A $40,000 Profit After 30 Years of Dreaming of Flipping Houses With Bethany Kerr

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  
Hey, it's Debbie here. I hope that whatever you're up to today, it's an easy one. And thank you for spending a little bit of time with me. I'm curious. How long exactly have you been wanting to flip houses? I know for me, I wanted to flip houses for about five years before finally jumping in. I'm excited to share today's conversation with you. With Bethany Kerr, she had this dream for 30 years. And it finally came to fruition last year. So without further ado, actually hold on, be sure to get on the waitlist for my coaching program. If you are ready to finally realize this dream and you don't want to wait five years like I did, or 30 years or however many years, go to first flip done right.com and get on the waitlist and you will be notified as soon as some spots open up. Alright, let's go ahead and listen to this conversation with Bethany. I love sharing the stories I think are so inspiring, because so many women just like they think they can't and they're hearing that they can't wait, that they have to start out by wholesaling or doing stuff that they don't want to do. And I'm like, No, you don't I promise you. You don't have to.

Unknown Speaker  2:07  
Yeah, and you know, I got started last year. And this is something I've wanted to do, probably for 30 years. My ex just wasn't into it. You know, I got divorced in 2015. And you know, I sell real estate and you know how that is up and down? You never know. And I was like, man, how am I going to get my hands on some money? Yeah. And so last summer, I started looking through all the court cases and finding the pre foreclosures and all that. It's like, you know what, and I spent a lot of time in that. And it was it was time well invested. Because I realized I learned a lot but also realize that's not what I want to be doing. Right? I don't want to spend all of my time playing investigator. I want to flip houses. And you know, once I bought the first flip, you know, you have all of these pre pre whatever conditions in your head that you know, people put in there, you know, it's so hard. It's so hard. And I think for some people who don't know what they're doing, it is going to be really hard. Sure, sure. But I didn't realize how much knowledge it had for sure. I was well prepared. Absolutely got there. And it was like, Oh, hell yeah, let's get

Unknown Speaker  3:18  
Yeah, right. Okay, so last year was your first one. Yes. Where are you located?

Unknown Speaker  3:24  
I'm in New Albany, Indiana. Okay, which is about two miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.

Unknown Speaker  3:31  
Okay. And okay, so you did your first one last year, you were already in real estate for my real estate agent for how long?

Unknown Speaker  3:38  
I got my license right before the divorce. So that was 2014. Okay. And it took me a while. You know, I was married for 25 years and three kids and I had a lot of depression and stuff to deal with. Sure. Kids. Just get through it. Um, so to come from bear to here. I'm I'm pretty satisfied. Wow. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  4:02  
That's awesome. So okay, so you had your real estate license? You? What was it that was there a thing? or What was it that made you pull the trigger on this Smith on your first flip? What was it that made you think I'm putting an offer on this house and I'm gonna flip it.

Unknown Speaker  4:23  
It was pretty much in my book, it was a sure thing. I looked at a lot of properties. And there were different and I told myself, it's like, you know what, your first one. I didn't care if I made, you know, I didn't want to make less than 20,000 because I wanted to be somewhere worth my time. But number one, I ended up losing but on it. Right. Exactly. But you know, so I decided it had to be a solid one. Whether there was a big margin for profit there or not. Yep. And it was a solid house. It was a brick house. The foundation was fantastic. It had a newer roof on it. You know, all The big things were good. Wow. Um, so and it was in a good neighborhood with good comps, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of guessing going on. And was it off the MLS? It was not I gotta throw wholesaler. Uh huh. Which, you know, being a real estate agent, you're buying through a wholesaler, you're just kind of like, okay, what's going on here?

Unknown Speaker  5:22  
Here's the thing. You know, earlier you mentioned, you don't want to be doing the detective work, you don't want to be. And that's why I love wholesalers, because that's what they do. I don't want to be spending my time that way. And right people do and that's great. I just don't I know. So. Yeah. As long as the numbers work on the deal, right. That's all I care about. I don't mind somebody else getting paid. Yes. Amen. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Okay, so, let's do you want to go through the numbers on your first one? Sure. Okay, so like purchase price timeline, all that jazz.

Unknown Speaker  6:01  
Okay, so the purchase price was 67,000. Okay, when I first got it, so it was a two bedroom, one bath with a full unfinished basement. Okay, um, so I had comped it out around 121 30, knowing that I was going to fix it up nice. And that, that's another one of my things. One of the reasons I really wanted to flip because as a real estate agent, I show a lot of flip houses. And I've walked through a lot of times, and I'm like, why did they do this? You know, why didn't they just when they tie all the way up to the ceiling? Why didn't they, you know, all of these things that don't really cost that much more money. And the boob lights, Oh, my gosh, that's what I call on. You could spend $5 with her and not have a boob light. You know, it's,

Unknown Speaker  6:49  
I totally know what you're talking about that? Yeah. It's like a pack of 247 or something.

Unknown Speaker  6:57  
Crazy. So I knew the way that I wanted to fix it up, it was gonna go for the top of, you know, the price range. Yep. And I got in there. And the drywall guy that I had is just fantastic. Like, I shows up, he does the work. And you know, drywall guys, they will work on four or five different projects at a time because you know, you can only do so much and then you got to let it dry or whatever. Right. So you know, he was very, very good and gave me a really good price to finish the basement. And I was like, you know, for $7,000? Like, wow, I think I can probably come out ahead on that. Yeah, so I ended up spending 37,000 to fix it up. And then I gave myself three months, because I bought it November 13. And I knew Christmas was coming. And you know, you've got you know, people who are doing family things and stuff. I also had an electrician who has cancer. And you know, he had times when he just couldn't show up, you know? So I ended up being about two weeks late on my my projected finish time. Let's see. So it went on the market, February 21. And I had like 14 showings I had four offers. And it sold for 152 and closed it in two weeks after that.

Unknown Speaker  8:34  
That feeling of putting it on the market. So I think that I am I'm a real estate broker, and I am my own worst client. So when it goes on the market, it's like it feels like my heart is out there. Right? So because we care, like we really do put love into these houses, right? And so you put it out there and it's like, are they going to love it? Or are they going to hate it? And it's like, just waiting for what's the reaction gonna be like? Oh, cool.

Unknown Speaker  9:07  
Yeah, since my flip was a little bit different than everyone else's flips around here. I was really like, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, is it too much? Yeah. I really wanted to push the style and that's, you know, style. And quality. You know, I want people to be able to buy a house that is solid, you know, and upfront. Like, I don't know how old this is, but I had it tested. I had it looked at better professional. Here's the receipt. You know, you want a good product and I was really satisfied when the buyer had their home inspection and I had like five small items on there.

Unknown Speaker  9:46  
That's amazing for what a 1970s house or what 1957 1957 to have a few things come up. Yeah. Usually pages and pages summary.

Unknown Speaker  9:59  
That's what I was. Worried about Yeah. It's like, you know, I've been on the walls I've been. I've been all over this what could possibly be wrong in it?

Unknown Speaker  10:09  
Right? That's Yeah, that's the hardest part. Like putting it out there and then seeing Okay, what is the inspector come up with and just kind of waiting? Scary. Yeah, it is. Um, okay, so that was like such a great first flip experience for you. It was. Did you have any? Were there any surprises that came up? Like were there? Or was it like a pretty straightforward pretty?

Unknown Speaker  10:32  
I still look back and think how did I get so lucky? Haha score first clip? Uh huh. I mean, it was pretty amazing. I staged it myself. Which was fun. But that, you know, it was extra work on top of it, you know, because the whole time it's going on in the background. You know, shopping online, do a Facebook marketplace. Amazon. Oh, my gosh, Amazon was so good for finding all kinds of things.

Unknown Speaker  10:57  
Oh, Amazon's amazing. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I get doorknobs I get Yes. I get everything off of Amazon

Unknown Speaker  11:04  
faucets there. Yeah. Yeah. And the lighting. Oh, my gosh, exactly.

Unknown Speaker  11:10  
I mean, and even just, gosh, probably four years ago, I was still like, I still had, okay, these little lighting websites, I go to these websites I go to, but now really, it's all on Amazon.

Unknown Speaker  11:24  
Yes. And I tried. And that was another thing. I tried to kind of catalog where I got everything. So for the next flip, I know, I'm getting doors at menards I'm getting lighting at Amazon, you know, so next time I don't have to source for different places to figure out the best deal and read the reviews and, and all that stuff. Next time. And I am under contract right now on a new one. Yes. Awesome pandemic in all, you know, and so I sent out because I looked at several houses right after this one closed. Uh huh. And, you know, my dad was an accountant. So everything in my head is always, you know, very frugal, you don't spend money. And that was another thing I had to get over. You know, when when I was when I was doing this, I have a hard time spending large amounts of money. Like it just freaks me out. And I had to change my mindset, right? If this is a business, I know. And although it is I am using my money. It's a business and these are business decisions. And what would the business Bethany do as opposed to you know, the girl who hates to buy a new vacuum? Because it was $400.

Unknown Speaker  12:37  
Right? for you for having that awareness, though? Like, I know Amen. You have to put on a different hat. And you do? Yeah, it really, I'm so glad that you brought that up. It's such a good point. It really is

Unknown Speaker  12:50  
about you know, buying this next house, you know, I looked at some and then I would be like, oh, with all this going on? Should I do it? Should I do it? And you know, there's like a network of people who flip here. And you know, we all talk and stuff. It's like, you know what, they're still buying? Exactly. They're not really scared. I know, houses are still selling. I know that when this is lifted, it's going to be different, but they're still going to be selling. It's like I'm on house. Yep. This is what I do. Now. I need to move forward.

Unknown Speaker  13:19  
I love it. I love it. And it's true. It's what's happening in your local market, like, selling great, then there are still buyers. The beautiful thing, the big the big differentiating factor between because a lot of people like to go back to the 2008 recession. Oh, is that what's gonna happen? Well, there were so many it's such a totally different thing that that is happening right now versus what happened then. Right? The level of inventory alone. Oh, right. Like they're still leading up to this there was there was too little inventory for the number of buyers. And that's still the case. It's so important. I am such a numbers person and I talk about it a lot. And it because you have to know your data, just like I'm saying about wearing your business hat. That's right business hat. You've got to know that stuff. What's happening in your local area. Right? Well, that's exciting. Did you find this one through a wholesaler?

Unknown Speaker  14:21  
No. auction calm, okay. And I didn't realize that it was gonna be a long process.

Unknown Speaker  14:28  
Okay, let's talk about well Oh, wait, you know what, before I do that, because I don't know that I heard your What did you net? What was your net profit? 48,000 Nice. That's what I know. Right? On a what? 150 something 1000 sales price. 152. Yep, that's crazy. Yeah. Oh my god.

Unknown Speaker  14:47  
Honestly, you know, I could have cut more corners, you know, design wise. Um, but I love what I put out there. I didn't get any negative feedback whatsoever from anyone that would buyer No anyone? And not my dad. Worried like I didn't even tell them I bought a house. Yeah, I didn't until it was towards the end. And I was like, Okay, looks like I'm probably not going to lose my button on this larious safe to tell I'm 52 years old. They were nothing but supportive and happy. And

Unknown Speaker  15:25  
I love that. That's so funny. We still I still hide things from my dad. I don't need it. I don't need your feedback, right. That's hilarious. Okay, that's awesome. Yeah, that's amazing. That's a fantastic profit. Okay, so let's talk about your process on auction calm, if you don't mind talking about that, in your experience and all of that. That's a totally different beast.

Unknown Speaker  15:52  
It is. And I mean, I'm only a week out from from writing the contract. So I'm not through it yet. But in some of it might be due to the pandemic. I know that they're not staffed. Like, you know, they usually are. But yeah, I just got a signed contract back from them, like two days ago. Wow. And I wrote the contract, or they sent me the contract sign right after the auction. And that was last Thursday. So yeah, we're like a week out. And I just now have a signed contract. Now, and I'm ready to go like, yeah, and start doing stuff. Right.

Unknown Speaker  16:31  
So when? Okay. So how did you handle the title work? And that sort of thing? Like before putting in an offer? What kind of steps did you go through before you put in an offer on the property?

Unknown Speaker  16:48  
Um, basically, I've got a really good relationship with my title company here. And literally a text message, the nice. You know, I've got a contract that'll be coming over. And they're great with handling everything. They give me a really good deal. You know, it's a few $100. Right, are my side of the closing? Right. So that's fantastic. Now, auction calm. It looks like it's going to be about 15 $100 because I have to pay their closing costs.

Unknown Speaker  17:18  
Got it. Okay. And were there any liens that have to be paid off? Like any, was there a mortgage that has to be paid off or any liens that have to be paid off?

Unknown Speaker  17:29  
Not that I'm aware of? I don't think they've run the title yet. But now that we have a signed contract I should be finding out soon.

Unknown Speaker  17:38  
Well, I have one of my students was looking at it house on auction calm last week. And there was like an $87,000 mortgage payoff. There was Yeah, all this stuff that has to be paid off. And the house is worth like, maybe 110. Once it's all fixed. Yeah. So it's not a deal. So if people like if they don't read the fine print and read that they have to pay those things off, right? Oh, yeah. In addition to whatever their bid is, right, exactly. Yeah, that's gonna be if it doesn't sneak up on somebody because it easily

Unknown Speaker  18:15  
could. Yeah, yeah. But I will be backing out. If that's the case. I'll just lose my earnest money.

Unknown Speaker  18:22  
Yeah, exactly. That's okay. So if this is a house that you weren't able to go in, are you going to be able to go in it before you close? Well,

Unknown Speaker  18:34  
I did go in it. It was open. Oh, the back door was wide open. So yeah. probably wasn't supposed to go in it. But let it go. Yeah, I'm not confident enough to buy sight unseen.

Unknown Speaker  18:49  
You just don't. You just don't know. There's so much that could be inside there. Right. Sometimes. It's the prettiest looking ones on the outside. Oh, yeah. That are the disasters on the inside.

Unknown Speaker  19:02  
Yeah. And I had, because it's got a full basement. And it was damn. So I had my foundation guy run over there, too, before I even put the bid in. And he said, it just needs to be waterproof. 50 $300. And he's already looked at other houses before this for me. I mean, he'll literally run out at the drop of a hat. Yeah. And go out there because I just I was looking at one that's like a block away from my house. And I was like, Yeah, I don't know about this foundation. I had him come out there. He's like, yeah, at least 20,000 Oh, wow. Yeah, I was able to walk away. Well, and the one before that, it was almost 20,000 if there's any doubt at all, like, Foundation, that's huge. That one's gonna get you in some serious trouble.

Unknown Speaker  19:44  
So is that isn't that expensive there but we have a lot of foundation issues, too. We don't have basements though. Is it that is it the basement situation that makes it so expensive there?

Unknown Speaker  19:55  
Yeah, I would say that is it now the one that he looked at for me Before, like, the house was just literally on either side was just sloping down. And it just it needed those piers all the way around. And the other one was a brick foundation. It was in 1926 house. Wow. With a basement. Oh, wow, this house had a basement? Because it was just all yeah, it was a mess. Oh gee. That one sounds intense. Yeah. In fact some other some other people were looking I was like, did you know that house had a basement? Really? Oh, geez. That's

Unknown Speaker  20:37  
it. And I think you mentioned this earlier and I forgot to pause on it. But on turn in terms of how you financed it, you on your first one, you use all your own cash. I gotta hit rock. Rock. Nice. Yeah. Awesome.

Unknown Speaker  20:53  
When I was able to pay cash for my house. Yep. I was a little upset because the appraiser was from out of the area. And he didn't give me the value that I know. It should have appraised it. Yeah, it was about 25 $30,000. Short of I had more money to use. But it was it's a good deal. There was no interest for the first three months. So that really helped with the first flip nine. And I got I think 4.5 or something like that. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, it's it's, and I had no idea like, I just when I got divorced, I just kind of put, you know, the halt on everything. I didn't even know my credit. Was that good? I was like, Oh, well, I guess this is where I can get the money from. I love it. And you know, at first it did kind of stress me out thinking that I was using the equity in my home. But being that I don't have a mortgage payment at all. Sure. I also, you know, when I review houses, you know, I always look at worst case scenario. Yep. And worst case scenario, I can rent it. Can I rent it? For the interest payment? Plus? Yes, I can. Right. So you know

Unknown Speaker  22:06  
that that's key. Always have a backup plan. Oh, always. Yeah. Always have a different. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Always have another exit strategy that you can, you can use, right? It's so smart. Um, okay. So, did you act as the GC? Like, did you manage subs? Or did you kind of hire somebody who then kind of managed everybody?

Unknown Speaker  22:33  
Um, I actually, my boyfriend has flipped a lot of houses with his, his, oh, it's called his father in law. It's his ex father in law. He's a great guy. In their family flips, houses. Got it? Oh, I paid him to help me on my first flip. Yeah. Just to kind of, you know, I really thought I knew what I was doing. But I thought, what if I don't know? Sure? Of course, no, it was kind of that that little cushion? You know that? That got me through the first one. I don't think I'm going to need that. Again. I'm pretty confident in what I'm doing. I've got enough connections with contractors, and just with other people who flip houses, you know, to talk with through problems or anything that might come up. Awesome. And in terms of you said, there were any budget or no surprises. That was pretty straightforward. Yeah. And I think you saw you I think I saw on the Facebook group that you started a staging company on the side, right? Yes. Well, just because I knew I was going to stage this myself. Yeah. And it was a small house. So it was 875 on the first floor, and then I finished three quarters of the basement so ended up being a little over 1500 so I knew it didn't need a ton of stuff. And I actually pulled stuff from my own house. My own house was bare. I love it. My son kept saying Mama, are you gonna bring that chair chair but gave me some starter stuff and I have it all in storage and I haven't staged anything else yet. I probably need to get some more furniture to be able to to do like a larger house. Sure. But yeah, that's that's the goal is to kind of do that on the side although I don't know if I'm if I'm really busy flipping how much time I'm gonna have right to go and set all that up. You know, the

Unknown Speaker  24:37  
goal I hear is the goal is to have a successful house flipping business that yes,

Unknown Speaker  24:42  
yes, yes. See me maybe staging for other flippers that

Unknown Speaker  24:48  
Yeah, perfect. When I first started, got started flipping I I fell in love with the design piece. And yeah, it was something that I didn't Creative wasn't ever a word that I use to describe myself. I was a numbers person, I was an athlete, but creative. And so, after my first flip people were giving me all these compliments. And it was a very basic like, this is 2008. Very basic flip like it was it's not pretty looking back. It's not pretty. But it was then and it worked. Right, right. But people were like, Wow, you're so creative. And so it opened to this whole new side of me that yes, it was really weird. Yes. Did you already feel like you were creative before you did this? Or did it kind of No? Okay. No. Okay. I mean,

Unknown Speaker  25:46  
I guess interior design, like, you know, all the houses that I've had, you know, I've had a good time decorating them or whatever. But I didn't realize that it was going to be that well received. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. People were freaking out. Yes. Isn't that much like a lot of it was like Big Lots. No, it wasn't expensive. None of it was expensive. Most of it was secondhand and Big Lots. Yeah. That's Hello. It's just how you put it together.

Unknown Speaker  26:15  
Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So what's your favorite part? If you have a favorite part of the entire flip process? Finding the deal? You know, managing it, designing it? What's your favorite part?

Unknown Speaker  26:31  
Definitely designing. Uh huh. And I do like, showing up. And, and I did learn to that. You know, as much as I would like to be the girl who could go in and in tile and do this and do that. Yeah, it's probably not going to be me because I need it done in a timely manner. And exactly, yeah, I am. That's not my lane. I tried it, and it's not my lane. And I can appreciate it. And, you know, pick out the tile and I'm paying someone to do that. I don't mind painting at all. In fact, I enjoy it. It's therapeutic. And I get to blast music while I do it. Right. My son, my 16 year old son is going to help me on this next flip. And I'm really excited about that. You know, he he's been wanting to get a job. And then you know, we've had the pandemic. Yeah, he just got his license right before the pandemic. Yeah. Um, so you know, he can't really go out and get a job right now. And, um, can I work for you? And I'm like, absolutely. He had me on the last one, but just a little bit. So he's going to be painting and pressure washing and he wants to clean it out. Because the people who own the house previously left all of their furniture, all of their clothes, the pantry full all of the appliances. They left all the stainless steel appliances. Like this is an easy flip. Wow. Say that. Knock on wood. Follow up with you. It should be an easy flip. It was remodeled in 2015. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. So I mean, you walk in and I could literally paint everything fresh. Clean up the floors. And give it a good deep cleaning. Waterproof the basement, put a new roof on it and sell it. Were there a lot of other bids? No. No, there weren't a lot of people just past it. Because they've already got too many property. Hmm. ones that I know they already had to me property. Yeah, that's awesome. Or they didn't go in it.

Unknown Speaker  28:34  
Yeah, right. Right. Uh huh. It was just want to kind of squeaked back. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  28:40  
I love it. I love it. Um, okay. Did you have like, okay, at the beginning, you mentioned that you've been wanting to do this for like, 30 years? Yes. What was preventing you? ex husband? Uh huh. He just was, you know, risk averse.

Unknown Speaker  29:00  
Yeah. When you're when you're in one of those relationships. That's not good. Yeah. You know, you don't push you don't Sure. Yeah. It just would have been more of a nightmare than it already was. Head. I pushed to the back and knowing that he wouldn't have he wouldn't have followed through. Yeah, it would have been all me and I had a full time job and kids,

Unknown Speaker  29:25  
right. Yeah, we're kind of busy. Yeah, a little busy. Did you have or can you name maybe what your biggest fear was prior to this first flip, like leading up to you're about to close on it? Did you have any fear that kept coming through your mind?

Unknown Speaker  29:48  
Other than, you know, losing money. You know, that's, that's the biggest fear, you know, overall, and I'm not in a position to really be able to lose Money, money. Really spending large amounts of money. I really had to get past that. Yes. And honestly, as soon as I closed on buying the first slip house, I got past it. Okay, I was done. Okay. I don't know, something just don't think maybe it became a business for me at that point. Yeah. And it's just like, these are the things I have to do. I'm writing a business check. You know, I'm this is this is somebody else doing this? Because I just don't spend money. Well, yeah. Good thing, right? is a little emotionally draining when you're trying to spend, you know, 10s of 1000s of dollars.

Unknown Speaker  30:47  
Right, right now, and how, how did you get past it? Like, do you think you just got past it? Or? Or was it just clicked, something clicked? Yeah. I'm

Unknown Speaker  30:57  
just clicked. And, you know, for me, I have to have an end goal. Why am I doing this? Yeah, no, there has to be a reason other than just putting money in my bank account. Yep. The end goal is to be able to provide for my kids, and not say, I can't afford that. And I'm not talking about ridiculous things like fortnight and stuff like that. I'm talking about, you know, my daughter is doing an internship next year in DC. He's going to need some help. She has a job at college, you know, straight she's made straight A's since she was in like fifth grade. She's doing really well. But I don't want to have to say, Emma, I don't have money for right. You know, I want to be able to say here, you have done an excellent job. You deserve this. You know, go. And the same with all the kids. You know,

Unknown Speaker  31:48  
that's huge. That's that is exactly what my next question. Question was? What's your WHY? Yeah. Okay. So your y is to provide for your kids? Yes. And travel? Yes. Yep. Are you going to can't really celebrate right now? Your first flip? Are you going to take a trip somewhere to celebrate that?

Unknown Speaker  32:14  
Um, I am planning and like you said, I don't know if it's gonna happen or not my son's art class in high school. They are playing a trip to Europe next year. And it's only like, 30 $100 a piece? Wow. Yeah, I know. I guess they're getting a group rate or something. Yeah, sure. I know that. That covers lodging and airfare. And he's and I've traveled with them before. It probably covers some meals to Yeah, that's amazing. Oh, yeah. That's a once in a lifetime. Yeah. Yeah. No to that.

Unknown Speaker  32:48  
I want to do that. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. And you can? Yes, yes. If they let us fly, right. You said next year, so hopefully. Right.

Unknown Speaker  33:03  
Do you Is there anything that I mean, it doesn't sound like it? Because it sounds like it was just kind of a slam dunk? But is there anything you wish you had done differently on this first flip?

Unknown Speaker  33:14  
I did learn something. So I put it on the market on a Friday. Hmm. Um, and I had, I had flyers made, I was gonna go door to door in the neighborhood. This came from real estate point of view, I was gonna go to door to door to see if, number one, see if I could find any other houses to list or whatever. But to see if I could find any to buy for me to flip. And so all of the flyers said, you know, open house Sunday, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But we didn't even get to the open house. Because it was under contract. So. So next time, I won't do that. I will probably say, you know, highest and best offer by you know, 6pm Monday or something like that. So yeah, but I can get to the open house. I was really excited about the open house. probably get a lot of people in there. Yes. So that was that was a miss.

Unknown Speaker  34:11  
But it's hard because it's very exciting to lock it down. Yeah, you want to lock it down. Next time, I will chill a little bit more hard. I let me know how that goes. Because I'm still really bad at that.

Unknown Speaker  34:28  
Another thing that I just wanted to mention for somebody out there that might be doing their first flip. The the the renovation could have dragged on longer, as I noticed, you know, the longer that it went on is like we had the bulk of everything done. But there's so many little things they take too long. It see is overwhelming. They drain. So I told all of my contractors I'm like, Look, the photographer's coming next week this day, this time I might have lived A little bit. I told them so that they would know there is a deadline. We're not dragging this out another week or two, right? Because the deadline, and they met their deadline. That's awesome. Yeah, that was really important. Because that's another month, easily.

Unknown Speaker  35:17  
Hands down. The hardest part of any project has always been the detail stuff that it has. It takes longer than the bulk. Yes. It's like guys, come on. Yeah. It's not their favorite part. It's just No,

Unknown Speaker  35:33  
no, and it wasn't mine either. Like I just learned to stage like I was done. I want to get I want to see the finished product. And that was a big thing for me, too. You know, I wanted to close and you know, get the money, blah, blah, blah, and all that stuff to the satisfaction of seeing it complete. I know. And I didn't even realize how good it looked until after the photographer sent me the pictures. I was like, Oh, my gosh.

Unknown Speaker  35:59  
There's so much pride right there. What Yes, accomplishment? I mean, huge. You did it. Like Yes, you did it. 30 later, I cannot wait to get in on the next one. I'm so excited. That's so awesome. I love to hear that. And I just, I know that I appreciate you for sharing your story. Because any, any little bit of inspiration that people that other women can glean from it like it's just it's totally possible. It is absolutely possible to do. So. I appreciate your sharing your story, for sure. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Is there anything else before I let you go? Is there anything else that you wanted to touch on that? Maybe we did it? I know, this was kind of an easy flip? Like there weren't any?

Unknown Speaker  36:50  
Sure, the next one or the next, there's gonna be one that's going to bite me in the butt. I mean, I know. That kind of luck. And I have passed on some, you know, partly because of the pandemic, but also because they were just they were a lot. Yes. And I don't know, like that one that needs $20,000 worth of foundation work. I'm just like, Oh, my gosh, yeah. I don't know that I'm to that point yet.

Unknown Speaker  37:16  
Well, the thing was, yeah, well, the thing is, is there are a couple of things. One, here, once we jack with the foundation that much we're then replacing drain lines. So that's another shirt and 1520 grand. Like, it's it's a domino effect when you when you have to do something real major with one of the major sites that Yeah, secondly, I think it's, I say this a lot. But it's, you know, staying in your own lane. Like, this is the land that you've chosen right now. And it's working for you. So maybe, you know, ever have to go and do a, you know, a massive renovation, I mean, 40 something $1,000 on a living.

Unknown Speaker  38:00  
And that's why I have to keep telling myself, it is a business and you need to like this one. If it wasn't taken option calm so long. I could get in there and probably finish it in two to three weeks and turn around for a quick profit. That's amazing. But there's also that side of me that really wants to take one of these really bad houses. I know and fix it. Yeah. We're gonna get to that point. Yeah. I just don't think it's yet.

Unknown Speaker  38:26  
Yeah, that's fine. Keep doing what you're doing, sister because you're, it looks good on you. It's very satisfying. Oh, my gosh, it's the best. It's, there's it's I don't know anything that compares to it. Like, no, it's such a it's such an amazing process and

Unknown Speaker  38:48  
all that goes into it. Just it and I think it's for some people and some people it's not, you know, I know I had a few flippers in the area say, Oh my gosh, well, are you happy? You did that now? Just kind of like, huh, yeah, you're in the same boat as me. And I'm like, Yeah, like I love this. Are you kidding me? I'm sorry. You don't like your job. I love mine.

Unknown Speaker  39:09  
Awesome. That to me. Well, I appreciate you so much. Thank you for sharing your story. And thank you for hanging out with me a little bit today. I love I love it. You

Unknown Speaker  39:18  
and I love our Facebook page. We love it. It's been a lot of inspiration and a lot of good information in there.

Unknown Speaker  39:27  
Awesome. That's important. It's Yeah, it's important that it's good information, because there's a lot Yes.

Unknown Speaker  39:33  
And you know, I just randomly found that group. Oh, good. I love it. Like, randomly. I typed in women flipping I literally typed in women flipping houses and there it was. Yay.

Unknown Speaker  39:46  
I'm so glad I'm so glad that our paths crossed. And I thank you for engaging in the group and sharing and just being you showing up. I appreciate it. Well thank you. You're welcome. Awesome, Bethany. We will do Part Two after you do your next slip, so we can't wait to hear how it went. Yes, I'm super excited for you. Thank you so my let me out let us know when you close so we can we can see your pictures and stuff. Awesome. Well thanks Bethany. Thank you Have a good one you too. Bye. Hi. I loved it. Thank you again Bethany for sharing your story and for being an inspiration. And again, if you are ready to do this thing called flipping houses and have a blast with us go to first flip done right comm and get on the waitlist and I'll let you know when I have some openings. All right, you guys you know the drill. 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.