Chanel's Journey Towards a $40k House Flip Profit in Just 3 Months!

Speaker 1: 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 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 DeViery.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Hey there, thanks for hanging out with us today. On this episode, I am introducing you to Chanel in Portland, and she's walking us through her first flip, in which she made $40k in three months. We talk about her big fear of not being able to find a team. Mainly, would she be able to find contractors that really want to work and show up and be reliable and consistent. Yes, there are fantastic contractors out there. There are fantastic. Every single team member you have. There are fantastic ones out there. Anyway, she talks to us about that, and she talks to us about the importance of trusting your gut. Hello, is that a theme on every single episode? We also talk about getting in and quickly out of comparison. Also, how important it is to lean into the people who are rallying around you and lifting you up. That's exactly what our group does and the importance of being able to problem solve. You can't crumble when a problem comes up. If you do, that's probably a sign that this isn't the right business for you, just being honest. And then we also talk about how, even though things are budgeted, it's still really hard for her to write a big check. Oh my gosh, it's such a great conversation. She's talking to us about the challenges of the house, surprises, how she found it, how she financed it, all of that good stuff and more. All right, let's get into this conversation with Chanel. So let's start with you introducing yourself, letting us know who you are, where you are, kind of what you're up to, aside from clipping houses.

Speaker 3: 2:36

Yeah, so my name's Chanel, I live. I just moved to Camus Washington, which is just outside Vancouver, washington. But I lived in Portland for about five years and that's where I flipped my first property. What I'm up to, I currently just moved, so I'm unpacking my house, but I'm also simultaneously looking for the next flip. But it's interesting, I'm learning that the winters in well, portland and Washington kind of govern what kind of property you're going to buy and when, because you want it to go on the market in spring ultimately. So the type of property that I'm going to pick next is governed by the weather.

Speaker 2: 3:19

Just make sure the longer timeline works in your DA Exactly. It's as simple as that. I know people get worried about the winter, but it's like just make sure you can hold it for a couple extra months if you need to.

Speaker 3: 3:32

All of that, people taking time off and everything is just going to be a little more.

Speaker 2: 3:36

So just add that into your DA, you're totally fine. So wait, what made you? What took you from Portland to where? Did you say Washington?

Speaker 3: 3:46

West Washington. It's just a quiet little community outside Vancouver. Washington Got it Well. I think we all know about the issues that Portland has with the homeless and it's just a completely different city. After the pandemic, great place to flip, had no problem finding homes to flip there. But yeah, so that's what I'm doing. I'm looking for my next flip. It has to be the right one and I'm ready to go. This process has been super, super fun. I feel like it's just the perfect combination of challenge and learning and gratification personal gratification that I've been looking for in all of the previous careers that I've had and for all those women wanting to quit their corporate job or the careers they've been in forever. As long as you're good at problem solving, do it. It's like I've had very stressful, male dominated careers in the past and it just it's stressful and it's hard work, but it's different stress. You're in control and you dictate how it goes, dictate who's on your team. It's just, it's so gratifying and it's so hard, but it's so much fun I've agreed.

Speaker 2: 5:14

All of that agreed, okay. So what were you doing before you got into flipping? What kind of work were you doing?

Speaker 3: 5:24

I owned a couple of my own businesses, like I used to have my own salon. I owned a farm at one point oh, that's cool. Auto industry I was in manufacturing, so my previous careers really prepped me for working in a male dominated industry and also the project management factor has really given me a leg up Again. I love to problem solve, so that really makes it. That's exciting for me. So that's the part of this now business that I really enjoy, because it's really renovating a house. You're taking something with a bunch of problems and you're solving it and presenting this beautiful product at the end, which is the same thread in manufacturing and farming and the auto industry. So there's kind of that common thread. So I feel like I was a little bit more prepared going into this than some might be.

Speaker 2: 6:26

But if you're able to learn and if you're able to solve problems and a little bit of accounting, yeah, honestly, people who freak out at any little problem, this isn't going to be a great fit for you, but if you thrive off of challenges and problems and problem solving, it's like this place is awesome.

Speaker 3: 6:55

Yeah, and you don't even need to be a whiz Like I'm terrible at math. I'm so bad at math it is not my language and I'm a very visual person too, so I might go about things like someone might be very, have a very liquid way about translating numbers and data, Whereas I don't. I'm more of an art brain. So a lot of the tools that you gave us has gave me so much confidence. I mean, it gave me a push. I needed to get into this, but also all of your spreadsheets and whatnot. It really helps hone it all in. And then, on top of that, if you want to go further, I ended up, because I'm a visual person, I ended up adding Gantt charts so I could see what task is overlapping with another, and it really helped me stay on task. It helped me to stay on timeline. I also do it's called Freeform or something. It's on my Apple computer Make little image boards. The writing that I picked. I put it on. You are my kind of nerd. Yeah, I see that's what the vibe of the house is going to be. Yeah, and I followed that and I felt like it helped hone in and make everything that I picked, decor-wise or fixtures. It made everything cohesive and made it look more high-end. I mean, I'm definitely a very frugal person and I online shop like crazy to find the best deal that looks the most high-end. But just seeing it all in one place really gives you that mood board, if you will, Helps you stick mask problem solve. Like oh crap, I need to buy another fixture. Put it in the mood board, OK yeah, that fits or that makes it look a little shabby. I'll switch this out with something else.

Speaker 2: 8:51

I love using different tools for different things. Even though maybe it wasn't created for that, it's like I'm going to use it in this way and it works for me this way, yeah, so let's walk through your first slip. How did you find it?

Speaker 3: 9:09

I found it on FSBO for salebyownercom. They have a foreclosures feature, yeah. So I actually found it through there and I ended up plugging it into Zillow and it was on the MLS. But finding it on FSBO kind of weeded through all of the other ways that I could have searched for it. But that's just where I found it and I found a realtor and she is incredible Good. Another tool that just helped me have so much confidence in what I'm doing. Yeah, she helped me get it. It was a foreclosure. It's been on the market forever because it was a hoarder's home. And who wants that? I do. It's funny because my realtor had been telling me oh yeah, I just flipped this hoarder's house and I was like I could never do that. That's so icky. I wouldn't want to wear a respirator all day, but it's funny. I was actually reflecting the other day. You know those posts online that are like would you do this for a million dollars? Would you wear a respirator and scrape human diarrhea off a wall for $40,000?

Speaker 2: 10:25

I guess that's my number. That's hilarious, yeah, just not too much number it was.

Speaker 3: 10:32

So I got it and it was a foreclosure. So luckily all of the trash and all that had already been removed. The carpet had been removed, so it still was like walking in. There was a punch in the face, yeah, with in, with your sensory. But if you look at it from solving a problem, the owner had let their pets. They didn't let their pets outside, so they just used that for was. So, yeah, it. It had so much wallpaper and I found out later that it was some of it was pasted up with that like old school Flower and water paste. So it was like scraping dough off of the wall. I was just pulling my hair out. Yeah, there was. There was poo everywhere, oh, just every little crevice, even a pie Mouse poo everywhere. There he goes. It was slattered on the walls in the bathroom it was in Corners, it would. There's just a layer of filth on Everything, like on the dining, the dining room light fixture. There was like black drips frozen in time. It was so gross, um, but I just looked at it like I think it's just that girl grit in us. I just looked at it as an objective. It is a job right done. The respirator on and I learned how to breathe through that thing and I just told People that were coming in the subcontractors, here's what you're walking into and then you know they handle it However they do. I feel like when you know on those murder Both, when they like, put Vix and their nose so they can't smell. I feel like I should have done that for them, but I didn't think of it, but anyway, yeah, so I um, the deal was really tight and so I ended up Managing myself. I did speak to a GC, but you know they they do cost a decent amount of money and it just didn't my budget and my realtor has a building background, so she's kind of my GC, like she just tells me like this needs to be fixed. So she's really awesome that way. But, um, yeah, I managed to myself and I kind of wanted to because I wanted to learn how things work. Like, I learned so much. I know the other that, like, I thought that a shower fixture, you just like pop it on, no, you have to open the wall, and I just had no idea. So, yeah, I'm really lucky that the things that popped up were Manageable. But, um, yeah, I learned a lot. So, as far as the numbers, yeah, so what did you pay for it?

Speaker 2: 13:28

Yeah, so I paid 202 for it.

Speaker 3: 13:29

Okay, and my original renovation budget, just being a novice, um, I arrived at 35 grand. It ended up being 41 grand. Okay, that's terrible, yeah. And the continuity was you know, it was there and I'm glad it was. That padded, yeah, nice, and it covered all the surprises that came up. My original ARV was 315, based on the comps and two that might. It was my first time I was working with that realtor, so she didn't know how good of a job I was going to do. I mean, I don't either. So 315 is my number. I ended up. My sales price was, uh, 319.9 and my profit ended up being 40 grand. Nice. And what was the total time frame? A purchase to sale was three months.

Speaker 2: 14:26

That's awesome.

Speaker 3: 14:27

So my renovation was two months. I kicked ass like I. I stacked people luckily correctly, so they weren't on. You know, working against each other and yeah and um. That's awesome. How did you?

Speaker 2: 14:42

finance it.

Speaker 3: 14:45

So I was surprised. But, um, I just Kind of vocalized that I was doing this and my, my father actually came forth and gave me a private money loan Awesome, um, which comes with a different kind of like guilt and nervous, and you know that person, like you, have to pay the back now, uh-huh. Also, that connects to my why is he's always supported me. But I was finally like I'm in a position now where I get to pay you back your interest. Yeah, it was. It felt so good To pay him that. Um, yeah, I got a private money loan and then I, I Funded the Renault myself and, yeah, the uh, as far as I know, the uh as far as surprises, it was the surprises of a hoarder home and it was built in the 70s. So, you know, a lot of wood paneling, a lot of wallpaper. I the the cabinets were in good condition. In the kitchen I took out, you know, the classic 70s uppers. So fixing the drywall. I knew that was gonna happen, but I thought I could save the cabinets because they are in different, um, decent condition. But I didn't look in them very deeply and so once I started tearing things out, there were mice had like eaten through the bottom, oh gosh, great. Like tunnels through each cabinet, oh gosh. And so I was like, okay, well, I can't say this. And so we started ripping them out just me and my boyfriend, because we had already done demo and there were just full rats nests under each cabinet. Like full rats nests. That is so disgusting, oh, it was so nasty. So I was like, okay, well, now I need to figure out a brand new like kitchen brand new cabinets. I had to go through Home Depot and then they didn't have the right configuration in stock. So my boyfriend's luckily very handy, he's a good contract. He's not a contractor, but he's grown up doing those things, so he ended up having to build some units. We kind of just piece it all together. It looked really good, it looked actually pretty professional and I had a really great carpenter contractor who was like all right, you got to do this and this. And so I had a lot of awesome people on my team and then not so great people that I, you know, hire again. And that was one of my biggest fears was how am I gonna find my team? What if they suck?

Speaker 2: 17:14

Yep.

Speaker 3: 17:15

If their work sucks and I have to pay more to fix what they did, which happened. But it's just part of it and it depends on your. You really got to build strong relationships and people have referrals, but it's not always great, so I don't know. You just have to. I can't imagine not managing myself because I'm such a perfectionist and but I ended up just fixing what was not done right. But I know that not everyone has that capability. But yeah, you'll find some gems and then you'll have to keep finding them.

Speaker 2: 17:55

Yeah, yeah, exactly Okay. So some people are so freaked out by the contractor thing and have this whole story in their head that there are no good contractors out there. There are no good subs, there are no good this. So if that was such a big fear for you, how did you get over it?

Speaker 3: 18:15

It is what it is.

Speaker 2: 18:16

Right, it's just part of it.

Speaker 3: 18:19

Yeah, and I looked. I guess some people could probably go to their investor group communities and whatnot. I mean, people through our Facebook group have been amazing and great and so helpful. I belong to another Facebook group that's for contractors of the city and so I'll just type in like I need a tile person by this date. Here's what the tile situation is. And someone will pop up and you know, quick isn't always quality, but it just depends on money. So you gotta watch them like a hawk and be like oh, I see that one, can you fix that? I'm just not full but also, you know, humble about it.

Speaker 2: 19:07

Yeah, all right. So it's just part of it. Gotta do it, Okay. Any other surprises, aside from having to redo kitchen cabinets that you didn't plan on?

Speaker 3: 19:18

Yeah, I was really fortunate with this flip. It really wasn't too bad. The walls under all the wood paneling were pretty rough, so I ended up having to like remud some of it or even just replace the drywall on other parts. So that was a cost. I wasn't planning for that. Opening the walls for the shower fixtures, some of the walls we had to open on both sides of the bathroom and even like I felt a little like the integrity comes in a little bit there where, like sometimes you have to cut corners to fix your budget. I picked fixtures that weren't incredibly expensive and now that I know that it's so hard to change them, I maybe would have spent a little bit more on them. Just so that, yeah, I just I didn't know. All right, so we talked about the numbers.

Speaker 2: 20:16

We talked about the surprises. Biggest fear about finding contractors. Was there anything else going on?

Speaker 3: 20:25

Another fear of mine was oh, it's not really a fear, it's just I'm a very frugal person and so spending money makes me nauseous, especially writing huge checks. Even if it's there, even if it's built in, I still feel weird spending it. But I've actually learned. Actually, yesterday it was another big moment where I was like you know, it was a realization moment. Your time is valuable and so is your mindset. So if you run yourself ragged to the point where you're just burnt out, you're gonna make bad decisions. And so if you have to pay a little extra for someone to help, like for someone to clean up your construction materials, instead of you personally going to the dump and doing it, just do it.

Speaker 2: 21:20

Oh my God, you learned that way faster than I did. It took me five, five years. It took me five, five years to stop doing stuff like that.

Speaker 3: 21:27

I just kind of did it yesterday where I was like I have all these materials left. My house is going on the market today. I don't my arm hurts like I'm tired, I need to unpack my house. My mom's coming this weekend like I just need someone else to do it. And so I just hired someone and they were happy to do it. They got paid, I get to sit around and talk to you, so it worked out really well on it. It might be a little painful to see that dollar amount come out, but it's, it's in the budget, so just it's there. It's for your comfort. Your mind is important too.

Speaker 2: 22:09

Absolutely. Yeah, such a good point. Okay, what else? What year was the house it looked? And you know what I don't did. You post before photos Because I don't remember nasty. Then I need to go find them.

Speaker 3: 22:24

I don't remember like nasty photos I couple real nasty ones, uh-huh, because it was like pictures of like close-up of poo. So I only, like I, restricted the numbers of those, but I did post the before's and I Think just a couple weeks later I posted the after's okay, I'm gonna go find those before's it was Built in the 70s, I think 74.

Speaker 2: 22:51

Why is it interesting? Okay, so you did a really good update on it then. Because, like, even the floor plan looked more like 80s, 90s for the areas that I'm in. So that was interesting. I thought you would. I thought it for sure was gonna be like an 80s or 90s.

Speaker 3: 23:07

No, I was actually surprised too. It was a really good floor plan. First, it wasn't compartmentalized, very open for a seven.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Yes, yeah, okay, let's see, I think we hit on all this stuff. Is there anything we didn't touch on that we wanted to?

Speaker 3: 23:25

I guess a little bit of a mind set piece, because that's what kind of clicked for me at the end. I went into it with the skill of Disassociating feelings from business transactions, which is Pretty hard for most people, and I just learned that, you know, based on my unique experience and I still feel that, like, when I see a house, I really I feel emotionally connected to it, but I've had to pedal back and be like no, it's business. Do the numbers work? Does this work? I Would say disassociate strong feelings with business transactions, but do not turn off your gut. Your gut is so, so valuable and that's something that that's a big, big lesson that I've learned over the years and it really, really gave me a leg up when I came into this business. It's so hard to do and If you can master that, it'll take you far. It's just that no one cares that you're on your period and you're having a hard day Know what? Especially working with when a business capacity like they don't care that your kids were crying in the morning and you couldn't get out, they don't care, like they're here to do their job. You're there to do your job, but when you find someone who cares, that's what it's special and like that's why this group is so special, because you give a crap right, the community gives a crap and they're there for each other during those moments. And you get those, that blindness where if you're looking at someone else's project, you can be like, oh yeah, I do this and this, but when it's your own, you're blind. Yeah, just need that little bit of push or just something that Opens your eyes, a little bit like when we're talking about I want to do a flip in another state. How do I do that when I don't trust people, I don't have resources, and you were like, oh, just have one of the girls. The project manager was like, oh yeah, why didn't I think of that? Like I might have thought of that if I was talking to someone else. But being in my own situation, this group is such a big resource you feel shame about what you're posting either, like, even if it's something small, don't feel embarrassed about it. And also don't compare yourself to other people. I learned that too because my unique situation. I learned that it gives me different advantages than others, but others you just can't compare. I know it's hard and. People who have the kids that do kids. I don't have kids, I just have me, my boyfriend, and I can't imagine so the people that have kids. There's a lot of women in this group who do it. It's so impressive if they can do it like who can't, but you do have that piece where you have to be able to problem solve. That's really cool. No-transcript.

Speaker 2: 26:59

Yeah, the comparison thing is huge. Yeah, and that's in everything. I mean everything we do. It's so hard not to. But the thing is is we're like, especially with social media, we're only seeing what we see. We have no idea what the hell the person is going through, we have no idea what they've been through, we have no idea. We've made up a story about that person in our head when really you have no idea.

Speaker 3: 27:26

You see the narrative that someone presents to you Like it goes so much deeper than that.

Speaker 2: 27:31

Yeah, you see all the highlights.

Speaker 3: 27:33

I compare myself too, and you know, when I look through the business cards of everyone's, yeah, I compare mine to everyone else's, but it depends on the like. What kind of market are they selling in? Maybe they are gearing towards families and they want a more friendly looking card, whereas mine are architectural and I'm going to different demographics.

Speaker 2: 27:55

And they all work. Yeah, that's the beauty of this business, honestly, is it can look however you want it to look, meaning you can be the GC or not, you can flip small houses, you can flip large houses, you can do it anywhere. Yeah, it all works. Every single person can make it work, but if problems freak you out, probably not the right place.

Speaker 3: 28:20

Scrappy and the source.

Speaker 2: 28:21

Yeah, exactly, exactly. I love it. I think those are awesome points for sure, and there are things people need to hear. The mindset stuff is the only reason somebody hasn't flipped a house is because of whatever stories they're telling themselves, that's it. That's the only thing. It's the most important piece, so yeah, that's awesome stuff.

Speaker 3: 28:47

Yeah, it's hard to see again when it's yourself. You're blind. It's hard to see yourself. You're way out of a situation too. It's a mindset problem. Sherry Jo's awesome. She flips you and you're like, oh OK, I just need to search somewhere else or I just need to talk to someone else. Surround myself with someone else and you'll find the reasons.

Speaker 2: 29:10

Yes, totally Well, you made $40k in three months. Not too shabby kid, not bad, not too shabby, and you enjoyed it.

Speaker 3: 29:20

I enjoyed it. I'm going to do it again.

Speaker 2: 29:22

Awesome. Well, I know you have so much life happening right now, so thanks for taking the time to hang out with me. I loved getting to know you better and just kind of chilling and hanging out and chatting with you, so thanks for hanging out with me.

Speaker 3: 29:36

Yeah, I appreciate you so much.

Speaker 2: 29:39

Same. So, OK, we'll see in the group. And, yeah, post your next deal. I will. I will. Ok, thanks for watching. Thanks, Chanel, Fantastic conversation. Thank you again, Chanel. And just as she said, it was possible for her and it is possible for you. You just have to take action, Get the knowledge, get educated and surround yourself with people who are on the same journey and who lift you up, Not the naysayers, Not the people who are constantly telling you no, it's not possible. Well, guess what? So you know what the people who say it's not possible all have in common they are not doing the thing. So if they aren't doing the thing you want to be doing in the way you want to be doing it, why on earth do you give their opinions any sort of value? Exactly, OK. So if you want our help to chase the stream of yours, if you want the step-by-steps, the processes, the checklists, the daily support that's exactly what we do Go to herfirstflipcom and schedule a call with our team and let's see if we can work together. Ok, until next time, go out there, flip houses like a girl, leave people and places better than you find them and make it a great day. Bye-oh.