36k First Flip Profit in Her Side Business with Sharon Pace

Unknown Speaker  0:01  
You're listening to the flip houses like a girl podcast where we educate, empower and celebrate everyday women who are facing their fears, juggling family and business, embracing their awesomeness and wholeheartedly chasing their dream of flipping houses. Each episode delivers the honest to goodness tools, tips and strategies you can implement today to get closer to your first or next successful house flip. Here's your spiky haired breakfast taco loving host house flipping Coach Debbie DeBerry.

Unknown Speaker  0:39  
You are going to love this episode with one of my coaching program students Sharon pace in the Houston area. This is such a fun one because in such a short time she has completed and or gone under contract on four different projects, from flips to a new build. And it definitely has not been all rainbows and unicorns the entire time, there have definitely been some hurdles, that is 100% normal, if you aren't able to handle the hurdles that come your way, you're gonna have a hard time in this business. So here's the thing here is the one big truth of what it takes to be able to be successful. And I think this applies to any business. Actually any venture at all, whether it's business, personal, whatever, it's self trust. So if you trust yourself, meaning, if you know that whatever comes your way, you'll be able to handle it, and you'll be okay. You'll recover from it, right? It's not that it's going to devastate you, if you have that kind of faith in yourself like, Man, you know what, it might suck. Sometimes it might be really hard, really hard, financially, emotionally, physically, whatever it is. But if you know that you've been through harder, and you'll be okay. That's the biggest thing is trusting yourself that you can handle what comes up. And that doesn't mean that you have to have all the answers. No, absolutely not. Nobody can wear all the hats. You just have to know where to go to get the answers. All right, that's it. Okay. People ask me, Well, how do I get this self trust? Well, a lot of times that comes with building your confidence, right? Getting training, getting educated in whatever it is you're trying to pursue. That's what will help you feel confident and feel like you trust yourself. Alright, anyway, let's jump into this conversation with Sharon, you're gonna love it. Do you want to just go ahead and jump in and get started and just introduce yourself and let us know like where you are, and a little bit about you and your background?

Unknown Speaker  3:22  
Absolutely. So, of course, I'm Sharon pace, and I am in the league City area, Galveston County, in Texas, and we flip mainly in Galveston. And when I went into this, I really did not know what my go to area was. But we found out quickly that Galveston was the place for us to be and that's where all of our flips are right now.

Unknown Speaker  3:50  
Yeah. So I'm glad that you brought that up. So, because that's the question I wanted to ask, how far away is league city from Galveston?

Unknown Speaker  3:58  
It took about 2020 2025 to 30 minutes. Not not very far. Not bad. Yeah. What?

Unknown Speaker  4:06  
It was just like looking at the data that you decided, you know what, let's let's look more closely over here.

Unknown Speaker  4:13  
Well, yes, my realtor at you know, I'd found my realtor and she had found a couple different spots in Galveston homes that needed some rehab. And so we went one Sunday with a contractor and looked at like three or four different homes in Galveston. I ended up placing an offer it took me a while to analyze it and you know, take the leap and I was so scared and but we put an offer in it was what well below asking. They accepted on this first flip at 158,000 I believe, and they haven't listed for license 170

Unknown Speaker  4:51  
Okay, so that was your first the first property that you offered on you got Yes.

Unknown Speaker  4:57  
But we went through the inspection And the repairs were still going to be way higher than what I anticipated. So I pulled on the last day of my option and said, Nope, I can't do it. And so my realtor went back and told him that and they said, Well, how much more do we need to come down? So I said 10,000, or I can't do it and save came down another 10,000. Wow. So, yeah, so we purchased for 148 on that one.

Unknown Speaker  5:27  
Okay, and that. That's Borden. That was Borden? Yes. Okay. Okay, purchased 148. That's still. How many times do we get the first house that we offer on? It's really awesome. I was shocked, actually. So was this a house that was on the market for a while? Was it a new?

Unknown Speaker  5:46  
I think it was it had been on the market a while and I think it had been the price had been dropped even before then. So I think it was listed and then they had to drop the price. So it had been on there a while. Yeah. Awesome. And it needed a lot of work.

Unknown Speaker  6:02  
Yes, yes. Okay, so you bought it for 148? How did you handle? How did you handle the purchase? Like how did you finance it all?

Unknown Speaker  6:12  
So I use a hard money lender. And, you know, I done my questions. And well, we didn't that as many as I should have on that first one. But he also is ready to get going. Right? Yeah, yeah, I had done I think I've gone through almost all the modules when I first started yet. But still, you know, I could have done a better job researching my hard money lender. They were great. And the gentleman I worked with at that heart with that hard money lender. He ran my comps for me. He was very thorough, and I felt confident in him. However, when I went to closing, I realized, Oh, this is a loan where I have to pay a full mortgage. So we were escrowing insurance and taxes and paying a full principal and interest payment. Yes. And I didn't know that until we went to closing and I'm like, Oh, okay. This is not interest only. So my fault for not asking that question.

Unknown Speaker  7:08  
Well, that's really interesting. Because of Yeah, that's odd. Like, that's very unusual for it to just be interest only. Okay, that's very interesting. Yeah, was it? But it was a hard money lender.

Unknown Speaker  7:20  
It was a hard money lender. Yeah. And they're, I think they're based here in Houston. Okay, um, but they were great to work with so easy. The drawers were easy. Everything was so easy with that one. Not so much with my second one right now, but we'll get into that later. I had no problem working with them. And but I was ready to get out of that flip just because of the payments. It was so high. Yeah. principle as well. That's interesting. That's very interesting. And the insurance was just crazy. Because you know, Galveston, Galveston and you have to have, we didn't have one storm on that one. We had builder's risk, but the flood insurance alone, oh, gosh, it costs well over 3000 for the year, plus, they were making me put some in escrow for it. So I was like, double paying my flood insurance was crazy.

Unknown Speaker  8:12  
You know, the here's the thing, they got it done, they closed the deal. It was they weren't a hassle. So it's like, you know, pros and cons. Yeah, you did it. And and you're still wanting to do another one. So that's fantastic. Yes. Um, okay. So you use hard money? Did you use hard money for the purchase and the renovation? Did you use any of your own money? or How did you finance any gap?

Unknown Speaker  8:40  
So I used when my dad passed away. And my stepmom, I inherited a it's called an inherited IRA, basically. So it's it's money that I had to use within 10 years or I was going to lose it.

Unknown Speaker  8:59  
So steam.

Unknown Speaker  9:00  
Yeah, so I pulled it. Well, I'll backtrack a little bit. So let me just talk a little bit more about myself. I work for Texas Children's, an office manager for pediatric practice. here in Houston. There's like 50 locations. There's even some in Austin. Yeah. We've expanded so I manage a practice of about 30 staff members, with combined with physician so busy, busy job, but and my husband during COVID he got laid off and right when COVID happened, so I thought, well, oh, shoot, what are we going to do? So I started researching. I said, Okay, we just need a business. So we need to get some income coming in. So I pulled that IRA and told Larry says, Let's, let's start doing this. And he's like, okay, I can do this. You know, he just took my lead. I was doing all the research. Yeah, we did. Yeah. I pulled that money. I put it into a business checking and that's how we started and so I used that money. As my closing and got money for that first one got it perfect. First one. And it did well.

Unknown Speaker  10:08  
So you bought it for 148. What was your initial rehab estimate? Like? Well, not I guess not initial but rehab estimate, and then you did more due diligence, and then you came back and you're like, No, we need 10 grand off what we got in the rehab was going to be at that point.

Unknown Speaker  10:25  
Well, initially, it was around 20,000. But then, you know, the inspector came back off. And so it ended up being 30,000 is what we did the hard money loan for, okay, the rehab, okay. But then we got into the flip. And more things happened. We ended up still spending another 15,000 over that. So we went over budget because we needed more, we needed h back, we needed more electrical done. It just needed a lot more work than what we anticipated. And, you know, we had, we had hired what we thought was a GC. Anyways, a GC, he was licensed, insured, all that kind of stuff. But he was more to In my opinion, he was more of a key contract. Okay, because he did a lot of work himself, okay. And we still felt like we had to be there to manage all of it. Right, which is not what we wanted. Because we knew that one day Larry would go back to work, and we could not be there as a project. Yep. So but we went through that first flip with him. got it done. After he was done, we spent another three weeks or so fixing some things and then got it on the market. So it it was a little challenging on the first one. Haha. But we still wanted to do it again.

Unknown Speaker  11:45  
Yeah, exactly. That's That's all. That's all that matters. Did. Okay, so you use this guy. But Larry had to babysit quite a bit if he was there. Okay, they're almost every day. Okay, making sure the guy would show up. Like, would he not show up? Larry wasn't there or were you just a little bit like, let's just be there. He's

Unknown Speaker  12:04  
just he was, he was a little bit more just uncomfortable. The universe, and they didn't, and there were some Mondays where they just didn't show up at all. My Friday doing. But they eventually did keep showing up. And we were very thankful because we, you know, we funded, I had time on a lot of this stuff. And this particular contractor didn't understand the draw. So we were kind of having to train him like, No, you know, we're giving you this amount right now. But we need to draw it so we can keep paying you. We can't just give you money every single time that you run out of money. You have to finish these things before you get more money. Right. So he doesn't understand it. Yeah, yeah. Understand it at all. So

Unknown Speaker  12:50  
that it does make it a lot easier when they understand that. Yes. Okay, so what was your initial timeline that you were giving the renovation?

Unknown Speaker  13:01  
Um, he told us four weeks. We ended up going into it. I think he was more six weeks because there was Thanksgiving him? Absolutely. We, you know, understand family. And we told him ahead of time, take the whole week of Thanksgiving off. So he did, and that was great. And it still went over another week or so. And then he was finally done. And then we took an extra three weeks, I guess there was paint all over the floor. Oh, gosh, it was a night. And by the end, we were just like, okay, just get the main things done. And we'll finish

Unknown Speaker  13:37  
I'm telling you, it's, I have yet to find a crew that loves the detailed part, right, which is the end, and it takes the longest. But yes, it's getting the paint off the floor is the number of times I'm on my knees, scraping the paint off the floor. And it's caulking, and it's just doing all the finishing touches that really make a big difference. Yeah, but they just, I have yet to find a crew that really just knocks it out and does a great job and does it in a timely manner. It takes so long the finishing touches takes so long,

Unknown Speaker  14:11  
yes. And then of course, the staging was a deal for me too. I called in some stagers and didn't realize the real cost of staging and waste and basically what they did is they asked me, okay, what's your sell price going to be? And I'm like, Alright, I don't know why you're asking me that question. But this it's going to be like 265,000 is well 6268 is what we listed it for first. And she goes, Okay, what's gonna be 1% of that? Okay, well, that doesn't even make sense to me. Hmm, so I thought, well, I can do this myself and spend half that much and so my daughter and I and one of our friends went out on Saturday and we bought everything we needed for staging. Was it perfect? No, but it

Unknown Speaker  14:59  
looks so Great, I forgot that you guys did that yourselves. Yeah, we did it ourselves. And it looked good. We were proud of it.

Unknown Speaker  15:07  
Easy.

Unknown Speaker  15:08  
Where did you get the furniture I'm at, there are some different places. But one of the main places here at our house, it's American national furniture or something like that. Anyway, the furniture was really inexpensive. And I thought I can use some of this in future flips. And so we have, we already had a storage so the house most of that's in storage, some of it's at my house, but we'll reuse it or we'll sell it or something like that. They didn't have to buy too much. We already had some mattresses, so we were able to put the bed in. And we didn't stage the two small little rooms, just the main, the master the dining room, the living room area, and few things in the kitchen. So it wasn't terrible. How much did you spending? I spent about 15 $100

Unknown Speaker  15:56  
for all that stuff. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. I love that. That's a really great tip. Okay, so, six, well, he took about six or seven weeks. Mm hmm. Okay. And then you guys took about three weeks doing the touch ups and like, do I detail stuff, right.

Unknown Speaker  16:14  
So we close on October 28. And then we put it we'd end up putting it on the market on like January 3. Oh, nice. So it wasn't terrible. No,

Unknown Speaker  16:22  
especially for that time of year. Because it is I mean, you've got so many holidays in there. We work during Christmas. Yes. Okay, so you put it on the market? January 3? Yep. All right. So 148 is what you bought it for? 45 was the real rehab cost? Yeah. And then what were your carrying costs?

Unknown Speaker  16:46  
Carry costs? I put? We paid I think three points. Okay. And then it was 10% interest. Okay. on that. So it was I mean, I thought the lending was really good. The terms were pretty good for that first one. I was pleased with it. And that's kind of why I went with them. Yes. Of course. You know, we're still paying 2000 over 2000 a month to write for the loan. Right.

Unknown Speaker  17:11  
Right. Right. And part of that was paying down the loan. That's so interesting. It was never heard had a hard lesson like that. So that's it. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  17:18  
And we did put quite a bit down at closing, I think we put around $35,000 down. Okay, on that first flip. And no, I know not everyone can do that. But I had that money in my account. So I thought I'm not going to ask for private money because I haven't got it. I wanted to save my private money for when I really needed it. Yes. And now is that time we'll get into that.

Unknown Speaker  17:44  
Plug that? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  17:47  
Okay, so you listed it January 3 for 268. Right?

Unknown Speaker  17:52  
We actually listed for 272. Seven? Yes. In the initial appraisal came in at 268. So we listed at 270. After about a month, I think we lowered it to 265. Because we weren't getting we got some lookers and some interest. But the weird thing that happened was a lot of the buyers wanted to see our initial inspection. Like before rehab. Yeah, that's odd. Yeah. And so there were things on that one. Like we repaired a lot of things. And one of the things in there was there was a bullet hole in one of the in that big main window. Well, that spooked a couple of the buyers. Oh, like a bullet hole. And I mean, it could have been a BB couldn't write anything. Right. We fixed it. So I'm like, why are we showing an inspection report? Right? Where we fixed everything to potential buyers. I said, I'm not doing it ever again.

Unknown Speaker  18:48  
Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. I mean, asking for an inspection report you had that you all had done. I understand that. But that's, that's interesting. And it wasn't. And it's interesting that it was more than just one buyer and buyer's

Unknown Speaker  19:02  
agent, two different ones. And my relative real estate agent said, Well, no, that's normal. That's normal. No, I don't think so. So I think I posted that in the group. Like no, not really, I remember that now.

Unknown Speaker  19:16  
Oh, my real estate agent now knows we're not gonna do that ever again. Yeah, we're not doing that. Don't even ask me.

Unknown Speaker  19:23  
Okay, so after about a month, and also January, beach community layer. Yeah. Tough, tight, tougher time to sell. I could imagine you're slower.

Unknown Speaker  19:33  
Yeah. Okay. I had already put like six months on there because I knew it's it's Galveston not you have to really want to live in Galveston. You know, right. Oh, it's gonna take longer to sell. Right? Because the time

Unknown Speaker  19:44  
right. Yeah. Such a great point. Okay, so you had already factored in. See, that's the beauty. Yeah, who'd already factored in it so we're not stressed out yet. Right. Like it's, we're stressed up so it's like let's get an offer. What's happening? Why does nobody like this house because adorable right? But it's not like Oh, no, I only calculated three months and now twice. Yeah. Okay. I'm so glad you were realistic about that. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  20:06  
yeah. Um, so we ended up getting an offer. What do you say it was in March, the first part of March, maybe late February actually. Okay. And it was a young couple from Minnesota, I believe. And they were moving. He had gotten a new job offer in Galveston and but what they needed was, say they wanted us to lease the house to them for a month and then then purchase. And we said, No, first of all, we knew our insurance was built for us only. So that wasn't going to work. Yeah. And so we just said no on that. But we were they gave us full asking price. Yes. So we were able to wait for them. They asked if we could wait till What was it? April to close. So we waited a full two months. They were paying a lot of it in cash. And so we felt more comfortable with their buying because we felt like okay, I think they really are going to do this. They just need a little extra time. So we gave them the extra time. Yeah. Then they had moved, like in March. Got a hotel room park that we didn't know they're gonna park their camper in front of the house, but they parked their camper in front of the house. I remember that little camper. Yeah, we're fine with it. It wasn't intruding on anything. It's just part of the house, but I'm totally fine. But we ended up closing on April ninth, eight, whatever day that was, I came back from when no, we left. It was April 7. And then we went on vacation The day after? That's

Unknown Speaker  21:36  
right. That's right. Yeah. So what did your profit end up being?

Unknown Speaker  21:43  
We ended up making about 35,035 to $36,000 on that clip.

Unknown Speaker  21:50  
That is awesome, Sharon. I mean, really? That is so good. So that's, um, well, 15%. Something like that. Yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah. Which is awesome. That's fantastic. Yeah, I was very pleased with it. Yeah. So that's why I'm doing it again. And again.

Unknown Speaker  22:11  
We took that profit, and then we went on vacation and we came back the day after I got back from vacation. We closed on flip number two. Both of these were MLS deals as well. I mean, the second one was also an MLS deal, and we love this house, it's gonna be a great flip. We love our new contractor. He's great. Is this

Unknown Speaker  22:34  
the cat, the cat house, and I mean that the one that had the cat on the rail, we actually

Unknown Speaker  22:41  
just got got rid of that one, we just pretty much the last day of that option to give that one up. There was way too much involved. And we needed the seller to come down another 10 to 15 grand and he wasn't willing to do that. And do the foundation was just awful on that house. So I'm not sure the contractor is like, yeah, this one's This one's not going to be good. Yeah, so we gave that one up. But the same day, we gave that one up, we went looked at two other properties put two offers in and the one we're working on now is one of those properties. That's awesome. They accepted our offer that same day.

Unknown Speaker  23:15  
So another MLS deal. And was this on the market for a while too.

Unknown Speaker  23:21  
It was on the market and then off the market and came back on the market. And I noticed when they put it back on the market, the price was lower than the initial. And so that's when we went and looked at it. And I knew I had to act fast because it's it's not in a prime location, the street that the streets not ideal. It's one of those things but Galveston is funny because you can buy any property in Galveston and it's going to sell people just like to be in Galveston. Right?

Unknown Speaker  23:51  
And short term rentals. And yes, yeah, yeah. Very healthy market.

Unknown Speaker  23:55  
Yeah. And yeah, I had one lender that said no, because there's a little warehouse next to it. And they said no, it's going to hold out and hold its value. But my other lender was like, Oh, yeah, absolutely fine. And it actually appraised well over what my ARV initially was, so if you know on the initial side, so that because I did a FaceTime appraisal, it was kind of funny.

Unknown Speaker  24:20  
To me. So that's such a great point, though. Um, you know, some people, just people who don't really have experience working with hard money, lenders automatically assume that they're bad. And they're like, they're out to get you and they're like, but they are really such an integral part of the team. Now, one of my favorite things that they do is they keep me in check, because they do it's like another layer of insurance, because they'll be like, your ARV is really off here. Right? Yeah. Like I don't think so. Debbie. I don't like I think there that's pie in the sky. Or, you know what, I think you're right on you might even be a little bit low, Debbie. Yes. To me, it's very comforting to have another set of eyes involved. And of course, you're gonna want to do an appraisal, some sort of appraisal, because it's their money that they're putting out. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  25:11  
When when I see the ones that say no appraisal, I'm kinda like, oh, but I really want somebody to double check me. Yeah. I like the ones who do appraisals, because then I know going into it, okay, this is going to be fine. It's going to be good. If I'm over budget a tiny bit, because I haven't mastered going and walking a property and getting my repair value, repair estimate exact. I told my contractor I said, Okay, this is what my goal is, you've got to show me exactly what everything costs. So I can do this without you.

Unknown Speaker  25:43  
You're asking the exact right person? Because it doesn't ask anybody else, it doesn't matter, because nobody else is the one actually doing the work. So right talking to the person who's actually going to do the work. And Bill you. Yes. Who you want the numbers from?

Unknown Speaker  25:57  
Yes, absolutely. So, you know, he, he did walk with us on the second property before we closed, and we got a good idea. But then after we closed, we realized, we really need to replace all these windows are the storm windows. Yes. And initially, we weren't really going to do that. But then after we closed, we decided, yeah, we need to do that. Because you can't really replace one and not all of them. And, and I was I was like No, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. Right. And so, yeah, that's, I mean, that's gonna be out of my pocket. But the windows are costing, like $15,000. Yeah, so it's because you have to have them to where they're windstorm certified. And, you know, but they're gonna do a great job on them. I've no doubt, yeah, everything's gonna be great. And in this particular contractor, they also do design work. And so he helped design the whole rehab. they've picked all my finishes. I mean, they showed it to us, they did a mood board for me. I loved it, because I'm working full time. I don't have time to do all this shopping. Exactly. It is possible to do this while working full time. Yes. You have to know ahead of time and budget for it because it is a little more costly. But oh my gosh, the stress level is so free. Yes. I'm sure he's doing the work. I'm not doing it. And he has a great little partner that's helping him and they're just a great team. How did you find this contractor? So I'm in another. It was a Facebook group. Yeah. Houston area. And I this young lady had referred me to him. When I was under contract on another house, which didn't actually work go through that was one we had through a wholesaler with net worth. Well, yes, he had come out and did an estimate and everything. And that one fell through, but we've stayed in touch with him. We actually he had also done an event in Houston. And we went to his event, we actually want a TV. It was crazy. Oh, his event. And so we knew that he was the one we wanted to use on this second flip. Yes. And he's just been great.

Unknown Speaker  28:16  
local groups. local groups are a great resource for any local vendors, local lenders, local contractors. Yeah. Supply companies. All of that. So good. Good. I'm glad you use that resource. Yeah. So. So okay, let me ask you this. You will. So what's the thing that I mean, you were scared to put in an offer on that first house, right? Oh, absolutely. What? Why did you like what is it? So some people are so scared that they're just not they don't do that? They don't make the offer? What was it in you? Like, that was like no way I have to make this offer? What was that

Unknown Speaker  28:56  
it was probably that Debbie DeBerry voice, everything. You just got a job, you just couldn't do it. Okay, I just got to do it. Or I'm never gonna do it. Because I had been. I had been researching and every all of this stuff since like June. And it was September when I finally started putting the offers in. So I feel like I had done a lot of research and I but I knew I wasn't really going to learn it until I did it. And we learned a lot. That is where you learn is by actually doing and going over budget. Yes, it was scary. But because I had that appraisal prior, and I had the back of my lender who was backing me on this. I knew it was still going to be okay. Right. It was still gonna be okay. Right. So yeah, we did. We did fine. And we went through that we learned a lot about the rehab. Yeah, just by being there a lot. Yeah. And then we realized, yeah, we don't wanna do this every day. You don't want to be here every day. You don't want to be contractors. We don't want to be contractors, we don't want to have to worry about the subs. We don't want to have to be running to Home Depot every single day, because I felt like every single day, I see all these Home Depot receipts coming in, before Larry was going back and forth, back and forth.

Unknown Speaker  30:16  
Oh, I know that I totally know that life, Larry, I totally do. So what what is so awesome about this business is it can look, however you want it to look, if you want to be there on site every day, great. Be there on site every day, if you want to do some of the work great. Do some of the work. If you want to outsource as much as you can, and have it more lives running on its own. You can do that, too. Oh, yeah. So it's so beautiful. And I love that. You tried it one way. Realize, nope, not for me. This isn't gonna work for us. And then you shifted and you're trying it a different way. And you're like, yeah, this feels so much more in alignment. That's like, that's, that's the whole point is to just test things doesn't feel right. Doesn't work test something else. So yeah.

Unknown Speaker  31:07  
I love that y'all did that. Yeah. So we're, I think today is the roof going on, on that second flip. But then also today, I'm supposed to be closing on my third flip today. If I can get if I can get my lender and my title company. all on the same page. I have one. I'm making a note because I need to post that in the group. Yeah, because I talked to the lender this morning. And they're like, Oh, we don't have time for that. I'm like, oh, okay, well, I'm off today. So I thought I was closing today. No,

Unknown Speaker  31:39  
we, um, who? Are you using the same lender on any of these? I

Unknown Speaker  31:44  
know. So. The second flip? I'm you I went with all this capital? Yep. Um, and, and John's been great. But the lender he uses has not been great. So hearing things

Unknown Speaker  31:59  
like that in the group. Like, there's always delays at the end like right before closing there tend to be delays and okay.

Unknown Speaker  32:05  
Yeah. And, yeah, the draw schedule. This draw hasn't been easy that the initial to close was very difficult. The lender just there. I mean, I think they're going through everything with a fine tooth comb, which is fine, because I mean, it's their money, and they're having to make sure we're doing everything correctly. But it was excessive, I think. And it took a long time to get the paperwork to the title company. But I was persistent that I was closing that day. So I stayed on them. And we got off. That's right. You were there all day. Yeah, I was eating Cheetos for lunch. Then we got to the draw process, and it hasn't been a smooth one. So I'm like, Okay, let me just get through this first draw, so I can keep paying my contractor. And I'm going to try to keep it to just three draws that way. We don't have to deal with all this stuff. But we'll see. But you know, I have this third flip. And I'm fixing to start. So you know, I'm trying to make sure I have all my money lined up. Right. Right. Yeah. And it's a third, it's a different lender on the third one. Yes. The interest rates a little bit higher. Yeah. But the just everything else is so much easier. Yeah. And I know from other ladies that the draw process is smooth. Yeah. I'm not gonna know what the what what I'm going through right now. So I, I want to make sure I keep my contractor happy too. And if it means switching lenders to to do that, because I'm not willing to give him up because I have a terrible lender.

Unknown Speaker  33:35  
Yes. That's such a great point. Yes, we want to keep our contractors, we want to keep money coming to them. We want to keep them happy. We want them to keep moving. Because if if your project get stale or stagnant, they're gonna go to another project. Yeah. So now you're like, wait, they're, they're over here. And now you're like, Oh, wait, but I'm ready. I'm ready. Now my lender figured it out. And let's go and they're like, well, we'll be back in a couple weeks, right? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  34:02  
no, yeah, I definitely want to and I keep trying to pay ahead. Just because I don't want that to happen. But you know, we have the third one. Now that one I'm closing on today. I think it's a wholesale deal. And it was one where I I walked at once and it's been a few weeks and this wholesaler went, we went back and forth back and forth for like, four to six weeks, I think. Because he had other buyers and they were willing to give him more. But they were trying to do subject to deals and the seller didn't know anything about that. They were wanting to close Two months later, and they didn't want to wait. So he kept coming back to me and I had a firm number and I wasn't gonna budge. Love it. And I did it and he ended up coming back and said, okay, we can do it at this price. And I'm like, Alright, let's do it. I'll figure it out. Figure it out. But But then there's more you No, so we're supposed to close on that one. But then over the weekend, this past weekend, I got a call from my contractor and he had gotten a hold of a wholesale deal. That was done. Yeah. And I'm like, Okay, I'll look at it. So I looked at it. And it took me a while to look at it. But when I looked at, I'm like, oh, holy crap, this is gonna be crazy if I can make this happen. So I started looking at the numbers, and I'm like, Alright, so of course, it was pouring down rain this weekend. So I, we still made the drive, we went out and looked at the law, it's actually a property in pirates beach, three blocks from the beach. nice piece of land. So it's a new build in my contractor does new builds. And so I'm like, Oh, my God, this is awesome. So we have we're under contract with that one is supposed to close on Monday. And I'm like, Okay, now any private message.

Unknown Speaker  35:56  
Now's the time we start sending up the flag, saying, All right, we've got opportunities for you private investors out there. Yes, yes.

Unknown Speaker  36:03  
So I actually have Lone Ranger working on that one with me as well. And I'm hoping I have a private money lender lined up, I've had a couple of interest. So hopefully, one of them will come through. For me, if by Monday, not posted in the group.

Unknown Speaker  36:22  
We have a lot of private lenders in there that are very quiet, like you won't even know that they're even there. But you'll post something and they'll reach out to you privately. I've seen it. I hear it all the time. Like I was like, oh, like there's this one that is funding all these deals, I had no idea because she's she doesn't post anything. So I had no idea. So

Unknown Speaker  36:43  
the two that have reached out to me are from our group. Okay, awesome. I love it. So we will see what takes place. So I sent emails out to to those ladies last night to see you know what we could do in regards to that one on it's just such a fast closing. And now I found out I've got to get my budget together. I'm like, Oh, well, we don't even have a we don't even have a floor plan or anything. I don't have specs and nothing.

Unknown Speaker  37:08  
That's fun, though. You can go online and shop for a floor plan. It's so fun. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's really you just buy a floor plan online, and then your builder builds it. Okay. Okay. I didn't know was that easy, but it's very different. So new builds, it's really just following a recipe. You're just following a recipe? Are you? Is there a house on there now? Or is it a vacant lot? vacant lot? How much do lots go for in the gap is like three blocks from the beach?

Unknown Speaker  37:37  
Well, that one, it was a wholesale deal. And it I'm buying it for 96,000? Okay, um, there are some that helps sold for hire. So we felt like okay, we did get a good deal on this one, because some of them were well over 100,000. And some of them were close to 200,000. So depends on how close you are to the water. Sure. And this one is still close enough to the water, you could get a golf cart and just drive down to the private beach down there. So not very far.

Unknown Speaker  38:02  
Yeah, sometimes being close enough is better than being right on it. Right. When you're

Unknown Speaker  38:07  
driving through there. We realize oh, we don't want to be right on it. Because the first storm that comes through, we're gonna be right on your gunners. Yeah, absolutely. So absolutely. Yeah, that was gonna be a great learning process for us. Because we've never done a new build. I'm relying heavily on my contractor on this one. And a lot to learn. For sure.

Unknown Speaker  38:30  
It's gonna be so fun. It's gonna be so fun. I love it. So within. Let's see you closed on in October. On your first flip right? On the

Unknown Speaker  38:42  
purchase October 28. So October, November. What are we six months? Five months? Six months? Six? Well, just over six months, four deals. That's it? Oh, yeah. Who deals in like a week? Yeah, for someone who works full time. And Larry works full time now as well.

Unknown Speaker  38:59  
In this market, and these are MLS and wholesale deals. So yes, it is possible. All of this possible. Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay. So what? What were some of your fears around taking that jump?

Unknown Speaker  39:15  
I'm mostly just the fine. I don't I didn't want to lose money, right? Because this was some inherited money. And I mean, I have some retirement at Texas Children's. And honestly, we did take action on the cares act when Larry lost his job. So I pulled some of my 403 b money to offset some of the expenses because we were looking for a second flip at that time, and I wanted to have some cash in the bank just in case and because I could not get penalised we did it. Yeah, um, but the biggest fear for me was not being successful and losing money. So understanding how to analyze the deals. is a big thing for me. And I just I dove into that. And that was my specialty still is. And Larry does a lot of the other things. He handles a lot of emails like insurance, the inspectors, all that kind of stuff. But I analyze the deals and sometimes overanalyze it. But I mean, it's good. The only thing that I struggle with is the repair estimate. We're gonna get there. You will,

Unknown Speaker  40:27  
you will, I promise you. I mean, I probably didn't feel comfortable until I walked 40 or 50 properties with my contractors. I mean, honestly, because it's, it was it was such a foreign thing to me. It wasn't anything. I had never been in construction before it was new. Right. And so that, absolutely, you'll get more comfortable. Even Rochelle recently posted in the group, like she's feeling comfortable doing that now. And that just comes from just practicing. Right, just walking through.

Unknown Speaker  40:54  
Well, and I do realize that the cost of lumber everything's gone up since we first even started. Yeah, so I mean, of course, the rehab is gonna go up. Yep. So I'm understanding that

Unknown Speaker  41:04  
yes, yes, exactly. I love it. I love it. So, okay, mean, that fear might not ever go away. It hasn't gone away from me. I mean, I still I'm scared every time I do something, I still, every time I go into contract, I'm like, Okay, what am I missing? What am I missing? But that I mean, we just have to recognize that is that's gonna be there. It doesn't mean don't do it. It means Yeah. That is their big deal. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  41:28  
I don't I'll say the one I'm the least scared about is the new build. But I think it's because it's going to be so straightforward. You don't have to go in and go, Oh, here's a surprise. Here's another surprise.

Unknown Speaker  41:38  
You're exactly right. It's completely different. It's following a recipe. There aren't the surprises. Yeah, there aren't the surprises. Yeah. I'm very excited about that. One. I can't wait to see these two new, well, three new projects. When a windmill project to be done.

Unknown Speaker  41:54  
It should be done mid to late June, depending on whether it was an eight pretty much an eight week project. Okay.

Unknown Speaker  42:03  
It's a big one.

Unknown Speaker  42:04  
It's a big one. It's like a $78,000. rehab. Okay. So but they're they're coming along nicely and staying on track. So no issues there. In fact, after the roof, I think maybe next week, we might see some cabinets coming in. So then shortly after that Windows, gosh, and the flooring is just going to be amazing, because it has original hardwood floors throughout most of the house. And I remember your picture that I posted. Yeah, they're gonna be so great.

Unknown Speaker  42:37  
Oh, my gosh, I can't wait to see. Yeah, great. This transformation is gonna be really fun to see. Well, and then obviously the third one, and then the new build. I'm here for it all. I can't wait. And I went to another trip to Galveston to see all of the projects. Oh, absolutely. Come on down anytime. Yes. I love it. Okay, what else? I'm talking about fears? And is there anything else that we didn't talk about maybe that you want to touch on or that you want people to know out there, or anything else?

Unknown Speaker  43:15  
Um, I mean, we we talked about fear a lot. But for those ladies who haven't taken the jump, the main thing is just to walk the properties because I watched several before I placed my first offer, and the more you walk them, the more comfortable you get. Not necessarily with repairs. But you will eventually get there and I'll eventually get there but don't be scared that that because that's what your contractors for sale come in, they'll help you with that. But just kind of knowing what during the during the process even with your realtor helps a lot.

Unknown Speaker  43:48  
Yes.

Unknown Speaker  43:49  
My realtor was key in all of this. And I will say that she battled at the closings, both the buy and the sell side. She's been great. Good. All that.

Unknown Speaker  44:02  
Yeah. It's all about that team and just bringing people on that they can handle their role, right? We don't have to wear all the hats. We just align ourselves with other people who can wait.

Unknown Speaker  44:13  
I'm naturally a delegator. Perfect, because that's I do that at my regular nine to five job, right. That's just what I do. And that's kind of how I like it. And that's why I don't want to be the general contractor. I don't want to be the realtor. Yes. I just want to be the investor.

Unknown Speaker  44:31  
Yeah, I love it. I love it so much. I love your certainty and your confidence. I do like that sort of thinking. I mean, right, like thinking back seven, eight months to our first conversation. And now here you are, like, I mean, the the amount that you've grown and just like your confidence is so awesome to see. It's so awesome. It's so inspiring. Absolutely.

Unknown Speaker  44:57  
But this third third do I think I have a twin sister if you knew that or not? Yes,

Unknown Speaker  45:00  
well, I didn't know until I saw a Facebook post and I was like, Oh, wait, well, that's a weird.

Unknown Speaker  45:06  
Like she's gonna try to help, we're gonna kind of JV on this project. So she's helping me with some of the closing and then we're going to do a little. I don't know how much of the work we're going to really do because contractors probably gonna handle most of that. But we'll do the landscaping and stuff like that. And then she's a bookkeeper. So I'm like, you can do my bookkeeping, guess what, you win, you win this great, you win this half bookkeeping. So, so we're gonna try that for this third flip. So she'll help me there. And then hopefully, I'll get some private money for that fourth one, and then my fears will be relieved. And then I'll get to that. Absolutely finished that second flip. And there hopefully the third flip before I started another one, because I don't want to. I don't want to overdo it. I know, my goal was three in one year. I'll be doing three for sure. And then the fourth one, it may take nine to 12 months, and we'll see how that one goes. But I want to get the second one finished and on the market and sold before I start doing more.

Unknown Speaker  46:09  
Yes, I get it. It's a it's so addictive. I mean, let's just buy all the houses. It's like I feel the same way. Um, there are definitely been many times where I'm like, Okay, stop. Just stay like focus here. get these done, and then look elsewhere. But it's so hard.

Unknown Speaker  46:25  
I've made Larry a little bit nervous. He's pulled everything because it's like a cocaine habit. She just wants to buy houses. Oh, he's so great. I love that guy.

Unknown Speaker  46:37  
Y'all make a really great team like us, like you just you complement each other really well. So

Unknown Speaker  46:43  
yeah, we know our boundaries with each other to exactly. It's important.

Unknown Speaker  46:47  
Absolutely. That's key, right. In any in any relationship. That's key. Yeah. Anything else you want to share?

Unknown Speaker  46:57  
No, I think we've touched on everything just for the ladies out there. Just all you got to do is just get out there and do it. Because if you don't do it, you're never going to do it.

Unknown Speaker  47:06  
Yes, absolutely. Love it. That's the best advice we could add on. I'm so glad that you shared your story. This is I mean, it's so inspiring. This is amazing. Your Progress, your accomplishments. And you just doing it even though you're scared?

Unknown Speaker  47:22  
Oh, yeah, well, I could not have done it without you and the group that the tribe as we call it, because the knowledge in that group is just amazing. And just seeing like everyone doing so well on their first flips right now. I'm just amazed. And, you know, everybody's sharing what's going on. I learned so much. And I mean, anytime I have a question, there's like posted in the group? Because we found out our answers there. Yes.

Unknown Speaker  47:51  
Yeah, absolutely. It's so important to have a community like that, that you can you can get, and it's not. Um, so before I was, like, when I first started, I was always in like communities like little groups. But it was kind of blind leading the blind. Yeah. And it's like, I don't want to be in a group of people who haven't who don't really know what they're talking about. But they they want to hear their voice. Right. And so they are going to share their opinion, even though they don't really know that sorry to me. No, yeah, absolutely. But we feel confident in this group. Oh, my gosh, right. Yeah. Like, we know that it's not crazy information being shared. And we're monitoring, we're always monitoring that as well. I will be like, no, that's not correct.

Unknown Speaker  48:38  
Yeah. No, and we appreciate that, for sure. Absolutely.

Unknown Speaker  48:41  
Well, I'm so grateful to have been part of your journey. And to keep watching y'all build this business. That's That's the point. It's a business. So it's not a job that you have to show up to in every day. Right? It's a business that you get to run and you delegate roles. And it's awesome. Is this your long term plan. Like to get out of wars this year, I've seen kind of like, let's just

Unknown Speaker  49:11  
think for now. I mean, ultimately, my goal was to flip three and then start doing some holds, because I do want to have some retirement, passive income coming in, or maybe even just be a private lender at that point, but I got to build my capital, so I can do that. So But eventually, I will retire from Texas Children's and I wanted to be able to have something for when I retire. I'm not there yet. And if any of them are gonna listen to this podcast, I'm not going anywhere. going anywhere. She's already happy. This is just by filming. I, my kids are older now. I needed something to fulfill my time and learn. He'll tell you I just don't sit still. And for years, my daughter played softball, and we were always at the softball field. We were traveling all over the nation. And then she went to college and my son to graduate I'm like, What am I gonna do? And then he lost his job. I'm like, Oh, we really have to do something now. So. So let me just start this business. And it's been, it's time consuming for me because he'll tell you I'm always on my phone. And it's not no lie. I really am. But I do have to learn to disconnect sometimes. It's hard. It's really hard. Yeah, I know. I get that. Totally. Yeah, it's Yeah, it is hard. But, but I thoroughly love it. I just love it.

Unknown Speaker  50:28  
It's Yeah, that's the thing. It's hard to detach from something you love. It's like, Yeah, but I really enjoy it. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Wow. So this is appreciate every Yeah, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of the community and contributing as much as you do and just engaging because you make it all the better. So thank you. Oh, you're welcome. I love watching your journey. I love coming and seeing the projects. I can't wait to see the next come on down. Yeah, I can't like in time it so that there are three, all three of them going on. Love it. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing. And I'm going to post a congratulations on number three for later today.

Unknown Speaker  51:13  
Hopefully, so maybe I should wait. I'll let you know. But yeah, I'm working on that one. I'm supposed to go at three today. I'm like, I'm okay. We'll see if this one actually comes to fruition. But yeah, that's odd that Lone Ranger is not on top of it. Well, I think what it started with the title company being confused, because they thought it was going to be a double close. And so they did all the paperwork initially and sent it to Lone Ranger. Like that little arranger caught it and go, No, the contracts written like this. I really think it's supposed to be just an assignment. And so they title had to redo all the paperwork. And that was yesterday. So I don't know now that it's all going to be corrected in time. Okay. So Lone Ranger,

Unknown Speaker  51:57  
isn't the issue. I just make sure. No phone call. No, they're actually the one that caught the mistake. There you go. Another reason. Another reason to have that person there. Yes. Yes. Lucille is great.

Unknown Speaker  52:10  
That's awesome. All right. Yeah. I'll wait to hear from you then. And then we'll celebrate you. Oh, that's super exciting. I can't wait. Yeah. All right. Well, have a great Cinco de Mayo. And you're welcome. And thanks again for hanging out with me this morning. Anytime. Awesome. Time. I'll definitely have you back. I'll take you up. Okay. Awesome. All right, Sharon. Thanks so much. I'll see you in the road. Come see you later. Bye. Such a great conversation. Thank you again, Sharon. That was a total blast. And there were so many points that I want to make sure people got one. Build your dang team, to have support, know where to go to for answers. And not just like made up answers, but actual answers that will help you resolve whatever the problem is. And number three, you absolutely can do this while having a full time demanding job. Okay. We've heard that before. On this podcast. We've had many students who have full time jobs have busy lives, and are still able to build a business that loves old houses back to life. If you're sick of sitting on the sideline, and not chasing this curiosity you have about renovating houses. And you want a step by step approach. And you want hand holding and you want daily interaction with me and the incredible community that we've built of flip sisters who are doing this thing nationwide, then join the wait list. Alright, you'll get an invitation to join us. Usually within a few days once you join the wait list. Alright, it just depends on the timing. So go to first flip done right.com get on the wait list. Alright, if you keep doing the same things, expecting different results, you aren't going to get those different results. You've got to do other things. Get a plan and implement it. Alright. Alright, that's it. Go out there flip houses like a girl. Leave people in places better than you find them and make it a great day. Bye. y'all,