Financing Your First Flip With a Line of Credit With Char Silk

Debbie DeBerry: 00:01
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 DeBerry.

Debbie DeBerry: 00:38
Hey, you guys, what's going on today? I hope that whatever you're up to, it's an easy one. So I'm really excited to share with you this conversation I had with Shar silk out of Oklahoma, it was such a blast talking to her. And I'm going to get to that in just a minute. But first, I want to do a little public service announcement. Want wha No, but really, this stuff's important. So this time last year, I was in a really different place. Like I was super scared, and sad. And honestly freaking out. I had a mole removed that I was told was fine. And then two weeks later, I got a phone call saying it was malignant melanoma and I needed surgery ASAP to get the cancer out of my body. And to make sure it had not spread to my lymph nodes, I was going to have some biopsies as well. So look, watch your body, please. If you have moles or a mole that is growing, or changing, or bleeding, or looks weird, or anything, please go get it checked out. And even if you're told it's fine, get it removed. Okay? Please, melanoma is deadly one person dies every 57 minutes in the US from melanoma. It is an incredibly aggressive cancer and spreads very quickly to other organs. Please, please, please take care of yourselves. Okay, I have a very special place in my heart for anyone who is going through the quote unquote, waiting for results phase, because it is incredibly scary. So please take care of yourselves. Okay. All right. Now, we're going to talk to Shar silk out of Oklahoma, about her first flip. And we're gonna talk about some other stuff too. And if you've ever thought, Oh my gosh, I'm too old to start something new. Nope. I'm too old to do this. I actually heard from somebody in their early 30s recently, who thought she was too old to pivot into flipping houses. He was like, Oh, my gosh, you're a child. No, but seriously, if you've ever thought, No, I'm too old to pivot into flipping houses. I'm too old to try this, I've really wanted to have this huge passion for it, but I'm just too old. Or if you've thought, you know what, this area is not great for it, I'm just not even gonna try it all. Sometimes you've got to look outside your area, sometimes you've got to go to a bigger city that's nearby. Just because where you are your immediate area, maybe it doesn't have a great economy, you can go to areas that are nearby, okay, and you can still make it work. So we're going to talk to Shar she's going to give us so much awesome information. And I know you're going to get value out of this. And here we go. Why don't you just kind of start with you know where you live. You mentioned you have a husband and sons and a little bit about your background before you got into flipping.

Shar: 04:28
Okay, so we live in western Oklahoma, but we flip and invest in Oklahoma City, which is a the two hour drive one way for us. So I thought that sounds like a great obstacle to start with. Our market out here in western Oklahoma is just really very Oldfield driven, and inundated with lots of properties that just didn't work with my budget, just just what is cash flow? Hi. So we started looking in Oklahoma City. And what really got us started, as I had mentioned, was podcasts. Jake and I have raised three boys, they're 2022, and 23. They all played sports, we never had a down moment. Then those little rascals left me who knew they were going to grow up. I mean, they don't prepare you for that. And so this emptiness sets in, and, boy, that was hard. I had all this abundant amount of time. And I was falling into some depression because there was nothing to do. We were traveling a little started listening to podcasts and audiobooks. We listened to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and it kind of literally became an obsession, to get ourselves completely financial free, financially free and do something where we didn't have to work nine to five. I mean, which actually, you know, when you have a job most time, it's way more hours than that. And so real estate had always been something I was drawn to love to look at houses. I love how this character, I love doors. I know that's kind of odd.

Debbie DeBerry: 06:09
Oh my god. No, I do too. I'm obsessed with doors. No, I almost started a door company on like, nine or 10 years ago, because I was so obsessed, especially postwar, like, 50s 60s doors. I'm obsessed. That is hilarious. I love a fellow Yes, door sister.

Shar: 06:34
I think I mean, there may need to be a support group. My middle son also, he loves to just drive around and look at doors. You know, it speaks a lot about the character of the person living in the home, if you really think about it, right? Anyway, so that's, we we went to Oklahoma City found a really good little realtor. And I chose one that could tolerate me having to you know, my time with limited having to drive two hours. Plus, I work full time. In so blessed this little girl's heart. She was like, all right, and I mean, we will hours, we looked at so many properties where we developed a relationship. And then she started sending me what I didn't find on Zillow. And we you know, we've really worked with her advantage. Our sons have bought houses through her we've bought and sold houses. So now I consider her a friend. So how we got started,

Debbie DeBerry: 07:27
that's awesome. I want to jump in real quick here, because I'm hearing a lot of women are having a hard time finding realtors who will work with them, which blows my mind, because I started as a real estate agent in 2003. So I understand that, you know, sometimes you're going to be working with investors who it may not pay off immediately, but in the long run, it will pay off. Did you have a hard time at all finding a realtor? Who would work with you? Or was it the first one you found in y'all hit it off?

Shar: 08:02
Well, a little bit of both. Um, so out here in western Oklahoma, it just wasn't a good situation. So that didn't work for us. So I would call her out of try to set up appointments and his two o'clock bill. No, I'm coming from two hours. I'm there at 8am. And we are going hardcore. Because I had to do as much as I possibly could. I would reach out to some of them in there. I literally had one. And she was all in my age bracket older in her 40s. She was like, there's too many out of state investors. I don't think there's any deal. So I was like, well, for that effort. Yeah. And so this woman she is younger, she's about my kids is a super feisty little things. And so I love the fact that I drugged her all over Oklahoma City. She never complained. And I flat out told her and I'm a very direct person. I said, I'm going to buy houses. I will be a good customer. Right. And, you know, I think she was just hungry enough. And young enough. Yep. And said, okay, and I mean, you know, she, she does work hard for us. I mean, I think she's a great little girl. And it's a family owned reality. So I think that that'll help. That's just a personal preference. So anyway, I really think a lot ever though. I mean, they send me stuff at Thanksgiving, no, Happy Thanksgiving. How is your How are the boys in so I feel like that relationship if you will build it. it's beneficial for both of you and I'm good with her making money off of me. Let's be honest, we're not in there for our health and our beauty. We're in it to make some money and so is she she's putting in the time. She deserves it.

Debbie DeBerry: 09:52
That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, yeah. It really is about finding the hungry ones. It's kind of like it's It's very similar to when you're looking for distressed properties, you want the sellers who need to sell, not the ones who are kind of thinking about it. Right? There's a different motivation level there. So, okay, right. And when was your first flip completed? It was recent, right?

Shar: 10:22
Well, yes. Um, so we bought the house in August of 2018. Okay. And my husband had been called off to a job. He was in South Texas and I know that this happened for a reason. And God just did it to test me. I promise you, there was no cell service, and he was down there for nine days straight. My little realtor said, hey, I've got this deal. bids are due by five o'clock. Oh, my goodness, I panicked when we're going to do never have even seen that. The property we face book or we video live Facebook Live. And I bought it made the bid accepted it by a video. I do not recommend that, by the way to anyone. Probably not a Smart Start to my business. But I felt like at that time, if I didn't take the step. I was never going to Yeah, I I didn't have my husband's Yes, this is great. Go do it. I just said I'm going to do it. And I did. So we bought it in August, we did a how we filled our deal is we did a quick close. I am a big advocate for offers this fellers. Something that maybe somebody else doesn't. I'm not always going to have the most money,

Debbie DeBerry: 11:37
right? It's not always about that.

Shar: 11:40
No, it isn’t. But you have to sometimes learn that. I feel like you know, going into another thing I have had to learn and I am by no means seasoned or experienced is. The worst thing they can do is tell me No. Right. And you know, sometimes that hurts your feelings. But I'm just like, you know, if I say it's not gonna work at 2000 more dollars, then it's not going to work. I've looked at those numbers till I'm cross eyed. Don't Don't give you over that you have to do as I work on that, because I'm what sometimes I'm panicked. And I'm like, Oh, I said I was going to buy, you know, two flips in 2019 and two rental. Oh my gosh, what if I don't get it done? But I have to remind myself breathe. Yes.

Debbie DeBerry: 12:28
Yes, that's huge. I really like that is so huge. Because what I often see happen, especially with first time, like brand new beginners trying to get their first deal. They lose out on a couple of houses, right? They get really frustrated. And then they find themselves in a situation where it's okay. Oh, wait, the seller said if I give them. Let's just use your number, like you said 2000 more than I can get this house. Okay, but did you run the numbers at that? Or was your max offer 2000 less? Because they think sometimes, well, if I offer 2000 more, that's fine. I'll make up for it somewhere else.

Shar: 13:12
Which is so funny. Because you do really if you think about it, because I guarantee you there is a $2,000 surprise in every home

Debbie DeBerry: 13:22
Yes! Stick with your numbers, who like us put everything else aside and stick with your numbers. And I think as women, we do worry about Oh, gosh. But we said this and are we going to upset the seller if we don't do the 2000 more or will the agent get annoyed with us? I don't think most men think about things like that. You know, it's is it? Does it make sense financially or not? And if not move on. 

Shar: 13:49
I think we overthink it. And then we're like, oh, but how is that gonna make her feel? You know, Oh, she worked eight hours for me on Saturday. And we did not get one property purchase. We made five bids. And I can remember, I had five offers out at one time and I was in bed that night. And I thought my good Lord, what if all five, which is where I learned, make sure you and your religion know, when you're writing those contracts? Always leave yourself out? I didn't know that. Yeah, I really was just like, Oh, I'm gonna have to cost that $300,000 where and by the way. I didn't have that in my back pocket. Where am I going to get that? Right. So I did learn that and again, from listening to other people. You say, Hey, did you know and I'm like, Ah, she's there. Nope. Didn't I would have never thought of that. Nobody told me I could write I'm really working hard on. I am the boss. This is what works for me. What can you do to to make that workout. And so the last bid I made this week. You know, I turned in a contract. I said, you know, Hey, I got to see this real contract before. Go ahead and make the contract. I need the loophole. Because if this contract, you know, is not a good one for two years, I don't want this place. She didn't even bat and I wrote it right in. And so you know, sometimes we just forget to ask for what we really want.

Debbie DeBerry: 15:23
Exactly. For fear of, you know, was what someone else gonna think. Oftentimes? Yeah.

Shar: 15:29
Yeah, I agree.

Debbie DeBerry: 15:30
Yeah. Okay, so let's walk through the numbers on your first one. You bought it in August 2018? What did you pay for it? What was the renovation all that jazz, all the good stuff we love to hear?

Shar: 5:43
Okay, so we bought it for 77,000. So super excited it cost for the my first house did, by the way. So I was nervous, met with a recommended contractor, through our realtor, and by the way, that goes back to their relationship to you know, she had worked with people. So I felt pretty good about taking her recommendations on the work that we were going to, that we couldn't do. So I had this great budget 19. Nine, I mean, it was in writing. So that was set in stone, I was positive of it. I laugh now about knowing that, you know, back then, I thought it was in running. So it was set in stone. We ended up selling it for 144. We didn't sell it until June of 2019. Okay, that's what I learned a very hard lesson about your hold cost. And what I didn't figure in my budget. No. And by the way, it was also written in stone with that job wouldn't take but just, you know, just a little bit of time, I giggle now, because whatever time you think, go ahead and just double I mean, I almost think you should double. And I got my check when we closed that day. And it was 17,000 instant change. Oh my goodness, I could have skipped the two hours home, I was so excited. We got in got to our spreadsheet. Remember, I had all these hold costs. So by the time I butchered and all the things we didn't have in our budget, you know, our rehab budget, because I didn't know what I was looking at to be real honest. I didn't, I didn't think it through as well as I should have. And we still ended up clearing a little over 13,000, which I can remember having jobs when I very first started working that didn't make 13,000 in a year. So I was super Pope feel. And it made me think, hey, guess what, I can do this, I can always do better, that can do that.

Debbie DeBerry: 17:41
That’s awesome. That right there, wrap that right there. The whole point, I think of somebody whose first flip is for them to do it in a way that makes them want to do a second one. And that looks different to everybody. And if it means if it means clearing 13 grand, if it means breaking even and not losing any money, you know, whatever it means to you forget how it looks on the outside, if it means to you, “oh my god, I can do this.” And then you go on to build this, you know, amazing business that you love, then great. So I love that. And okay, so the purchase was 77 the repairs ended up being around what?

Shar: 18:27
Well, so my paper said 19.9? Uh huh. So you would think her math isn't very good? Yeah, I'm giggling. So here's where I learned. Common Sense isn't so common. I had questioned the windows in this house. Well, the first mistake now that I know I made it. I should have known who I was going to market to You got it. Who am I trying? What? What? What am I trying to do here? I didn't I had my what I didn't have my who I was going to sell this to. Yeah. And so you really need to do that. But I mean, again. Yeah, I gotta have I mean, and that was as far as I had with. And so um, we forgot appliances on our budget. Yes, I can go ahead and get all because now I'm like, What the heck would I know? I know where it's been. I did another silly thing. So we bought a range, a cooktop in the oven dishwasher. Why did I not buy enough stuff? I still to this day cannot tell you why I didn't because in reality, I was selling to middle class middle, middle to lower class. Probably first time homebuyers. Probably family. Why did I not help them more? That icebox is a lot of money. It really is. Especially when you think about being go back in when you were younger. And had little kids and you know, a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and an icebox is a big expense. I should have put an icebox going forward, ice boxes will be in every one of our home. Because, you know, they just bought the house. You know, maybe they didn't have the money for a refrigerator. Let's help them. Let's Let's help those couples that where my kids are at in life. I would want somebody to do that for my kids. 

Debbie DeBerry: 20:26
Wow, you're awesome. Okay, I love that so much.

Shar: 20:30
Well, I’ll tell you another reason how we knew that. So when we did our showings, we had our realtor setup a where you get the feedback, I know there's a fancy name for it. And we just call it you know, the, the feedback and they email you and text you about me when we're going in? Yeah, perfect. Um, and several people had kind of hit upon a couple of things. So I think those are super important. You know, hey, they didn't like this or they didn't like that. And I learned more from our people that looked at the house that didn't buy it than I did in anything else.

Debbie DeBerry: 21:06
That's such a great tip. And don't take it personally.

Shar: 21:10
I know, it did hurt a couple of time and I did yell at one person. It was on my email back. She wrote the carpet has not moved. Well, that led us to another disaster we had done. So living two hours away. We subcontracted out lots of things. The carpet was one. So our color scheme was a gray and white. I know hardly no one does that. They put chocolate brown carpet in the house. Oh, no. Oh, it gets better. Oh, I paid for it. sight unseen. Because the guy told me to. He said I need I put the carpet in. It's done. I said, Oh my gosh, okay, I'll pay you as quick as I can. I learned this. No, I will look at every ounce of your work and inspect it, and you will not get paid until I feel it is there into my that what we agreed upon way back here. But I was so scared. Right? You know, I was like, Okay, I'll pay it. I walked in the front door. And this was a couple of days later casino on down here in God's country. And I was like, Oh, no, it's brown. It's so ugly. He did give me a credit. But that I should have said, No, thank you. I didn't didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. took several, you know, negative feedback on that. But now I've learned, hey, don't do that. Go check it right. In if it's gray, that are famous and gray that you picked. And I know it was just a boo boo the guy send a hand the hand grab their over the carpet. I know what happened. Right. But again, not my problem, right is the business. Right? fix it? Yep. Right. So anyway, and we had we had that debacle. And then we had to put windows in. And I knew that day and I asked, and they said oh no, they'll be fine. I ended up having to cough up more money for Windows. Incidentally, there were 18 windows in this. Oh my gosh, that's a lot of Windows. How big was the house? It was it was 1627 I believe. And the funny thing about it is a several levels were upstairs. So come to find out it costs more money to put windows upstairs.
So it also had a sliding patio door. Fun Time. And when I had got it, I also felt like, um, I don't really like this color on the outside. And so I had mentioned it again. And I did it painted. Several people made ugly comments, guess what I did later, I painted it out of pocket again. I didn't anticipate landscaping and that was an error on my part. You know, I should have known Hey, by the way, if we don't sell this before summer, guess what? You're gonna have to know it. Aaron, it needed some landscaping. So I was way off on my budget. Now I know. I mean, I have a checklist now. And there are books out there that will help you learn your scopes of work. Yeah, take the time read over it. And you don't have to do it. Like they say get a spreadsheet. I don't care if you draw pictures, right. Just just have the list. So you know, oh, by the way, there's that many windows. Go ahead and do your math and in just be prepared for.

Debbie DeBerry: 24:50
Right, yup. totally agree.

Shar: 24:52
So trust your gut. Do the things you would like done.

Debbie DeBerry: 24:57
Yeah. And cater to the buyer. Yeah, yeah.

Shar: 25:02
Who would’ve thought? Not me.

Debbie DeBerry: 25:05
We do everything for the buyer everything. Okay, so you started with a 19 nine repair budget, and then you get windows thrown at you and a fridge and carpet and exterior paint and landscape. Who did you end up at?

Shar: 25:21
and holding costs and holding costs? Little over 20? Yeah, little over $26,000.

Debbie DeBerry: 25:26
Okay. And that includes carrying costs?

Shar: 25:28
Yes.

Debbie DeBerry: 25:29
Okay. Okay. Awesome. All right. So, seven. Okay, that brings me to this question. How did you how did you guys finance this? Did you use outside funding? Did you use your own funding? how did how did you finance the purchase and the repairs?

Shar: 25:46
Well, so here's what I did. I had went to my local bank, but I think that since I was 16 years old, I told him what I was going to do my banker a little bit laughed at me and said, What are you thinking? And I said, I think I can do this. I had a you know, a letter of credit for uh, I think at that point, I had 150,000 line of credit. And so I got a got an evaluation for the property and I fit my budget in so I had a preset as completed. So the numbers were high enough the appraised value as completed was high enough that I finance the house and the rehab Now, some of that did have to come out of my pocket because there I thought it was 20,000 so some of that we did not find it. We really just find it the 20,000 that we had originally thought to rest came out of my back pocket so don't you know I had guilt over that. course we did. Anyway, we did it as a single pay. And pretty good interest I think on on that when we paid right at six Natalie's paid it off before it was due. So amen for that because I was, you know, laying in bed at night. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? Because at that point, you know if we were going to have to turn it out, I didn't have my 20% down. I spent my 20% down on beautiful windows. Right. And Lauren 18 of them. So I was scared. I mean, the idea will almost drive me insane. Oh, ever have to just pray. Yeah, I just did. It will work out. Yeah, no work. Yeah, I know. I will go a different way.

Debbie DeBerry: 27:34
Exactly. It's in It's okay. It's okay to to pivot. We will always like pivoting is okay. And if you make a decision, it was a bad one. That's okay. Make another one. It's okay.

Shar: 27:46
We've learned we're move on.

Debbie DeBerry: 27:48
Yeah, we are so bad. The negative what ifs so bad. I have to. I mean, I'm always practicing. Okay. So instead of going down this terrible rabbit hole, these awful worries, you know, what if this What if that I have to say what if it all goes so freakin great. If what if this is amazing? What if this makes people's lives better? like things like that? Because it's so easy to get in that dark space of all the bad stuff that can happen?

Shar: 28:19
Yes. Yeah. And then after we closed and we were driving home, you know, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Oh, because guess what, I did do that. Not only did I not lose our retirement. I made us a little bit of money. And guess what? We had another one bought, I mean, almost instantly Amada had a little bit of what I like to call greed goggles on, I probably jumped a little quick on that one. Because I was like, What? Look at me. And so what does God do? He will put you right back in your place if he did on that one. But at the end of the day, I have learned something from everyone. You've got to figure out who you're selling to. So I love middle class families. I do. I'm not fancy the next house I bought. So we sold this one at 144. The next one, we were going to go for like 250. Okay, you're talking about a totally different person.

Debbie DeBerry: 29:20
Oh, yeah, exactly. Absolutely. I forgot that.

Shar: 29:24
And so I - that's not my comfort zone, which I know that it's okay to get out of your comfort zone. But maybe I jumped a little fast. And in all honesty, I like the middle class, helping a family. That's where we that our third one that we're working on. That's where we're working with them. And so I already feel better about it just because, good in general. I feel like it's helping.

Debbie DeBerry: 29:50
Yeah, I mean, there. I can totally relate to that and it You do have to feel some sort of like I don't know. It's not necessarily comfort. It is a comfort level but a price point that resonates with you, but you enjoy. I went luxury once. I didn't love it. I didn't like it at all. Actually, I hated every part of it. And I like I swore. Okay, never doing that, again. Like that just didn't feel it didn't, it didn't feel in alignment with me and my values. Like it just did it. So it's okay. Right?

Shar: 30:27
Yeah. Yeah. And again, had I thought it the process through, I saw dollar signs, again with migraine goggles. And, and while like I say, I and in this to make money. You have to know how to get there, though. And that's, that's the mistake I made, you know, hey, let's, let's think about what we're doing. Let's think all the way through it. And then we'll have the person that's going to buy it, the person we're going to market it to the person that's going to benefit from it.

Debbie DeBerry: 30:57
Absolutely. Absolutely. For sure. So you're Okay, wait, I want to come back to two things. One is the sales price on the first one was at one 144? Is that what you said? Yes. Okay, awesome. So I mean, you've made nearly a 10% profit, like 10% of the ARV, or the sales price was your profit. That's been good. Like, you know, I mean, that's, that's pretty dang good. So, and, I mean, oftentimes, it's just, it's a numbers game. So the lower the numbers, it's still 10%. It just looks, the number might look bigger, because it's a higher price, like at 250. Obviously, 10% is 25 grand, but still 10% is pretty darn good lady. 

Shar: 31:50
Yes, it is. And I mean, my money in my 401k is not making 10% Oh, right. And, but for me, it was the I needed it to feel that void in my life. At first, I mean, I was like, I've got a project. I mean, you know, I'm going to get this, this, this and this, I'm a very big check, check marks person lets, you know, I need to have things to do to feel accomplished. And so that's how it started with me it was a project. Well, then it became more because I love It's such a thrill. I love looking at the houses, I love hunting for the light fixtures that are on sale that will work there. I love. I love looking on Pinterest at different ideas that we can do. I love every bit of that. And I'm not even girly. So that's such a surprise.

Debbie DeBerry: 32:38
Right? I totally agree. I can totally relate to that. Yes. Obsessed with houses. Yeah, I totally relate.

Shar: 32:44
I, I can look and just sit on Pinterest and just look at things to, hey, you could do this for you know, and you could refurbish this, and you could do this, this will cut off of this budget. I mean, I could literally sit and do that all day long. And I love I love looking, you know, several of the women on the Facebook group are posting pay, this is what I've got. I love seeing the different ideas I may not have ever even thought of some of the things they suggest. And I'm I know, great ideas.

Debbie DeBerry: 33:16
I know there are so many creative people out there. I know I love it. I love it, too. I'm like oh, no, never think of that. Love that.

Debbie DeBerry: 33:27
Okay, and then the one other thing I wanted to touch on on that was you got a line of credit from the bank. Correct to do and it didn't it did most of it except for you know, maybe around six grand out of pocket, that line of credit. Was that a home equity line of credit? Was that collapse? Or were they using the house as collateral?

Shar: 33:48
We use the house as collateral. I mean, it really worked out for Jake and I to not have any money out of pocket. I mean, we really did because of because of our own errors. So you know, that's how I learned my best lessons the hard way. And so had we, as we prepare our knew what we were doing, actually, it wouldn't have, it would have been 100% not out of my pocket. Yeah, but because, you know, so we have a sweet, sweet, sweet deal. That that works. Now, for 2020. My goal is to buy have the two flips, and I probably won't have two flips going at the same time ever again. I say that I hate to say that “never” but I probably won't. And then I want to have two rentals for 2020 also. So of course you know that will be more than mine. That my bankers gonna allow. So we have we go to our local Ria meeting a lot of people there. You know, hard money different different lenders. So this will be our first time To branch away from our just our local little wonderful bank to different, different lenders.

Debbie DeBerry: 35:06
I wonder if they'll increase your line though you you're proving yourself, you know, like, That's such that's such inexpensive money. I want you to be able to use more of it.

Shar: 35:17
Yes. And in they're super flexible about where I mean, my first house we closed in two weeks, which, I mean, that's pretty good. For bake, I mean, two weeks to have your title, the flood. Yeah. And so they are just super great to work with, I could not ask for any better. And so that's what I love the most. Because, like I say, whenever we make the contract, that's always my Stinger is hey, guess what we can close by? Right To this date right now? Yep. Right.

Debbie DeBerry: 35:56
Yeah. You've got to be able to somehow differentiate yourself to at least get your foot in the door. Yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned your sons, are they involved in the business with you at all? Are you basically running this, all of this, all of the projects?

Shar: 36:12
Well, so that is, my goal is, is to have them involved. We've always worked as a family. If one's working, we might as well all be working. And so our oldest son has the our third flip, it's going right now, and we've let him take lead on it because I want him to either have the I don't want it to be forced. I want him to have the love for doing it or not. And so all of the boys help work, you know who Trillium. In our first clip, it got broken into twice, by the way that goes to hold turn to because when they look vacant, people kids will start coming up with creative ways to get in there. So the boys had to go put new piston window that they bested and clean up to the things that they had left and mopped. And so yes, all of them look, and there are times when they'll go inspect a property that if I'm just a little too nervous about it, one of the boys will go meet our our little realtor. And they'll say is, you know, and if it's in the neighborhood that they don't feel Securian we we pass. Yeah. Yeah. Good, just because. And I hate to put a stigma, but you know, if you don't, I'm going to be up there by myself. Oh, yeah, I may work till midnight. I don't want to ever put myself into a position in the boys wouldn't either. So know that we all we all work at it. Our youngest, he's in college, and you know, he was painting cabinet doors last weekend with us. So we could get this. This third slip, you know, we are way behind schedule. So you know, everybody has to work.

Debbie DeBerry: 38:03
Were there some issues that came up that puts you off schedule? Or will happen on that? On the first one or the third one on this one that you said that you're so off schedule?

Shar: 38:13
Oh, yes. This would be my my biggest lesson that I ever learned. Okay. If you have a contractor that is not doing what he said, you've addressed it, you've addressed it again. You have been very clear, fire him.

Debbie DeBerry: 38:30
Oh, my gosh, you and I are like seriously such parallel lives. That was my biggest lesson that I had to learn. And it took me a couple of years, if I'm being honest, it took me a couple of years of being slapped around and pushed around and losing money, because I wasn't willing to stand up for myself. And so I love that you're saying this, like it's you've got to get rid of aren't performing. Like I get that you want to give them a little bit of a chance. But when they show you who they are, believe them, right? Like my Angela said.

Shar: 39:05
Exactly. And here's me. Oh, yeah. And I am the crappiest sad heart. And so this one we closed on in October should have been done the latest mid December. We are not even I mean like I am embarrassed to tell you how behind. And I so this was a new contractor because our original one, this is our son flip and he's down in Moore where ours are in Oklahoma City. In so we used a different guy because ours was to booked he could not get to us. And so we checked references and everything. And he has blanked; our agreement with him was to pay for the materials he had ordered and pay for the materials, then we would pay out the labor. I felt pretty secure about that. I'll Yeah, yes, he might have forgot that one step of ordering or material.

Debbie DeBerry: 40:06
Oh my gosh.

Shar: 40:08
And so we are to the the expensive part, the granite countertops, your flooring that we do not have. So this has taken my budget and just threw it out the window, in addition has put us all in such a huge bind. We had anticipated having that listed. Yeah. Now, right? Well, we'll be lucky to get it listed. By March. I mean, let's be honest, we're over it mid January. And in addition, now we've had to hire an attorney. We sent a certified letter to him and, and I know that he did his order the step on positive. But you know, we won't get that money back. Lesson learned. I hated that. It's our son's first flip. And he's had to I mean, I hate hate hate that. But let's just do all the worst now. We'll get it over.

Debbie DeBerry: 41:04
Yeah, exactly. Right. Exactly.

Debbie DeBerry: 41:10
When the deal is, when I knew that he so he should have had it done. Let's just say mid November. That was what he told her. When it was December, he wasn't done. I did call another meeting with him and said, Hey, he said, Oh, two week. And I he just the employees, the guys that were coming in to do some of the work. They were telling her said, Hey, he's not paying, I should have right then cutting loose, but I was still holding on to the fact that he had our supplies. And I had said, Could you just go ahead and get the flooring here, right? And he said, Oh, it's on hold. I should have known wrecked in Bo girl. But I I've benefited as a data. And there is no benefit of the doubt. Right? And in the deal about it is I do think he's not I don't think he's a bad guy. I think he's made some bad choices. And has caused death. But I hear this is my business study and you're messing with our lives. I'm gonna write you right to go away.

Debbie DeBerry: 42:14
Right, right. This is that it's exactly the awareness that I had to come to. This is my livelihood. And I have a son. I'm not going to be checked with anymore, right? Like, it's so it's like no more.

Shar: 42:29
Yeah, it's a hard thing to do. But it's the right thing to do. Yeah, in my battle, that I'm always going to give somebody else the benefit. And then I'll work three times harder to cover for your slashing. Which really how silly is that?

Debbie DeBerry: 42:47
We are so similar. Like, that's crazy. So similar. Oh my gosh. So. Yeah. And I mean, the only thing you do is, like you said, you get rid of them. And then you move on. And you can't dwell on it. Because sitting and dwelling Time is money. Like just keep moving, keep putting one foot for the other.

Shar: 43:08
And learn from what I did. Here. Here's my stupid, I always say this. This is the stupid thing I did. Yeah. So I did check his references. I mean, I would have done a good job. What I should have done is I should have re I should have went and paid for the supplies myself, which I realized, you know, they get a contractor's discount. If you're going to do that, then get the invoice. Oh, here is really $5,061 worth of materialized for just our house. Right. So that's an error I made that you trust in that. Why would somebody buy appliances for another house that on your money? Right? I don't know why I didn't I wouldn't do it, but some people do. Right? Right. And then if you feel like they're pedaling during the week, the you know, I pay you to work on I I'm a worker, I will turn out some work. I need you to do the same. Then you need to be more on top of Hey, Sally here showed up at 10 and let's get one who is world gets to work those hours. So yeah. Anyway, yes. And that does happen. I'm like, if at six o'clock half of the day is gone. Let's go people. Right, exactly. Not everybody is that way.

Debbie DeBerry:: 44:31
Totally. Totally. So what would you say has been? Or is the your favorite part or what are your favorite parts of the entire flip process? If you have any?

Shar: 44:44
Oh, I love I love the I love the scheduling part. I love the. Let's see if you know we find a light that's on sale. That'll work. Right there. I mean, I love Love, love, love digging. First step, we'll go into discount places. I, I love the project in the completion. I like to say, Hey, we're gonna get the kitchen cabinets painted this week, and it's done. And they're pretty. I love that feeling of accomplishment that yes, it is. But then I also like to go back by and I've done it on both of the slips that is so just, I just, I feel like what could I do to get that beautiful home there on the corner? So I think it's an accomplishment with me. Absolutely. I hear that word. Often. It's that sense of accomplishment. 

Debbie DeBerry:
And oh, my gosh, I did that. And it's, it's a tangible thing that lives like it just it keeps living on and you can drive by and see it. And sometimes you drive by and they've totally killed the landscaping. It makes you cry. But the house is still there. It's beautiful. 

Shar:
And I'm just like, What do you mean, you're parking your car is on the grass? put up a no parking on the grass!

Debbie DeBerry: 46:01
Right? You're not using the property? Right.

Shar: 46:06
And you didn't know diagonal? ABS control issues? Maybe?

Shar: 46:18
Yes. I mean, I don't understand why everybody else is not on my same. I love the whole process. I love looking at them. I love the thinking. Now I'm not real good at like, our little realtor should like oh, we can knock this wall down. And in five seconds. in her mind, she's drawn this picture, I'm still over here looking at this hole in the wall. I didn't want to just say, I would love to learn or get me one of those programs where I can do that kind of stuff. I'm a visual learner. So I'm, I can't do that as well as some. But I, I that's my goal is I want to learn to be able, you know, because a lot of times, you know, if you just move a few little things, man, we have changed that space. So I I battled that, but that's what my I'm gonna work on. Yeah, I just loved the whole process. Yeah, absolutely staging. I did not know about staging. And in the first one, we did not do well on that. I think had I know, I would have sold it quicker. And I didn't trust my gut about the windows on the painting. So that was my first thing. And then had I staged that house. I think it would have sold a lot quicker. So if I was going to give any advice to a newbie stage, yes. And if you can afford it, if it's not in your budget, you can do that. Yes, Amy can thrift store, Facebook marketplace, bar from your mama, right? You can stage this stuff out of your house. Nobody ever comes to my house anymore anyway. So stage it, make it feel like the home you think it's going to be.

Debbie DeBerry:
exactly. people buy homes, people buy homes, they don't want to buy a property, right? We as investors, we buy properties. But buyers, the end buyers, they're looking for homes and furniture and accessories makes it feel like home. And on top of that, if there isn't stuff in the house to catch their attention in their eyes, what happens is they start scanning everything and they find all the little bitty details that were missed. And then they start deducting price in their head. They're like, huh, yeah, I don't think this is $144,000 house.

Shar: 48:34
you've lost what you could have invested rather cheaply. You don't have to go and buy brand new luxury furniture. I'm not saying that. Because mine is stored right now. Because our flip isn't done. It's pretty in the barn. I mean, it's all covered that I mean, it's going to live a long life of being transported back and forth. And so by write it, I mean, I don't care what you're doing by ride. I mean, if you're, if you're buying a car, whatever, you're trying to get yourself in a good position, because you never know when the other shoe might drop. And you need to get out of it. Right?

Debbie DeBerry: 49:12
Yeah. Oh, totally. Totally. And did you have I know we're gonna wrap up here soon. But were when you first got started, what were some of your biggest fears that you really had to either overcome or kind of ignore? Like, embrace and ignore and, and just get into action? What were some of your fears about this house flipping venture?

Shar: 49:39
My first fear because we're older we're 40 hesitant are 45 is what if I have spent money we really shouldn't be spinning at this point in our life. That was my first fear. My second fear two seconds after I signed was oh my gosh, what is Jake and I think I did this on my end, I said, Yep, we're buying it. Anyway. So that was my was disappointing him, you know, have I have I made a bad choice? Did I buy in a crappy neighborhood is just a crappy house? It was the roof gonna fall off probably tomorrow. I mean, it probably will. And so those were my inner fears. Yeah. Then as we got into it my fears in these were justified as the things I didn't see and didn't know to prepare for. And the only way you can combat those is practice. Oh, yeah. Got it. By the way, you're gonna need appliances, ladies. And, and you're going to need things that make somebody else want it. And I didn't. I didn't think the process there. Yeah. So those were my fears is that what if I can't do it? Right? Yeah. And now, I feel better about myself. I mean, I make mistakes every day. I mean, just like I told you on your third one, I'm like, What am I thinking? And I knew better. But you, I feel like your biggest thing to accomplish is telling yourself, do this, do the best you can, and then move on. Because every one is going to be different. I mean, there's going to be a mass and everything you do, if there really is I mean, for sure. Everything for sure. For sure. I love that, like just take the plunge.

Debbie DeBerry: 51:25
Yes. take the plunge. Exactly. Well, those words right there, I think are really great words to end on. Because it's like, it sums it all up beautifully. so helpful. Thank you so much. I'm going to have you back on we're going to talk as soon as you get through with this third one. We're gonna we're gonna come on here, we're gonna have a full debrief of project number three.

Shar: 51:51
It's going to be what not to do.

Debbie DeBerry: 51:53
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And that's beautiful. It's great. Get them over with, right, like you said, Yeah, like, just get them over with up front.

Shar: 52:02
Yes. Why thank you for the opportunity. Thank you so much.

Debbie DeBerry: 52:06
Thank you very much. I hope you have an awesome rest of your day.

Shar: 52:11
You too. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Debbie DeBerry: 52:16
Wasn’t that so good? Or what you guys? Oh my gosh, such a fun conversation. And I know that you guys are going to get so much out of this. So thanks again to Shar. And if you have a first flip story that you want to share, please reach out to me. Because this is where the magic happens y'all when we share our stories with each other. All right. So reach out to me and let me know you want to share your story. And we'll do so. Alright you guys. Until next time, 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.