I started in real estate right after graduating from college. I became an agent and would help my father with the occasional flip. I did okay my first few years in the business, but I knew I wanted more out of my life. To change things up I thought I would try something new. I would complete all the work on a flip myself.
I thought doing all the work myself would save me money because I would not have to pay contractors. I was dead wrong! I bought the house below for $120,500 in Windsor Colorado on 8/22/2006.
The house needed a new kitchen, baths, flooring, paint, windows, fixtures, and I even took out a wall to open up the kitchen. I was super excited about my new venture.
I bought the house and got to work. What I did not realize was how much work there was, and that I really did not know how to do most of it. The house was 100 years old and nothing was square. Putting in windows, doors, and cabinets was a horrible because no matter what I did they all looked crooked. I learned how to put flooring in, I painted the entire house, I textured, and I installed counters. I had done some remodeling in the past, but nothing to this extent. The house turned okay, but I lost money on the deal.
I sold the house in April of 2007 for $164,900. I spent $25,000 on the materials and having a contractor make sure all my work was safe. I spent $15,000 on carrying costs and selling costs. Technically I made a small profit, but that does not account for the 6 months of my life I spent making all those repairs! Not only did I end up making a couple bucks an hour for all of my time, the opportunity cost was huge. I was not selling houses as an agent or finding more flips to buy.
I learned how valuable my time was, and that by delegating as many tasks as I could, I would make much more money. My time is better spent working on the business, not working in it. From that point forward I never did any work on a flip again. I never did any work on my rentals again. I focussed on being an agent, and finding amazing deals.
Not only did I learn to delegate tasks, this was a wake up call for my life in general. I had never set many goals, listened to others who were successful, or researched how to be successful in real estate. I thought I could do it all myself without any help. This project made me realize that the more help I had, and the more I listened to others, the more successful I would be. I started setting goals, rearching money, and learned how to have the right attitude to be successful. I took charge of my life instead of just hoping good things would happen to me.
Over the years I built up my agent and flipping business. I flipped 26 houses in 2017 and there is no way I could have done that by doing any manual labor on them. I also have a great team who helps me flip including an awesome project manager. I find the more I let them do their job, the more successful I am. I also have more time to pursue new adventures or income streams like Steemit.
I am still learning and expanding myself as much as I can. The biggest shift in my success was letting others help me, and learning to listen to others who have been successful before me.
Here is a video of one of my current projects on Dtube. @investfourmore/35d8wstp