Flipping Her First House for Profit Even in a Pandemic With Sissy Newton

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

Unknown Speaker  0:38  
Hey, what's up, you guys, it's Debbie here. And I hope that you are taking time out for yourself. And not just focusing all on your family, and you're giving yourself some love and care and patience. Above all, I have been reminded lately that what you focus on expands, meaning if I sit and focus on all the fearful things, and all the worry and all the scary and all the awful, I just feel crappy. And when that's how you feel, you're not really in a place of empowerment, or really frankly, taking action or the right actions or the best actions to advance where you are now. Anyway, that's just what I've been thinking about how what you focus on expands, so focus on the good things. And inside my coaching program, we have so many good things happening, we have so many wins, and it just feels freakin good to sit in all of that and soak it all up and celebrate these women who are out there, closing on the sale of their flips, purchasing flips, in the middle of flips, like doing all these awesome things, buying rental properties. They're in action. They're focusing on the right things, they're not focusing on things that they cannot control. Alright. Anyway, I'm really excited to share sissy Newton with you. She's one of my students, and she just closed on the sale of her first true flip this past week. So I'm really excited to talk to her and just share her with you because she's freaking awesome. Her mindset, her attitude, her energy, me and the way she shows up, she is just one of those golden people. Anyway, she's going to share all of the numbers on her flip, she's going to share some mistakes that she feels like she made and some things she wishes she had done differently. And where she thinks she can improve for her next flip, which she is actively hunting, as we speak. So or as I record, I guess. Alright, without further ado, let's talk to sissy Newton. Okay, so you want to just jump in? Sure. Okay. All right. Yeah. So how about you just give me a little bit of, or give us a little bit of your background, like what you were doing before? Because I know this was your first true flip. Right? Had a live in flip. What were you doing before you got into all of this?

Unknown Speaker  3:39  
Um, so I was a preschool teacher for 10 years. And I did a little bit of administrative work at the preschool that I worked in. I lost my job in November of 17. And so I sat around the house kind of feeling sorry for myself, for about 30 days. That's fair. And yeah, I thought I probably deserved that. It was a really stressful job. And so at the end, what I decided was, it was a good thing, and I wasn't sad. Yeah, to have lost it. Yeah. Um, so I sat around and felt sorry for myself for about 30 days, and I owned this house already. That was a rental. And my tenant was moving out. And I said to my boyfriend, you know what, I've always wanted to flip a house. I think I need to try it. And he was totally supportive. Actually, he was my private money lender, a contract and so that's how I got started flipping and the first house that I flipped was the one you talked about it was I had lived in that house. And so I flipped that house. So after I finished that one, then I decided, yeah, the entire It was so funny, because the entire time I was doing that, that that first live in flip that we talked about my boyfriend and I kept saying to each other, well, if we're going to if I'm going to keep doing this, then you need to buy this tool or you need to set up documents with a lawyer or, you know, we just kept using that phrase, if I'm going to keep doing this, or if you're going to keep doing it. I finally looked at him one day, and I said, You know what? I can't see that anymore. I'm going to keep doing this. I love it. I love it. That totally gives me chills. I love it. Yeah, yeah. So after I finished that one, it was a total knock out of the park. Easy flip. I had tons of equity. Uh huh. Like you said it was a live in. So I knew the house really well. So then I jumped into this that we call our first true flip. And I found it really fast after I sold my first one. So I actually wasn't expecting to find one that quickly. Um, you knew, how did you find that one? Um, so I told everybody and anyone that would listen, that I was flipping houses.

Unknown Speaker  6:05  
I love I need to pause there. Because I don't think that that's the majority. I think you're in the minority. I really do. And I think if people would just frickin say what they're doing, and let people know what they're up to. They would be surprised that Yeah, they would find deals faster.

Unknown Speaker  6:27  
I completely agree. I have people calling me and messaging me all the time saying, you know, I think I might have a deal for you. And to be honest, probably 90% of the time. I'm not even close to interested. But Gosh, it's great to know that. Oh, yeah. People are thinking of me. Oh,

Unknown Speaker  6:44  
my gosh, totally. Absolutely. I love that. And I if somebody would just go do that. Like, if you don't do anything after listening to this episode, other than posting on social media, hey, this is what I'm up to. I'm looking for. I'm looking for a house to flip in this area. Like, yeah, just go do it. Or say messages to 20 people in your phone. Just I agree not to put it out there.

Unknown Speaker  7:09  
Yeah. Even just Congress, just general conversations with people I knew. I mean, I, I told everybody I saw, you know what? They said, Hey, what are you up to now? Well, I'm not I'm not teaching anymore. So this is what I'm doing. Really? They were super shocked. Uh, huh. I'm super surprised because I had been in such a professional position before and had changed gears to this, you know, more blue collar work. But I think that kind of resonated with a lot of people that, you know, anybody can do it.

Unknown Speaker  7:41  
Yeah, you totally just have to jump in and try. You just have to jump in and try it totally. Right. You're totally right. Okay. I'm sorry. I mean, we needed that pause, because we needed we needed to elaborate on that. Okay, so you had let people know what you're up to you let me know what you were doing.

Unknown Speaker  7:58  
Right. And so that's how I found that the Maple Street flip. My brother actually was friends with this guy who is also a real estate investor. And he had picked up this house for himself to flip, but decided that he was spread a little too thin and didn't want to take on the project. And so he contacted me and asked if I was interested in buying. I went and took a look, I had my contractor go with me and my real estate agent, my little brother, because he's also my insurance agent came with me and looked at it. And I bought it I mean, definitely made some mistakes there too. Like, what what what kinds of mistakes Did you did you make? So I wish I would have the contractor that I I had go look with me, ended up being a different contractor than the one I used. Okay. The contractor that went and looked with me was a was previously a home inspector, he used to do home inspections. Um, I wish I would have maybe talked to him a little bit more about what I expected from him when going to look at this house the first time because I don't think he dove into the details of an inspection that I would have totally been willing to pay for. Yeah. But he and I probably just didn't communicate that well enough. So I ended up having some surprises.

Unknown Speaker  9:26  
Okay, gotcha. So you thought he was inspect he was looking at you thought he was looking at it with more of an inspectors hat on, right.

Unknown Speaker  9:33  
Yep. And I think he was looking at it more as a contractor got it. And there's a different. Yeah, there's a very big difference. And I think, you know, there's some things that you just can't

Unknown Speaker  9:45  
see, right. Yep, absolutely. They're not going to go through and rip out all the sheetrock. No,

Unknown Speaker  9:52  
no, exactly. So, so there was there was that mistake I wish I would have negotiated with the guy a little bit more on the purchase price. And held to my guns on it, I knew it was going to be a fairly tight budget. Um, and I think, knowing now, if I had known then what I know now I probably could have negotiated a little bit harder with him on the purchase price and got a little bit better deal and that would have left me a little more room.

Unknown Speaker  10:22  
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about your numbers. Okay, the time Okay, so your purchase price and renovations and any carrying costs, and then what you sold it for and your profit was because you just closed on this last Friday?

Unknown Speaker  10:42  
Yes, I just got my check. Let's pray. Um, so I've just got I've got my calculator out here so I can because I've just got these on memory, but my purchase price was 68,000. Okay. My original renovation budget was 38,000. Okay. And then my projected sales price was going to be 125,000. Or I'm sorry, 130,000. Okay, so that would have left me a pretty decent profit.

Unknown Speaker  11:14  
And what was your original timeline? What your original timeline?

Unknown Speaker  11:19  
So originally, I bought the house in June, and I projected that I would be finished on October 15. ish. You know, mid October. Yeah. Um, so what actually ended up happening was 68,000 was the purchase price. And then I had about 53,000 in rental costs. And then I saw that I was able to sell it for a higher purchase price than I expected. So I sold it for 138,500. Tonight, and it left me a profit of about 17,000.

Unknown Speaker  11:53  
That's awesome. Oh, yeah. Honestly, to have held on that long. I mean, that was a pretty project for and for that ARV like that sales price. Yep. That's over 10% profit.

Unknown Speaker  12:09  
Right. It was and I got super lucky that the market in Sioux City just kept growing. So I am Sioux City, Iowa. It's a fairly large metro area for this state. And it's just a hot hot market. Yeah. So I got really lucky there. I was able to up my purchase price and makeup, a little bit of that, in the middle of a pandemic. Mind you. Yeah, in the middle. I listed it for sale in February, and it sold in two and a half days. So I

Unknown Speaker  12:43  
were you were so that was when you listed it. It was before the really before we got to into the depths of this pain.

Unknown Speaker  12:55  
Right? Yeah. So we didn't we didn't have any travel restrictions yet. They were just starting to talk about the virus coming from China. And people in the West Coast maybe being exposed. It wasn't super deep yet. Yeah. But so I feel a little lucky there again, to get it on market.

Unknown Speaker  13:21  
So that the person buying didn't lose their job. So they were close. The lender still loaned them money. So all these things that you're here, yeah, you know, I'm right here, this is going to happen. I'm scared that's going to happen. Those things happen. So that's awesome.

Unknown Speaker  13:38  
Yeah, I was so worried about all of those things. And it was a really long closing. So he signed the purchase agreement in February. And it didn't actually close until April 17. And that was the original projected closing date. So it wasn't like it was put back or anything. Got it. It was just a long closing because of the type of financing that he got. Got it. Yeah, I was super worried about him losing his job as well. I'm sure that's a long time. Yeah. And that's a long time to be worried about it. Yeah. Well, and even in the meantime, with the inspections, I was worried that something might come up and I might not be able to get materials or supplies to take care of it. Something like that. But none of those things happened. Yeah, it closed on time like it was supposed to and I got my check. Yo. All those fears were. were definitely set aside.

Unknown Speaker  14:31  
Yeah. And they'll probably continue even in maybe not in this exact fashion if we're not in the middle of a pandemic, but they will definitely other fears will pop up because Absolutely. You're so good at freaking ourselves out and going Oh, yeah, all the negative what else I still do it. I mean Good grief. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  14:50  
I am the master of what if I am the master of what I have inside my head, but I think it helps me be prepared. Yeah, so you know,

Unknown Speaker  15:01  
exactly. Well, that's the thing. It's like, Yeah, what if this really bad thing happens? What can you do? Like, there are certain things you can and can't control. You can't rate Oh, if this happens, but if it does, you can control your response to it. So how right you respond? What can you prepare yourself to handle? Exactly? Yeah, exactly. Well, I've always loved your, your attitude and your mind on things. And I do I love the way you show up. It's just you're, you're super unique person. And I just, yeah, absolutely, totally. So okay, so what kinds of things? Okay. You did some of the work yourself. But you also had a contractor doing some things too. And I remember talking to you, gosh, probably in maybe August or September about needing to have a hard conversation with a contractor. Because some things yeah.

Unknown Speaker  16:05  
Yeah, I didn't have a great experience with my contractor on this one, um, to start out with the contractor that I had that looked at the house was and actually ended up bidding, the job for me, was supposed to do the work. He sort of pulled a bait and switch on me. And I don't think he did it. intentionally. It, he had another guy that was working for him kind of part time that he had sent over to do some of the work starting out. And as time went on, my original contractor just kind of kept never showing up. And so I talked to him, and he said, You know what, I'm just booked out too far. If you want to go ahead and just pay, I'm just going to call him Matt. If you just want to pay Matt directly, and you know, leave me out of it. That's fine. He'll, he'll do everything based on my bids. And I was like, okay, you know, he's doing decent work. It's good quality work. So far. I'm pretty happy with it. That's all right. Except then as time went on, it just was taking forever, like everything he did. It was just so slow. And he and I had a good conversation in like, August or September, I think when you and I talked. And he said, You know, I? I think a big part of it was some of his inexperience in working with older houses. He was just having such a hard time with things not being plumb squared. True. Yeah, they definitely aren't. Yeah. And he was a huge perfectionist, and I had to have a conversation with him about, you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's never going to be right, perfect. And we really have to be careful that we're making things good and solid and safe. Yes. But you know, they don't always have to look or be done perfectly. Yeah. And we just have to be careful about prioritizing. Yes. So if you're having a question about something, or finding yourself hung up, just come ask me and all, I'll tell you that, yes, we need to work harder on this one or no, we need to let that go and keep moving. Awesome. And so we he did, um, but and then there was also some things that I was doing that was slowing him down. And we addressed some of those. I provided all the materials and delivered all the materials. And so it, I wasn't probably as fast at getting materials to him as I should have been or could have been. Okay. But that was also partially a communication issue between him and I wasn't getting the list of materials until sometimes the night before he needed them. Oh, gosh, yeah. So um, luckily menards the big box store is like two blocks from this house. So I made a lot of stops at seven o'clock in the morning. So we got through some of those things, but it still just continued to take a really long time. And we also ran into some other things that weren't, we weren't expecting. There was a little back porch that we rebuilt, that was supposed to just be some cosmetic stuff. And it ended up having to be completely rebuilt because the floor was rotten, all the way down into the basement. Um, there was a big water line issue that had to be taken care of, and it held up the progress on the front deck. Yeah. What was the waterline issue? Oh, so when I first bought the house, the water was shut off.

Unknown Speaker  19:53  
But there was brand new pecks line in the entire basement. So I knew and the water heater was blown up. Okay, so I knew there was some issues with water lines in furnace, but the interior water lines were fine. And as I tried to figure out why we couldn't get the water turned back on I, in calling the city, they told me that the stop, the curb stop was filled with dirt and they weren't able to turn it back on. So I actually have a friend who his brother does this kind of work. And he just came up to kind of scope it out for me and tried to tell me what was what I needed to have fixed. And he dug the curb stuff out for me, and he said, It's broken. Um, but before he did that, I talked to his brother and his brother told me, you know, in Sioux City, there is a law that if your curb stop or anything is broken on your out by water lines, you have to, if it's a half inch lead line, you have to replace that line all the way back to the main. Okay. So I spent probably a week and a half doing some research before Frank even came to dig out this curve stuff. And someone else had told me, you know, there's some insurance you can get by this insurance. And if that waterline has to be replaced, the insurance will take care of it. So I went ahead and bought the insurance because I thought, both house, right, and the city told me it was a half inch LED line, you can call them to find that out. Okay. Um, so I went ahead and bought the insurance, and then we dug the curb stuff out and found out Yes, it's broken. So I'm I actually waited until, I don't know, like, another month or something, and made a claim on the insurance. And they said, Nope, you knew about it. When you bought the insurance. We're not gonna pay for it. I'm like, okay, so $5,000 Oh, my God. Yeah, they had to take the waterline out the and put a new meter in the house as well. Yeah, so they had to go all the way back across the street. They had to burrow under a tunnel into the street to get to the water mean, and replace that line. So $5,000, but the house does have a brand new half inch line, or sorry, three quarter inch line, right. So it has amazing volume and pressure in the house. And yeah, and that's a benefit. Yeah, yeah. And luckily, I did have money for overages. So I didn't I wish I would have figured them into my budget. I didn't, but I had the money set aside separately, so that if I came across something I at least had the cash to pay for it. Good. Um, it wasn't like scrambling to write.

Unknown Speaker  22:47  
Right. Yeah, that's a that's a hard place to be. Yeah, yeah. Um, okay, what other kinds of Okay, so we were talking about the the contractor, so he was, he was still just chasing perfectionism. It sounds like and yeah, came up. Well, you came across some surprises.

Unknown Speaker  23:09  
Yep. Yep. Those all held things up. And honestly, looking back, I should have let him go. I should have let him go in on tour this

Unknown Speaker  23:19  
lesson. It's the hardest lesson in it took me a really long time to figure it out. years, it took me years to figure that out.

Unknown Speaker  23:27  
I was honestly just so afraid that I wouldn't be able to get another contract. I know. I know. And I know I had I known again, if I had known I would have done it because I could have easily gotten another contractor to step in and still been done at the same time.

Unknown Speaker  23:45  
Yeah, but I know, I know. It's the it's the hardest lesson and we worry we're not going to find somebody who's going to we were worried we're not going to find somebody. were worried that well, if we find somebody and he does the same thing. It's like why not just stick with this guy? Cuz we know what to expect?

Unknown Speaker  24:02  
Yeah. And that's what I kept telling my boyfriend when we would talk about it. I'm like, well, better the devil I know. Yeah, exactly. The devil you don't know. Yeah. But I wish I had that. Definitely a big mistake. And I think it ended up costing me at least a couple of months of carrying costs. Oh, man. So that's a that's a big lesson. And hey, the fact that you learned it on your first flip your second flip, but

Unknown Speaker  24:27  
your first you know, your second flip. Regardless, your second project, you learned it, that's pretty fast. And within you, you learned it. So now you practice it.

Unknown Speaker  24:39  
Right and I definitely will. I am not afraid to step in and tell somebody you know what, this just isn't working out. Thanks for your help. But yeah, I'm gonna find somebody else. Yeah, I'm, I'm not afraid to do that. I worked in administration long enough and I supervised up to 17 employees at one time, so I don't have a problem doing that. Part of it, it was just I honestly was afraid I might be making another financial mistake by letting him go. Totally. So. But I won't be afraid to do that again.

Unknown Speaker  25:09  
Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is if you do it, and it's a financial mistake, okay, great. Oh, well, like you. I've learned it. Oh, yeah. Okay, so, um, let's see, um, what other kinds of surprises came up on this?

Unknown Speaker  25:32  
Um, let's see, as far as like the rental goes, is expecting? Yeah, like, were there electrical surprises, or no, I didn't have any big electrical surprises, I'm actually probably the very first surprise that showed up was that the. So I knew the roof needed to be redone. But there was only two by four rafters, and it's a four hip roof. And it had four layers of shingles being shaped. So heavy, it was really heavy. So I knew that it needed a new roof, I did not realize that the rafters were not strong enough to support that. And it was causing some sagging. Yeah. And my electrician actually pointed it out, because his dad is a city building inspector. And he said, you know, if my dad was to come in and see that he would definitely make you put in a support wall. And I was like, You know what, I'm not super excited about having roofers up there if it's not safe. So very first thing I had to do is put in a $600 support wall, in the attic, just so that I could get roofers up there. To make it safe for them to be up there. Of course, after we got all the layers off, and put new sheeting on and put the new layer shingles on the weight was fine. And it probably wouldn't have needed the support lot it up. But I'm glad I put it in because at the end in the inspection, I'm the the contractor actually didn't quite put enough vertical supports in and so my Inspector, or the inspector on the sale actually had him go back and put in some more vertical support. So I saved myself in the end by only having to do a few extra vertical supports, instead of having to build an entire wall.

Unknown Speaker  27:26  
Totally. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And especially, like, the things that come up in the inspection report, because because once you're done, you're like, Okay, I'm done. And then the buyer comes along, and then they have an inspection report. And, and then it's like when it's something big like that. It's like, Oh my gosh, like I thought I was done doing like really big things. I thought I was just gonna be nitpicky stuff now.

Unknown Speaker  27:49  
Yeah, well, and the inspection report was probably my next my last, like biggest surprise, um, they found a cistern on the property that I didn't know was there. Oh, and the buyer had asked for just tons and tons and tons of things to be fixed. Like, every everything on the inspection report, he asked for it to be fixed. And I spent probably a good seven days getting estimates on that and negotiating with the buyer on which items I was going to complete and which items I wasn't because at that point, I was at the very end of my budget, I was also at the end of my patients. Amen. And it and I was at the end of my my set aside emergency money. So like cash was super tight. Yeah. Um, it was just kind of really frustrating at that point. And so that big surprise there. I wish it kind of goes back to that again, I wish I would have gotten a more formal inspection and next time I will, I will definitely, you know, make sure I just flat out hire an inspector and not try to go with somebody that had done it before. And I thought he was going to do it. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  29:09  
Yeah, it definitely does. It definitely does help and it does cut down on some some of those surprises now, but the weird thing is that because it's you know, it depends on who the inspector is. What kinds of things get called out like it's, it's Yeah, okay. So there still can be some surprises, but for the most part, sure. Yeah, I'm a I'm a fan of getting an inspection done to this.

Unknown Speaker  29:37  
I think it was really interesting looking back now at the I call it the Homer house flip my first live in Uh huh. flips that I did. Because I had lived in that house. I knew it so well. When the inspection report came. It was really seriously very minor stuff. Yeah, I have no problem taking care of basically all of it just like, Sure, no problem. And it took me like three days to get done any work I was able to do myself, so didn't even have to hire a contractor for it, versus buying a house that I had, you know, stepped foot in maybe a dozen times or half a dozen times. And all those surprises that come up, so,

Unknown Speaker  30:19  
yes, because I mean, yeah, you're inheriting somebody else's lack of money. Right? Exactly. You assume people will take care of their property the way you do? And it's like, they don't?

Unknown Speaker  30:32  
They don't know.

Unknown Speaker  30:35  
Yeah. Okay. So I know you did a lot of the or some of the work yourself. Did you already know how to do that work? Or did you teach yourself along the way or what,

Unknown Speaker  30:46  
um, I spent a lot of time watching it just even in the last probably 10 or 15 years, my ex husband did some of that kind of work. And so I spend a lot of time watching him. Um, I spent a lot of time watching my contractors do things, and I love YouTube videos. So I pull up a YouTube video, and I'll watch more than one and try to get several different methods to do something. Um, I, my boyfriend was super supportive. And he is really, really handy. He's not a finished carpenter by any means. He builds pallets for a living. Oh, so he does a lot of like, rough type carpentry? Uh huh. Um, so he, actually, a lot of times, I'll come home and tell him, okay, I'm trying to figure out how to do this. And this is my problem. And I'll take pictures. And he'll say, Well, why don't you try this. And he'll even take me out to the shop and kind of show me how to do something. That's awesome. And then I go back the next day and try to put it into action. Honestly, I do a lot of the minor stuff. I hangers. Yeah, my my dad came the first time I had to put in a new door and showed me how to do it. Um, I hang doors, I put in trimwork. I now know how to do flooring. I do a lot of painting on the side. And I've been doing that for a lot of years. I'm spackling and sheetrock work I learned how to do just by watching my contractors. Wow. But I can't stress how important it is to have the right tools. Yeah. Honestly, if you're trying to do something new that you don't know how to do. Yes. Make sure you have all the right tools. Yeah, that is so important. Otherwise, it's so frustrating. You just want to give up.

Unknown Speaker  32:41  
Yeah, I think that's such a great point. Yeah, I'm glad you pointed that out. I think that's super important for people to hear. Yeah. And I know your mom helped.

Unknown Speaker  32:51  
Yeah, uh huh. My mom is my biggest cheerleader. Absolutely. What is her name is mama Ruth. Is that what Ruth?

Unknown Speaker  33:01  
I love it makes my heart so happy seeing her in there involved. I love it. She was helping teach and I think doing something with the kitchen cabinets or something.

Unknown Speaker  33:08  
Yeah, yeah, she was painting the kitchen cabinets for me. And she actually helps me with a lot of the painting. Mm hmm. That's who I learned how to paint for my mom is kind of obsessive about repainting. And so she repaints her entire house the interior about every other year. Are you serious? Yeah. I love it. It's tired of it. She needs something new. Um, no, it's a cleanliness thing. new paint is clean. Uh huh. So she's super obsessive about clean and new paint clean, smells clean and fresh. And so she will repaint the interior of her house at least every other year. So I've been painting since I was like, really little.

Unknown Speaker  33:51  
Yeah, that's hilarious. Um, did you it doesn't sound like you did but did you confront any naysayers or people being like, No, you can't do that or anything.

Unknown Speaker  34:09  
You know, I don't think I have had any naysayers in my life other than occasionally, and my mom is my absolute biggest cheerleader. But she is from that generation where women just don't do things like I'm doing. Yeah. And so occasionally, she still says something like, I think you should just wait for one of the boys to come help you with that. Or maybe you should get your contractor to do that. And I usually just kind of look at her. I said, No, Mom, I don't need a man to do that. I'm gonna figure this out. But no, I don't have a lot of naysayers in my life. And maybe that's because I've already weeded them out. Yeah, over the years. You know, they're there was a really big one for a lot of years. And that's why he's an ex now. Yeah, we're Hey, now I just I don't have time for that. Yeah, good. I really don't. And honestly, it's sometimes having a naysayer isn't always a bad thing.

Unknown Speaker  35:11  
Yeah, well, if you suck, honestly, it fuels me. It does. Me too. Yeah, it's like yeah, Lee, you don't think I can?

Unknown Speaker  35:18  
Okay. Yeah, yeah.

Unknown Speaker  35:19  
I want to even more

Unknown Speaker  35:23  
and then prove it. So I, my favorite saying is if they say I can't do it, I'm gonna do it twice and take pictures. Yeah, I love it. That is my favorite thing. And I do it. I do it a lot. I post a lot of pictures. Yes. Yes. Things that people don't really expect me to be able to do.

Unknown Speaker  35:41  
Right? You shouldn't be doing those things. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Um, okay, what about? So what about you yourself? Like, do you have maybe before you got started? Or even now? I mean, they evolved in change? Are you telling yourself are you having any limiting beliefs about yourself, or your capabilities or your knowledge or your skills or anything like that?

Unknown Speaker  36:10  
Um, you know, now, no, I don't, I have learned what my limitations are. I learned that there's things that I'm capable of doing. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing for me to do, because it takes me longer. Or because I'm maybe not quite as skilled as a contractor would be. Um, there was definitely a point in the middle of this flip. When I thought to myself, Oh, I am in over my head. This is taking forever, it's never going to be done. I'm going to run out of money. I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of money. Where am I going to get the rest of this financed? Maybe I should just quit and sell it as is. I definitely went through that midway. You know, it was December. Yeah. And it was supposed to have been done in October. And it of course, it was the dead of winter. And I live in in Nebraska. I was working in Iowa. So it's cold. And we're not getting a lot of sunlight. I'm spending a lot of time inside. Yeah. There was a lot of things playing, playing to my mental state at that time. But I just I pushed through it. Yeah. Because like I said, I I have pretty strong feelings about quitting. And that's just not part of who I am. So I wasn't going to let myself get down in that ditch and not crawl back out. So yeah, that's kind of what I just kept moving forward. Yeah, I didn't allow myself to stall out.

Unknown Speaker  37:41  
Yeah. Yeah. I think that's that's huge. It's really easy to it's easier to stall out. I mean, it really is. Yeah, it doesn't feel the best later on, it's definitely not going to feel good way back. Right. But yeah, it's it's usually the easiest choice in the moment. Just be like, Okay, I'm done. I'm done.

Unknown Speaker  38:04  
Yeah, there was many times I thought about calling my agent and saying let's it, let's just list it, or calling my other investor. You know, buddy, that that sold me the house and saying, hey, do you want it back?

Unknown Speaker  38:18  
I'll give you a great deal. And there's a lot of work already done. That's hilarious.

Unknown Speaker  38:26  
Yeah, there was definitely It was so tempting sometimes to do that. But yeah, I'm glad I didn't. Yeah, cuz I just kept reminding myself that my goal going into this house wasn't necessarily to make a huge bank, or to make a huge profit. My goal going in, honestly, was to not lose money.

Unknown Speaker  38:48  
But I hear that, especially from other students 99% of the time, if not, like, I really want to say 100%, but 99% of the time, it's the first one. I just don't want to lose money. But yeah, like, prove to myself that I can do this. Not not risky at all, not lose it all. Not have all these terrible things happen that are potentially, you know, out there in the universe. Yeah. Yeah, I hear that a lot. For sure. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  39:20  
And I sure could have, I mean, I came pretty close, you know, a few times and had to make some changes to the work that was being done at house to make up for the budget. But I look back on it now. And I think I learned so much. And no, I didn't make the profit that I originally expected to make. Especially considering the longer timeline because if you look back on it, I think I made about $15,000 over 10 months. Yeah. Which really isn't a very good paycheck. Yeah. But I didn't lose money. Yeah. And I finished and I have A really beautiful home. Oh, that's got tons of compliments and charming. Yeah. And my real estate agent came in and said, he gave me one of the best compliments. He said, You know, you have an eye for detail. And your houses are always going to sell faster than any other flipper in the metro area. Because you're not, you might need to use the Bleep here. Debbie, you're not half asking thing. Oh, yeah, no, exactly. No 100% making sure that the things that need to be taken care of or taken care of. And everything else looks really nice. Yeah. So I'm so proud of myself. Good.

Unknown Speaker  40:41  
I love that like that right there that like that would end the call for me. Okay, I'm done. That's awesome. for someone to say I'm proud of myself. That's huge. So that is a perfect segue into why do you Why do you want to do this? Like, why do you want to flip houses? What's driving you? What drives sissy?

Unknown Speaker  41:03  
Um, you know, I love being able to do things that other people maybe think aren't normal for somebody like me, I guess I'm flipping houses like a girl. I people don't expect women to flip houses. And I love doing things that people aren't expecting. I you know, I just like to be that person. Online love. Yeah. I love taking something that's really ugly that that old, nasty, unsafe house. Yeah. And making it a nice, clean, safe home for a family. Our metro area has really a shortage of housing, and it has a shortage of affordable housing for families. And I look back to when my kids were little, and we were looking for our first house. And it was so scary. And it was so frustrating, because things that were within our budget, either were unclean, unsafe, or, you know, I'm just so it unaffordable that we were so stuck. Yeah, it was so hard to find something and I want to be able to provide those affordable, safe, clean homes for a family that can come in and say, Oh, this feels like home. That's awesome. No, it doesn't feel like I'm settling for something. Oh my god. That's awesome. Yeah. So that's really important to me, too. Yeah, that's in it, you know, and I have two boys and a girl. And I love proving to my kids and showing to my kids that women can do anything. My boys are incredibly respectful young men. They are incredibly helpful with me on the project. But at the same time, they also know that their mom is very, very capable. Yeah. And they understand that women are very capable. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, so I'm setting that example for them. And that's really important to me and my daughter as well. She's also a huge help she paints with me in the summer. Nice. Um, she comes in does all the same work that the boys do. We don't we don't separate out girl work and boy work in my house. Family. Yeah. So she's learning a lot of skills too on, you know, things that she maybe wouldn't have been taught. Yeah, if I wasn't there to

Unknown Speaker  43:39  
teacher. Oh, for sure. 100% Yeah, absolutely. I think that the the modeling for our kids is just it's so much bigger than I think we could ever imagine. And even though we know that it's really important, we know they're watching. We know it's important. I think it's even more important than we could ever really know.

Unknown Speaker  44:04  
Yeah, I think that's great.

Unknown Speaker  44:06  
Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  44:08  
Well, I think those are three really big why's like I get it I get why you didn't quit and you went ahead and finished I totally get it. Um, do you Okay, so I know that you mentioned already you wish you had gotten rid of the contractor sooner Is there anything else across the flip that you wish you had done differently?

Unknown Speaker  44:33  
Like I said, I wish I would have gotten a more comprehensive inspection. That's right. You know, I don't think so. Like I knew some of my plans were probably going to have to change just some small things. For example, like the the wood floors, I was really hoping we would be able to refinish those and save them. But as it turned out, when we pulled out flooring, there was just too many repairs that would need to be made. And so I ended up having to put in some laminate flooring. Okay, and then some carpet. But I kind of knew going in that I had to be flexible. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't think there was any other really big. I wish I would have

Unknown Speaker  45:16  
Yeah, moment. Good. Good. Is there anything else you want to be shared so many awesome little nuggets and words of wisdom? Is there anything else before we end the the call that you want to make sure you say or convey to people?

Unknown Speaker  45:34  
Um, you know, I guess I just feel so strongly about the the phrase that people say fake it until you make it. Yeah, I Honest to God, I it is so true. I can't tell you how many years I faked my confidence. Yeah, I pretended I wasn't afraid, or I, um, you know, I even got over shyness at a really young age by just saying, I'm going to pretend I'm not shy. And I'm going to walk up and say hello to this person. And that serves me today because I can still walk up to somebody and say, Hey, I flip houses for a living. Yeah, um, you know, if you see any houses that you think might need a little love, give me a call.

Unknown Speaker  46:21  
Here's my business card. And they you That was a child, there was no way. Yeah. Yeah. Like you couldn't see that that was going to be you in the future. Yeah. No,

Unknown Speaker  46:32  
no, I, you really do have to fake it. And it just becomes part of practice. And you do it once or twice. And then the third time gets easier. And the fourth time gets even easier. And pretty soon You don't even think about it anyway. Yeah. So honestly, just taking steps, like you have said so many times in your trainings. Just keep moving forward, you have to keep moving forward. And once you have gone through those steps, they just become so much easier every time.

Unknown Speaker  47:01  
Absolutely. It really is like just keep showing up and just keep moving forward. Just do something to move forward. Because it's really easy to get stuck. Yeah. Especially if we listen to what we say to ourselves.

Unknown Speaker  47:14  
Agree. Yeah. If I had listened in December, yeah. I would either still be sitting on a half finished house, or I might have lost money.

Unknown Speaker  47:23  
Oh my gosh. So yeah, I mean, really, the timing of it all the fact that you finished and put it on the market when you did like all of that. It's just like, holy crap. Thank goodness. Right? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Well, you're awesome. I love this conversation, though. Mike. Thank you. I've been waiting to have this conversation with you. Um, and I'm so glad that we were able to have it and just huge congratulations. I mean, you made the note that when you think about, well, you know, 1517 grand over 10 months isn't much. Don't even like, take the month out. You made? You know, more than 10%. Yep. Your first I did on your will on your flip. I know. I keep saying, you know what I mean? It is I mean, it's my first real flip. Right? Where Yeah, because it's different. When you don't have years of equity, build a place, it's right have to have to be faster, you have to make decisions in a different way. So it is different. It's it's definitely more pressure for sure. It is it is. So congratulations on that.

Unknown Speaker  48:31  
I'm Thank you so much. And I have to thank you too, for your training, because honestly, I was totally flying blind before I did any of your training. And I'll be honest, I still haven't finished all the modules. I'm a little bit of a procrastinator you pop on and I do look through all of the resources pretty frequently. And they have saved me from making a lot more mistakes. So I know I need to finish them. And I probably wouldn't have made quite as many mistakes if I had finished them before I started that flip. Um, but your training has just made such a huge difference for me and gives me the confidence and I feel like I have somebody behind me that I can go to and say, Hey, you know, could I do something better here? Or is there something different I can try? It's nice to have that resource and it's nice to have somebody behind me saying you're doing great. Keep going off because I think everybody needs a cheerleader.

Unknown Speaker  49:32  
I appreciate that. Like, I'm glad that that's what you get. That's, that's my hope is that that's what you feel from me. And that's what you get from me. Absolutely. It's 100 it's just like it's so validating to hear because I can have all these wishes and wants and intentions. But if that's not how they're being received then so thank you that makes like that. Totally. That makes me teary eyed. Really. Like you're doing it. I'm grateful. Thank you so much. Awesome. Yay. Well, thank you for continuing to show up. Like, even though you hadn't been through the modules and stuff you show up in our in our private Facebook group, you show up in the big public Facebook group, like you show up. And that's Yeah. Like, if somebody doesn't do anything other than just showing up, they'll Won't they will be fine. You have to show up though. Yeah, yeah. I agree. Well, and you take action, and you're not afraid to just go do something, which is just, it's awesome. Afraid you just do it? Well, the worst thing that can happen is that I would fail and I would learn a lesson right? Oh, my God. That's such an important mindset right there. Like that's, yeah, that's huge. Well, I thank you so much. Thank you for sharing some of your day with me and sharing the story. It's awesome. Like I can't wait to see your next one. And I know you're hunting. I know you I'm hunting really hard. Yeah, I know. You are. I can't wait. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thank you see, so much. Have a good day. Thanks you too. Bye, bye. Was that awesome? Or what I told you, it she that was such a great conversation. It was so easy to have. And she shared so much wisdom and a lot of that wisdom, if not all of it. You can only get by actually doing the thing. So go do the thing. And if you want some step by step guidance, to make progress even faster, and see results faster, guess what, you can join our coaching program as well. You'll have to get on the waitlist for now. But you'll be notified first thing when we are open for enrollment again and you can join the waitlist by going to first flip done right.com again, first flip done right comm go there, jump on the waitlist, and I'll let you know when it's time. All right, you guys you know the drill, go out there, flip houses like a girl. Leave people in places better than you find them and make it a great day. Bye