Blaire's Journey of Flipping Houses for Time Freedom & Financial Control

 
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 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 hair to breakfast, taco loving host house flipping coach Debbie DeBerry?

Debbie:  
Hey, thanks for hanging out today. So we are talking to Blaire, who is one of our community coaches, meaning she's one of the people in our Facebook group for our coaching program. So for our flip sisters, she's one of the ones who is in there answering questions, offering support, helping people get out of their own way. So there's me doing that, and sis, and Blaire, and Sherry Joe. So this interview is with Blair, we're going to hear about her house flipping journey, how she started, and what she's up to, and what brought her to real estate investing what was going on in her world that made her decide, you know, what, I shouldn't have to choose between my ailing mother and keeping my job. So oftentimes, when women join our program, actually, it's not even oftentimes, I'd say it's 99.9% of the time, when we have someone join our coaching program. They are in some sort of transition period, whether they are recently divorced, they've got kids who are have either flown the nest, or maybe they're just older, you know, out of elementary school, requiring less intense time from us. Or maybe the person is retiring or wanting to get out of a career that isn't bringing them joy anymore. Or maybe that person recently lost a loved one, and has been kind of figuring out is this really what I want to be doing is what I'm doing now really what I want to be doing there. It's some sort of transition. And that's across the board for the women in our group. And you'll hear from Blaire that she too, was in a transition when she started her house flipping journey. So I'm excited. You'll get to know her. You'll love her. And let's have some fun. All right, so let's meet Blaire. Okay, so you want to introduce yourself and give us like a little background like what's your what's your background? What are you doing? What have you been doing? And then how did you get into? How'd you get interested in real estate and that sort of thing.

Blaire:  
Okay, so Hey, everybody, my name is Blaire. I have loved real estate, probably for forever. Well, honestly, like, there were girls when they were younger, who were reading 17 and teen beat. And I was in like Southern Homes and Gardens going, that's a really nice tile floor, or they shouldn't have put that backsplash with that. I was really lucky. My dad was quite the craftsman. And some of my most fond memories are going to Lowe's every morning. And then even when I got older, we would go get coffee at Starbucks. And then we would go to Lowe's and like he walks through Lowe's every morning, he still does every Saturday morning. For the most part when he's not traveling, we would walk through like I remember walking through construction homes as they were going so I've always it's always been something I've been interested in and loved looking at just never really thought of that as a career for me, because like in schools, they don't really teach you about all these different things that are out there. Especially being a woman it's like do you want to be a secretary, a teacher or a nurse pick one move forward? Okay. Um, so I did and that's what I did. I ended up going to college, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. Ended up then going into nursing school because I knew I wanted to help people and I liked medicine. Probably should have gone to med school, but that's a whole nother story. I like pathology. And it was at a point in my life. My mother, it was probably four years ago, got very sick still remember the day Memorial Day got the call. She had a very aggressive form of cancer called AML. Um And at the time I just signed on with a new company. And there were times where I was having to make decisions. Do I keep going to work and getting paid because I was actually a temp, then so you didn't have PTO you didn't have benefits- I didn't have FMLA. So there were times where I was literally like, do I go sit with my mom who's dying in the hospital? Or do I go to work so I can keep lights on? You know, because I had student loans I had, you know, rent payments I had, you know, and I think my car was paid off at that point was still I mean, you have to live, you have to put groceries. And, you know, it's everything I was made out, you know, is making ends meet fine. But then like, when you don't go to work for an extended amount of time. Yeah, you don't get paid as a temp. So at that point, like in my brain, I was like, something's gotta give, there's gotta be a different way. And you know, call it fate, call it whatever, I heard one of those commercials on TV. Do you want to learn to flip houses? And like, me and my dad, that's another thing we did you know, we always watched those shows. And it's almost like how people would watch football games, we would kind of be like, Oh, my God, that person is so dumb. How did they not know that was coming? Like, didn't they see that? Why didn't get an inspection like, Oh, that's such an easy, you know, just stuff like that, like, and it was kind of we were sitting there one night, and I was like, why not? Like, why can't we do this. So at that point, I started looking into it and getting some education around it. And then October, three years ago, we bought our first home from a wholesaler, at a little town close to us, probably like 2030 minutes away from our house. And it was really neat. My first flip me and my dad did it together, hands on. It was an awesome experience. Because just you know, a little background. At that point, my mother had passed away. So it kind of in in July before that, so it kind of gave us something to do together, where we didn't have to talk about the things that had happened or what was going on. But we could still spend time together. And it was, you know, really just priceless time for me. One of the things I learned a sorry, Dad, if you ever hear this, I'm a much better project manager than he is. He is a fiddler. So like he will start one project and then something will catch his eye and he'll kind of move on. Whereas I'm very much like I have a list for the day. And it's like, Okay, we're gonna paint the door. And then we're gonna move to this so that the door can dry. And then we can go back and do the second coat. Like I just said, like, bam, bam, bam. And while I enjoyed it, I was also like, you know, part of why I wanted to do this was for extra money, and extra time. Well, if I'm spending all my time, right, doing all this stuff, I have no time for the freedom that I wanted. Yeah. So then I was like, Okay, we need to relearn reshift and kind of figure out a different way to do it. And so then it's just kind of snowballed to, we're now at a, you know, a few flips in, we're on number six, and seven. And each time, you know, there's different stuff that comes up, and you learned that that's what I love about it. It's problem solving. And it's making things pretty.

Debbie DeBerry   
Yeah, I know, right? There's no, there aren't two projects that are the same. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. are the same. What were some of your fears? Like when you doing Getting Started doing your first one? What were some of your fears?

Blaire  
Um, oh, gosh, losing money was the number one. Yeah. You know, because at first, I had to cut I came from, you know, my parents were, they weren't well off. But we were we did not want for anything. But I never knew, like, when I went to learn about more about flipping people like, oh, there are these lenders out there, they'll give you this money. And I know like my little college bank account, I never had, you know, $100,000 just sitting there hanging out. Yeah. So I was like, What do you mean, these people are just gonna give me this money and like, and it happened though, like, you know, as I learned, and as I went out and ask people, you know, I found investors and that so that like to get over that hump was huge for me. Because mentally because I didn't have it. I wasn't open to the fact that other people do. There are people out there. Yeah.

Debbie DeBerry    
That's huge.

Blaire   
Yeah. And then of course, like, you know, buying a house with like, Okay, what if there's a problem we didn't say? Yep. So you know, we kind of at now I incorporate in like I do in South Carolina, we call it a CL 100. So it's looks under the house for termite damage and mold and you know, rotten wood because we have a real problem with that. And we do home inspections, and that way, like, now we know going in what we're dealing with. Yeah, that kind of eliminates that anxiety. Yeah. And also just could I do it? Yeah, exactly. You know, like so it's funny because people are like that have you know, seen the stuff that I've done and follow me on Facebook because they're my friends. They're like, Oh my gosh, you're amazing. Your hustle, but it really wasn't until I remember Remember, I remember the distinct moment, I was driving home from finishing we'd done the last like put the lockbox on for the real estate agent for my fourth flip, and I just started giggling. And I was like, I'm doing this, like, you know, the first one, you're like, okay, oh my god. Like who? Okay, did you die?

Debbie DeBerry
Did it? Yeah, I did it,

Blaire   
I didn't die. But like, is this real, right. And like the second one, you're kind of like, trying to figure out all the problems that went wrong and the first one and resolve it. And then with that, when I had an interesting incident with a contractor, that kind of opened my eyes to some different things, because, you know, with the first one, and growing up with my dad, like, he always did all the labor himself because he knew how to do wood work. You know, I thought everybody lived in houses with like hardwoods, and you know, all these beautiful moldings, because he could do all that. So I wasn't familiar with like, what things cost to have other people do them. And I just remember, a contractor came and he walked around, and, you know, didn't write anything down, didn't take any pictures. And like, at the end, he's like, okay, that's gonna be, you know, $10,000. And I'm like, wait a minute. And I maybe said some things that weren't so nice. I said, because at the time, I had inherited my mother's Cadillac. So nobody knew I didn't pay for it. It had already been paid for it. So they just assumed I had money because I drove this car. And I was like, I don't know, sir. If it's the Cadillac in the driveway. Or the fact that I'm a woman, that you thought that that quote was appropriate.

Debbie DeBerry   
Oh.

Blaire  
I was just like, so then I like sat there and thought about us like, Okay, well, maybe I don't know. So luckily, like one of my friends that I had made in Korea, was like, he was a contractor. He's like, I was like, I know you're busy. You may be won't be able to take on the job. But can you at least just tell me I'm not crazy. And of course, like he came and he was like, yeah, no, you're right. It's about 2000 $3,000. At most, I'm like, okay, at least. So that is one thing that's really helped me as I've learned to get multiple quotes. Huge. And in fact, the one that I'm working on now for the tilework literally the difference went from like, I had one person, same job. $55,000 all the way down to 12,000. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, you know, I'll give you a couple $1,000 difference, but like, that huge of a window, same job. And the guy insulted for the lower cost did a fantastic job. It's beautiful.

Debbie 
Yeah, it's so insulting. It's like, Who do you think I am, bro? Who do you think I am?

Blaire 
And it was kind of terrible, because the company found out that I was a flipper. So they assumed that I actually went and looked on the court records. So she was, I guess, silly enough to tell me that this is what she did. They went and looked at how much I paid for the house. And of course, then I looked at how much they thought I could pay for it. And they'd send it that's why they were like, well, we want some of the profits. So we're good. This is she can afford it. I'm like that I'm not gonna pay that.

Debbie 
We're not in a partnership here. We're not. Yeah, get your own flip. That is absurd. I can't believe she even told you. She did. They did that.

Blaire 
And that was like, I don't know if it was arrogance, or just stupidity in that moment for her. I was like, Is she really like, you know, when you hear things and you're like, that, really? I'm gonna need you to repeat that, because I'm not really sure I heard what I just heard. And it wasn't facts. And I was like, and then she was it was so we're getting the job and like, no, oh, hard.

Debbie  
No, no, no. Wow. The audacity. Wow. Yeah. Okay, so how did you? But how did let's talk about the financing? On your first one, how did you buy the property? How did you finance the purchase? How much was the renovation? How'd you finance that?

Blaire  
Would that look like? So I think if memory serves me correctly, we bought it at about 70 and put 20 into it. And I think we ended up selling it at like 135 145. Okay, but so when I first started out, I had heard of private lenders. And I'd also heard of hard money lenders. Again, a mental thing. I was like, okay, corporation will definitely have the money. Like they're a big hard money lender. I was very lucky. My father helped invest like he did my private gap funding for my first one. And that meant so much to me, because it's one thing for your parents to be like, Yeah, you're awesome. Go do this. It's it's quite a humbling other experience for him to hand you money and handed me a check for close to $20,000 and said, I believe in you, you know, and he saw that I was getting the education and I was doing the numbers and I was like the data was driving my decisions. And he's like, if you believe this is the one because we'd look I looked at a whole bunch. He was like then then we'll do it. So the hard money lender was injured restart. Yeah, was interesting. You know, whenever the terms and the appraisal came back low, like the after appraisal, so had to go through that, like trying to fight that. And so I learned a lot in my first experience. And then after that, I had a few people that came up to me and my Ria, and we're like, Hey, we love to private lend to you, we like what you're doing. We like how you're doing it. And so that just kind of opened that door. Now with the second one, I will say I did the hard money lender, again, because I had mental it was a mental block. Because I knew the person and I knew they had this most adorable son. And the only thing like at first I could think of was, oh my God, that's his college fund. Like, what if I lose his college fund, like, Oh, my God. But then, you know, we talked and he was like, you know, I'm an investor. It's my job, too. You know, I know it's a risk, and it's my job to look at the project and judge if it's a risk I want to take so if I choose to invest with you, like I'm saying, I'm okay with this the risk, so that made me feel a lot better. It's still not typical. It still makes me nervous, like, people are always like, Oh, the prophet prophet. I'm like, No, I need to get the money back to my investor first, right. Yeah, that's what worries me. Yeah, I need to I need to pay off the loan people have, you know, have lend me this money. And, you know, it's, it's, it's some of them, it's their nest egg, because it comes from a Roth IRA, or, you know, it's the college fund or something else. But that's kind of my first process is always to be like, Hey, let's pay these lenders back.

Debbie DeBerry 
Yeah. Yeah, it feels so good. Every single Yeah, it feels so good.

Blaire  
And they're so happy. They make money. So it makes

Debbie DeBerry
a phenomenal return that they can't get anywhere else.

Blaire 
Well, yeah. And it's funny you say that, because I just had a friend of mine, who is he does a great job of explaining to lenders, why this is a good a good place to put your money. And with everything right now with the stock market, he actually did like a data analysis. And the people who had the same amount in the stock market lost money, and the people who invested with him made 12% return on their investment. So, right. Yes, yeah. So in learning stuff like that really just helps me mentally go, Okay, this is awesome. I'm actually providing an opportunity for somebody to make awesome money in an economy where people are struggling to do that passively. They don't do a thing. I do. I do have two that do. And they're so cute. They come and look at the product. They love to look at the projects. So I want to they don't do anything they do. Come check it out.

Debbie DeBerry    
Yeah, I like that, though. Right? It's like they, it's really, a lot of people want to be flipping houses, but they don't want to be flipping houses, but they want to invest. They want to be involved in that way. But they don't want to manage it. They don't want anything to do with it other than getting a return and see before and after.

Blaire  
And that's how that's how they are and they're the sweetest couple. And they're like, We want to be involved, but we don't want to do what you do. And like, yeah, we can do

Debbie DeBerry   
exactly that works. That works. Great. Okay, so what was your first profit? Maybe like around 30k?

Blaire 
It was around 30,000.

Debbie DeBerry  
Yeah, awesome. Okay. So then we talked about kind of what your fears were, was there anything that came up in the first flip? That was super surprising or was super, like just a bad experience and for your from your first flip?

Blaire 
It's gonna take longer than you expect. That's probably like, the most unexpected thing. I was like, okay, all this I know how to fix. But it's just one of those where you just like, Okay, you have to add it up. Like,

Debbie DeBerry  
wait, okay, so, you bought your first slip up? aroud 2019. Is that right? Okay. So when when you went on the market was it was that COVID hit?

Blaire
No. And this was right before, like our like our market epic. Like the markets in our area right now are very quick moving, and it was not quick moving then. So this was pre COVID. Okay, because I still January.

Debbie DeBerry  
Okay, gotcha. Gotcha. Interesting. Okay. So then, let's talk about your second one. What, what was the timeframe in between between getting the second one from after selling your first

Blaire   
one? Probably a couple of weeks. Okay. So my goal is like when I get close to at this point, because I was just doing one at a time. The goal was to like as one is on the market. I started to work for my next one. That's exactly what I did, too. Yeah. So we were kind of like, okay, we know we're gonna close. Yeah. Which is always a moving target date. So I tried to give myself some wiggle room. But like, once it closed, I was definitely like, Okay, where's my next one? Where's the next one?

Debbie DeBerry  
Yeah, who's got something and you're on Six and seven right now, right? Do you get all of those through wholesalers? Yep. Yep. Because and

Blaire  
I tell people out there like most of the time, you know, work a nine to five job. And so there's a lot of people out there who are like, Oh, I can't do it. I can't do it. I'm like, Yeah, you can if there's a will, there's a way. And wholesalers were my way. You know, do I pay them a fee? Yeah. But they put in so much time and effort and money into marketing and finding homes. And that's what I don't have the time to do currently, Zack, so it allows me to still continue with them. And it's awesome. I have a great relationship with a lot of them in town. And they're fantastic people. They're great to work with.

Debbie DeBerry  
Exactly. Okay, so flip number two. Were there any major surprises on that one?

Blaire  
Yeah, I think the only major surprise was we had a tree that fell in the backyard during a storm. And it was kind of funny, because I had never dealt with code enforcement before. That was something new. And it's, of course, like it's pouring down rain code enforcement calls me because I'm the registered owner of the home. And he's like, you have a tree fell. It's blocking traffic and the road into like, of course, full panic mode. I'm like, Oh my god. So we like grabbed chainsaws and hop in the car. And like drive across town, it was like 30 minutes away. And we get out there and like, it's a two lane road. And there's like, one, one tiny branch of the tree is like barely on the road. And I was like, I just remember, it's like standing there in the rain holding a chainsaw and one hand, and just like laughing because it's just like really do like, so we kind of like brushed the stuff off to the side. And then I called my lawn guy was like, Can you come get this tomorrow? So that was my first time like learning that there's, you know, what is code enforcement? What do they do? How are they involved in the city? Uh huh.

Debbie DeBerry  
Um, out of all the flips, is there one that stands out as your favorite so far?

Blaire 
hmmm. I don't know if I could say a favorite because they're all They're all so unique. I mean, coming to default answer would be the first one because that's what like broke open. Everything. I actually did have one of my friends do a watercolor of it. And with a nice, nice phrase that meant a lot to me underneath it about like changing your life theory. But I would probably say like, moment after the fourth one where I was talking about or I was laughing, I was like, oh my god, like I really am doing this. Like, yeah, like that moment for me was really cool. Because it was just like the first one. I'm like, Okay, it's a fluke. The second one, you're just trying to like, make it. The third one. You're like, Okay, this is a habit now. And like, yeah, so yeah, I mean, like, they've just all been different. So I don't know that there's one where I'm like, oh, yeah, that was my favorite. But I mean, obviously, you know, spending time with my dad was priceless. Oh,

Debbie DeBerry  
for sure. I'm sure that was really cathartic. For both of you. Yeah. Yeah. Given the timing of everything. Is there one that's at least favorite? Has there been one that's just like, have you had? Have you had one of those yet? Like, where you're like, oh, my gosh, man, I just went out.

Blaire   
Yeah. And the funny thing is, it was number four, the one that like afterwards. Yeah, so got where to even start. So it was it was supposed to be simple. Of course. Yep. Um, you know, we go in and the guy is doing some work under the house. And he's like, like, the joist was like, not in the proper place. Oh, it wasn't like it wasn't bearing any way, like, so we had to get someone in there to do that. You know, the cool thing is it opened a relationship with I have a guy that does you know, if I have a problem like that, now, I know he's reliable. I call him he's an awesome, dude. You know, I recommend them to everybody. So I'm like, okay, cool. So at least, you know, I got a good relationship out of it. So we did that. And then like, electrician that came in was lazy. And like, didn't want to run a light switch or a thing from one of the lights to the switch. So it ended up being like a switch across the room. And I was like, You know what, oh, well, it lights at some point. You're like, oh, well, it lights up like the switch. The light works were good. There wasn't a light there before there needed to be. It had special windows. They were like I closed the California house because it was built like a house that you would find in like the 1970s in California. So the windows were unique. It had a Juliette window, which I had to even learn the word, because I didn't even know what it was fancy. Yeah. So and it was it was a sweet old lady's house and she had left it to go to assisted living and then I found out later like, there wasn't nobody had been there for two years. And then, you know, my heart broke because apparently she showed up the day after we had closed and like when I closed the next day, my demo crew comes in and clean out so we're just you know, moving right along. Long. I guess she was at bless her heart. She was looking for a cat. Who wasn't who hadn't been there in a multitude. And I don't know why her son drove her all the way out there. Because he knew good and well the cat wasn't there. So she was like, Can I have my cat stuff? And like the demo guy was like, Blair. He's like, my heart just broke because we'd like, you know, it was already packed up and dumped. And I was like, well just send her some new stuff. Like, I'm so bad. I'm sorry. I hated the sun. Because I was like, he knows good and well, there was no gap there. Like, why didn't you drive her here? Right? Oh, yeah. And so then like, and there was an issue with like the paint at Sherwin Williams, they didn't mix the color, right. And like the painter painted the wrong place outside, but in it looking okay, so we're like, alright, well, just, you know, sometimes you just roll with it. You know, it was, it was supposed to be this light blue colored ended up white with like blue trim. Wasn't even the right color, light blue, but it looked good. So it was like you kind of make a decision as a business. And you're like, do we want to spend the money and time to do it over? No, it looks fine the way it is. Yeah. And then we went to sell it. And I had an agent, with a client put it under contract. Um, unbeknownst to us, they have switched financing back and forth three or four times, and then kind of disappeared. So like, we couldn't find them for 30 days,

Debbie DeBerry  
because they remembered the something about the people were like missing, the buyers were missing. But yeah,

Blaire  
the agent went missing. And when we finally got in touch with them, the only way we did and they got the transaction coordinator, whoever he hired, she was fantastic. Because I guess he sent her the release, like no explanation, no nothing and said send it to me. And she was like, Oh, heck no, like, that's so unprofessional. Like, you need to reach out to her. Well, he never did. So she finally called me she's like, I just like, I can't just email you this because that's just not right. Probably the only time in my life, I've been mad enough at what another agents done. I call this broker because I was just like, the lender had no idea. Like, we felt like, you know, he found out through you because it was FHA. So like they could he saw the appraisal had been ordered from somewhere else. Like, so he was doing all their stuff. And like had no idea they've gone to try to get a different lender. It was just like, so that house just sat empty for like 60 days.

Debbie DeBerry  
All because of poor communication. For starters. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Blaire 
And so I was just like, oh, my gosh, and then we had to put it back on the market. And then at that point, like something and I don't know if it was the paint, or just like the fact that no one was there. Some of the walls outside like, like spiders and stuff had gotten on it. So it looked dirty. So this agent calls me and she's like, are they gonna do a paint in session? And I'm like, like, all new paint here. What do you mean, like, and I was like, I called her back later and kind of apologize when I saw it. And I was like, oh, it just needs a little light pressure wash to be like pressure washed it off. I was I was just 30. Yeah, so it was just it just kind of was one of those things where it just kept dragging on. And so like when we closed on it, a compact company actually bought it for an investment as a rental. And she was just like, so that whole transaction with her was amazing. She was like, Yeah, we're gonna do the inspection. We're still gonna buy it. We don't care what's wrong with it. But it's in great shape, by the way. I was like, okay, cool. And she's like, okay, so like two weeks? I'm like, Yeah, done by Yes.

Debbie DeBerry  
Thank you. Okay, so, y'all were under contract. Y'all were in escrow? For like, 60 days.

Blaire   
Yeah. Like he did call close to the 30 days and like, ask for an extension. Yeah. So lesson learned, I will always ask for additional money now with the extension just to cover the at least my daily rate for the lender. Yeah. Cuz, you know, God bless. I'm such a sweet person. And I've been hard on my luck. And I, you know, I had a hard time buying my first home and doing all that. So I have a little bit of a softer spot for that. So I'm like, okay, you know, this guy is trying to do the right thing. He's getting his finances in order. He just needs a couple more days. Okay, cool. So we extended it, and then it was like, they just disappeared.

Debbie DeBerry  
Oh, my gosh. Okay. So yeah. When you went back on the market, how quickly did you get an your next offer that did end up closing?

Blaire  
A couple days? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It was really quick.

Debbie DeBerry   
Yeah. Okay. Nice. So number four was the one that so far has given you the most grief. But also is the one that signified to you. I'm a flipper.

Blaire 
Yo. Oh, and then like so they delivered my appliances. I totally forgot about that like, and the door like we were the last delivery for the day, he's like, do you want me to put it in the kitchen we still needed to lay out the linoleum so I was like no, just hold off. Well, like the fridge didn't fit in the door to the kitchen. So like I asked him to like walk it around and bring it in the side door cuz it was a side door to the kitchen. And they like didn't want to do it and so I just kind of like okay, whatever like lesson learned now you will get the fridge into whatever doorway of that room is and you will set it down even if it's not in place like it's in the room. So it was just stuff like that and like to the day we put before we put it on the market like we're trying to get the fridge in it scuffs the linoleum so we had to replace some of it, you know, just it was just like this whole compounding thing.

Debbie DeBerry  
Oh my gosh.

Blaire  
So when it sold I was like, Are you sure? Like we signed the paperwork? No,

Debbie DeBerry  
right. Just like coming back right? This

BLaire 
there's no take backsees here. Like I was so afraid to go take because they asked me to leave the lockbox on for a few days so that they could go you know that whoever their property manager is could go out and get it. And I was like terrified. I'm like, I'm not going to pick the lockbox that we're done. You can have it I'm telling

Debbie DeBerry  
you those bad ones. They later man because my worst. My worst one was in 2012. And last year, I think, or maybe the year before, I think it was last year though. The current owner reached out to me the same person who bought it from me. And he was looking for. I can remember he was looking for some document. I had some document, and I did and I gave it to him. He's like, Oh my gosh, you should totally come check out the house. You should come see what we did to the back yard. It's amazing. Like this is this house had downtown views. Like the lot was really pretty. And I was like, Uh huh. I'll let you know. I don't ever I'm never coming over there. Never I don't even want to be on your street, sir.

Blaire 
I'm like, wholesalers have sent me deals in that neighborhood. And I'm like, I'm sending you to take $20,000 off the price for emotional distress for me to go look at it. Like so true. They

Debbie DeBerry  
went Oh, too good. Okay. Anything about flips? Five, six, and seven. You want to share? So right now you're on six and seven. So you're doing two at a time?

Blaire  
Yeah. So that's a difference. So the good point about five was I found a really good crew. Somebody recommended, you know, because I had been key contracting most of it again, like I said, I love project managing. I love putting all the pieces in the puzzle. And planning ahead. You know, I go okay, for I sit down at the beginning of a project and I'm like, okay, week one, we're doing this week two, we're doing this, and yet stuff is gonna go chaotic. When people ask me what I do. I tell them I coordinate chaos. Hmm, exactly. Things are gonna go crazy. But if you have a plan ahead of time, it makes things way easier. Yes. And then you know, somebody suggested I call this group and I love it because it's a lady and a gentleman husband wife. And they worked out really well for that project. And I've carried them into five and six. Oh, good. Which is unique. Five is very unique. For me. It's probably about four times bigger than anything I've ever done. Size wise and price. So it's been it's been interesting to do something and it's funny to watch everybody that walks into the house because they're like, oh my god, it's so big. I'm like, yeah, now. It's, it's, it's got 15 foot ceilings. So it's just like not only the square footage, but it's it's just got an air of grandeur to the first floor and so it's just like people walk in it's a gorgeous space. You know, I can't wait to see it finished. You know, we're getting kind of down to the last you know, glasses coming in for the shower. cabinets or I just found the last cabinets that were floating out not at all and but they're they're coming next week and I'm going to be installed. So

Debbie DeBerry  
oh, the glass of the shower. That's what I'm waiting for. I'm like, come on, where's my glass.

Blaire  
And it was so funny because like, in my mind, I had this idea of I just wanted a panel because I wanted it to look you know, modern and sleek. And thank God for I use a local company, actually a guy and girl I went to high school with so that's been awesome to kind of turn around full circle super unused, some locals and they're always so helpful and great. And he explained to me like where I wanted the panel he's like, but how do you turn the water on without getting all the way in the shower? I was like, Oh my gosh, mind blown. Because in my brain, it looks gorgeous. Right? And he was like, Yeah, and so then I was like, Oh my gosh, like, thank you. Yeah, because I would have built something that would have been like people would have been like, How do I turn the water on like, function is important. You just yeah, you just walk around and be like, but yeah, but then you're in the shower getting wet. I'm like, yeah, right, you know, functions function. So and this one's been unique because I've never replaced an entire kitchen cabinet set. Okay, I've always just like been able to repaint or redo door for That's, that's my favorite trick. Yep. So and then with six has been interesting, because I've never done to before, and this one is on like an outskirt. Town. Okay, that is starting to see a lot of movement. You know, clearly as everyone I think is aware at this point, you know, if you're on Facebook or Google or whatever, they're telling you that, you know, house prices are going up. So the area that I grew up in is was considered rural. And now you know, over the last 2030 years has been built up. So people are being pushed out. So it's kind of like the next city over and they're, they're bringing in factories, and they're bringing in online is getting ready to open, so my people need somewhere to live. So it's been having to learn how to schedule both and like, stop somewhere. And then like, sometimes, like, I'll have super anxiety about the financing. Because this one I'm actually using a hard money lender with. And it was one of the things I used, I used a private money lender for the big one. And then I actually had a great conversation with him about like, I want to open different avenues because while I love working with him, he's fantastic. You know, there may come a day, I never want to limit him holding money for me. It and then if there's a day where you know, heaven forbid something happen, and he have to use his money, then I need to make sure I have other avenues of established relationships. Yeah. And so I was like, Okay, let me just try out this company. And they've been fabulous to work with. Easy, easy. So that's been great. So it's just been it's been interesting doing too. And I'm like, Okay, I you know, I can do this. Yeah, yeah. Hey, take a breath like, and so I've just learned, like, you just face the problems, each one as they come, right. You know, I can sit here and worry about what can what could happen. It may not like I said, like, at some point, you know, I'll have an h fat guy who maybe needs to come this week, but doesn't make it for two weeks. So why am I worrying about paying him on the first week, when it's not even a thing? Because he comes two weeks later, and then I tell him for this business is relationships. So I've learned if you're open and honest with people about what's going on, like the group that I work with, they're used to getting paid weekly. And I was like, Well, with this house with the hard money lender, it's a little different. They pay as the projects are finished. And they're like, oh, okay, cool. Like, and I was very nervous about that conversation. But I just find like, if you establish a relationship with people, and you're open and honest about how money is coming in, and how they're getting paid, yeah, they're willing to work with you.

Debbie DeBerry  
Right? Right. It's when you aren't open, and you're not paying. Right. So you're, you're you're doing both things. You're not open and communicative. And you're not paying them when they're trying to get paid and pay off their people. Right. That's when things get all crazy. It's just Yeah, communication. Relationships. So important. So important. Yeah. Yeah. Is there anything that we haven't touched on that you wanted to talk about? I think we went through all the things.

Blaire 
Yeah. And I just want to say like, even though I was interested for people that listen to this, even though I was interested in real estate, like I had no knowledge of anything, right when I started, right. Um, and so like, a typical, like, if I who was into I was, I was biology nerd. You know, I loved you know, science, and then I went into nursing. So, you know, you asked me how to, like, start a heart I got you. You asked me like how you know, and I had some basic, I won't say I didn't have any basic knowledge of how things should be from helping my dad. But from a start to finish standpoint, and like I had no idea about businesses alike at all. So like your programs amazing to me that you actually take people step by step and go, Okay, you need to do this first and do this first. Because I'm, as an agent, because I'm a real estate agent, too. And I see people who don't do those steps, but it's just like, you know, had you told me five years ago, that I would be successfully doing this and loving it like, I love it. Yes. Did things come up? Yeah. Is it sometimes stressful, but like, so is any other job on the planet, but the things that this affords me as far as financial and time and just enjoyment? You know, oh my god, I'm so glad that stuff happened the way it did. And so here I am. So if like, you're out there, and you're even, like, just thinking about it, and you're like that, I don't know, like, nobody knew when they started nobody. Everyone starts saying I don't know, nobody. Yeah, and some of them you know, a lot of the most successful people I know just you know, they joined a coaching program. I think that's vital. I'm learning in my life, like every aspect health, fitness, wellness, you know, mental real estate realtor, like it's so important. It makes such a huge difference. But yeah, I mean, it's just you can do it, I promise. Like, it's, it's awesome. It's awesome. And it's often like when you finish a project Like I remember like walking away from my foot or driving away because I'm not walking 40 minutes from my first flip. And you're like, I did it like, Yeah, I did it like I'm going to the attorney's office tomorrow. And I'm getting this check. And like, you know, I do remember the first time I'm like, is this monopoly money, right? Remember, in my life, yeah, I had never in my life been handed that much at one time. And so for me, it was it was it's life changing. Yes, absolutely. Life changing. And there's no other avenue that I would rather be doing it through.

Debbie DeBerry  
Yeah. So beautifully said. I love it. That's a great place to end. I mean, can you top that? Well, thanks, Blair. You're awesome. Thank you. You're super awesome. We love you. We love having you in the group. And I

Blaire 
love being here. Yeah. Awesome. What you do is amazing.

Debbie DeBerry  
Same. We're up to some good. We're up to see good. All right, girl, I'll see you. I'll see you in the chat. Bye. So there you have it. You can solve problems. You can do hard things. You can do this, if you want to do this. And if you are still stuck on the sideline, if you're still terrified. If you are still letting other people tell you, you can't do this thing. First of all, why are you letting people tell you that? Right? If they aren't doing the thing you want to be doing in the way you want to be doing it? Their opinion doesn't matter. We've shared countless stories with you, of women across the US who are doing this very thing in a way that feels good. It's not screwing people over. It's not taking advantage of people. It's creating wins for everyone involved. It's doing this thing with heart. If you want to do that, and you want us to help you, that's exactly what we do. So book a call, see if we're a fit. Go to her first flip.com and schedule a time to talk with us. Right? Simple as that. Painless. Is that all right. Okay, until next time, go out there. flip houses like a girl. Leave people in places better than you find them and keep chasing your curiosities. Bye yall