I Quit My Job

"Remember the opportunity cost: every hour, every ounce of effort you spend here cannot be spent there."

-Stephen Dubner

I quit my job.

I’m going to make millions flipping houses because I just finished my first rehab project. I've seen the late night infomercials..that’s how it works right?

Not a chance. In all seriousness I did quit my job but that is far from the reality of this business.

I've been working as a caretaker for an estate in Boca Raton. Detailing cars, boat, rv and taking care of anything they need around their house on the intracostal. Working 8-5 and commuting an hour each way eats up pretty much all daylight hours. I get calls during the day from people potentially interested in selling their property. They leave a voicemail (or don’t) and then I have to wait until I get home from work to call them back. By that time they may not answer and I’ll spend the next few days playing phone tag or never actually get through to them. After getting in contact and figuring out if they're actually interested in selling, I have to spend time deciding what to offer. Then I split time between calling to make offers and calling back first time callers. If someone is interested in my offer I have to arrange an appointment after work or on my days off.

No room to breathe, let alone surf.

Then there’s the rehab projects. It would have been impossible for me to do the home depot runs and handle project oversight with that work schedule so I had to hire a project manager, which is a tricky thing. Unless you trust them 100% or have a flexible schedule and knowledge to verify that they are doing right by you, the situation can turn bad quickly. This first project worked out in the end, but that’s not to say there weren’t ISSUES.  

I’d like to hire a project manager or general contractor at some point so I can primarily focus on finding deals and connecting money, but for now the most important thing is maximizing profits and getting more experience in construction supervision.  

What it came down to is that marketing for deals, managing projects, and working a day job was just not doable. I would go crazy and nothing would be done efficiently.

So now I have no steady paycheck but the day is mine.

Over the next few months I'll be aggressively marketing for new deals and actively managing any project worth the time and money. Starting with this one…

Hoarder House Rehabbed

I planned on it being done sooner. I planned on it being done cheaper. I planned a lot of things, but things don't always turn out as planned.

At the outset of the project I was going for a $30,000 rehab budget and a 6ish week turnaround.

At a certain point I decided to change course and shoot for bigger numbers.

Instead of painting over the fake wood paneling and leaving the drop ceiling, I dry walled all the ceilings and walls. The wood floor wasn't worth salvaging so I tiled over every square foot of the place with wood-look tile. Even though I got a good deal on the tile itself, the amount of time it takes to lay an entire house with tile adds on significant labor costs. I went with paint grade, real wood cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. New central AC, tank-less water heater, 2 bathroom remodels, etc.

$90,000 purchase price.

With the original $30,000 budget, my estimated after repair value was $160,000. Rehab costs ended up a little under $50,000 and took 12 weeks. The property appraised for $195,000. It was a gamble, but at the end of the day I think it was money well spent.