why it is named as such, see last weeks post. No, it wasn’t me. 🙂

Details and pictures soon.

Moving Day Is Very Near

We put off moving for another week because we just had too much going on. My wife had called me while I was out and about and told me that she was stressing out about trying to move so soon. I myself was also stressing and realized that we were just doing it to ourselves. There was not much a reason to do it so soon. Patience. Don’t we all need more of it? She was willing to wait but was going along with it because I was pushing so hard to get moved so soon.

My wife usually knows the best thing to do in a lot of situations. She tells me about these correct decisions and I file them away and do as I was doing, only to make mistakes and come back to her idea that then works. Of course, I have to then claim the idea as my own. Drives her crazy. 🙂

Contractor Hired

Found a good contractor and got our contract signed. He is starting work on the Front Yard Stink Flip House on Monday. I found him at a house that was being rehabbed. He already works for 2 other investors and they are not keeping him busy. The thing that I liked most about him was that he was not trying to talk a big game. He didn’t seem to feel the need to convince me of how good he is. After some time working on the house, I will report how well it is working out.

Looking For More Contractors

Still looking for some more contractors to get bids and start work on the ‘Perp’ House and the ‘Front Yard Stink’ house. I’ve met some contractors and awaiting their bids. Hopefully I get another good one to start one of these soon so that I can then pick between that contractor and the one working on the ‘Honk Your Horn’ house for the remaining rehabs.

Marketing

Total Motivated Seller Leads This Week: 13

Leads Analyzed

1. Vacant And A Dump[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 900 sf house in a bad neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	Make An Offer
   Amount Owed:	$0
   Repairs:	Everything (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$35,000
   Max Offer:	Not For Me

   Seller has a house in a war zone and it needs a major rehab. Two things I don’t enjoy very much. I birddogged this one.

2. Tired of Getting Ripped Off[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1000 sf house in a not-so-good neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	Make An Offer
   Amount Owed:	$5,000 (back taxes)
   Repairs:	a lot (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$60,000
   Max Offer:	$35,000 – repairs

   House was vacant for a long time and somebody broke in and tore the place up and stole fixtures and other items. The sellers hired a contractor to fix it up and he just ran off with the money.

   Talk about a bad situation. These people are pretty motivated. I would go and contract this one for wholesale, but in the middle of this move, I decided to just birddog it. It’s not guaranteed that they will sell at a good price.

3. Inherited and Just Want To Sell[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500 sf house in a good neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$60,000
   Amount Owed:	$0
   Repairs:	Cosmetics (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$110,000
   Max Offer:	$70,000 – repairs

   Seller inherited the house with his 3 other siblings. One lives in the house and is why I immediately asked if all were onboard with wanting to sell. They all are.

   The neighborhood is a quaint, historic district with stone cottages. We used to live near this area and know it well. Scheduled to see this one.

   Update: This one was a complete dump. The exterior stone walls are bulging out everywhere and the foundation is completely unlevel. This one would need probably about 40k in repairs and I am just not interested. They are getting 5 other offers so I am going to wait and see if anyone bites. I have my doubts.

4. Buying New House[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500 sf house in a good neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$63,000
   Amount Owed:	$63,000
   Repairs:	Cosmetics (unconfirmed – about 12k based on wholesaler pics)
   After Repaired Value:	$95,000
   Max Offer:	$50,000 (62k – 12k)

   Seller called saying that he has a new house under contract and a loan approved, but needs to sell his old house for the loan. He is willing to sell for what is owed.

   It turns out that I had already analyzed this property. That is the nice thing about the free lead manager real estate investing software. With all of the leads we get, I would have probably not remember even coming across this lead before.

   It turns out that a wholesaler called me about this property last month. I knew I still couldn’t make it work from the numbers and this allowed me to quickly move on the next one. I did call another investor to try and birddog this one though.

5. Son Going To College[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1000 sf house in a so-so neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$62,000
   Amount Owed:	$14,000
   Repairs:	Cosmetics (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$72,000
   Max Offer:	$45,000 – repairs

   Sellers have a son that is going to college and they need the cash. They currently let relatives rent the house but they have been “hit and miss” with their payments.

   They did not seem very motivated and so I told them I would probably be in the 40’s if it doesn’t require much in repairs. She immediately complained that that was way too low. I then asked what the absolute lowest they would accept and she mentioned 60k. No go.

6. Another Lead From The Past[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2700 sf house in a good neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$212,000
   Amount Owed:	$208,000
   Repairs:	Cosmetics (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$205,000
   Max Offer:	$133,000 – repairs

   This lead came through the website. When I entered it into the lead manager, I was informed that it already existed. They had contacted me through the website back in May about this property. Still can’t help because they still owe more than what it is worth and they are not behind on payments.

7. Wife Died And Moving To Be With Family[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 3000 sf house in a decent neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$125,000
   Amount Owed:	$0
   Repairs:	Cosmetics (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$130,000
   Max Offer:	$78,000 – repairs

   Seller moving out of town after the loss of his wife. The neighborhood values have been hit pretty hard by foreclosures. He was looking to get market value or more and I had to let him know where I would be roughly. He was not really interested in something that low but said he was glad I could get back to him so fast and that he will keep me in mind. I will also follow up with him because he could become more motivated to move quickly. The market has just been hit too hard in that area.

8. Hoping For The Impossible[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 3000 sf house in a good neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$230,000
   Amount Owed:	$210,000
   Repairs:	nothing (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$230,000
   Max Offer:	$150,000 – repairs

   House is listed and has been listed for a while. They have price changed it and even changed Realtors. They were hoping that I would pay cash and close quickly at market value. Sorry, we don’t do that.

9. Owes Too Much, Asking Too Much[Source: Website]

   Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 sf house in a so-so neighborhood.

   Here are the numbers:

   Asking Price:	$115,000
   Amount Owed:	$100,000
   Repairs:	back door (unconfirmed)
   After Repaired Value:	$90,000
   Max Offer:	$58,000 – repairs

   House values have dropped in this neighborhood and far too much is owed and being asked for. Cannot even come close.

10. House Too Far Out of Town[Source: Website]

    Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1500 sf house out of town.

    Here are the numbers:

    Asking Price:	$40,000
    Amount Owed:	$0
    Repairs:	a lot (unconfirmed)
    After Repaired Value:	$60,000
    Max Offer:	$35,000 – repairs

    This seller bought the house with intentions of fixing it up and selling it. It is too far out of town for me to bother with it and so I sent the lead to another investor. The seller doesn’t owe anything and I’m sure a deal can probably be made.

11. Four Properties[Source: Website]

    Seller wants to sell 4 separate properties. Two are multi-unit, one is single-family and one is commercial. She wants offers made on each and told me what she owes on each. Going through them I quickly saw that what is owed is just too much anyway. Only the commercial one may have some potential, but I just don’t have time for it right now and I just don’t do commercial. Passed this one on to another investor.

12. Had To Put Grandmother In Nursing Home[Source: Website]

    Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1100 sf house in a so-so neighborhood.

    Here are the numbers:

    Asking Price:	Make An Offer
    Amount Owed:	$0
    Repairs:	unknown (unconfirmed)
    After Repaired Value:	$70,000
    Max Offer:	$45,000 – repairs

    Seller had to put his grandmother in a nursing home and is helping to sell her house. The neighborhood is not one that I am interested in (at least not interested enough in being that we are busy with the move over the next couple of days) so I sent it to another investor to investigate.

13. Move Closer To Mom For Childcare[Source: Website]

    Homeowner wants to sell a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 sf house in a good neighborhood.

    Here are the numbers:

    Asking Price:	$126,000
    Amount Owed:	$120,000
    Repairs:	none (unconfirmed)
    After Repaired Value:	$120,000
    Max Offer:	$78,000 – repairs

    House was just built a couple years ago and they do not seem to have a very motivating situation. Besides, too much is owed. There will be more, rest assured.

Summary

Busy with the move still. Hopefully we will be settled enough at the new house to be able to post details about the houses we recently acquired. Stay tuned.

Leads all came from website mainly because I been intentionally not doing a lot of marketing since I wouldn’t be able to handle too many leads this last couple of weeks.

Plans For Next Week

• Move.
• Start picking up marketing again.
• Get more contractors started and/or work at wholesaling some houses.

Please ReTweet and Like this post because it’s the nice thing to do and I truly appreciate it.

-Danny

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing..” – Warren Buffet

Thank you for following along with us on our adventures in flipping houses. We hope you are enjoying it and that it is helping you to learn how to flip houses or improve your house flipping business, whatever the case may be.