June 14, 2022

Linda Flips First House on the Side and Profits 44k

Here's another First Flip story from one of our FlipSisters in our coaching program!

We'll discuss:

  • How she found the off-market deal
  • How she financed the deal - and the woo woo money she used for down payment
  • How she navigated the construction surprises
  • The challenges she faced and lessons she learned 
  • How she handled a situation that came up on her street that was devaluing her property and impacting the sale

...and so much more!

You will love this rock and roll woman!

Enjoy :)

GOODIES

1. Sick of sitting on the sideline watching other people do the thing you want to be doing? Are you FINALLY ready to do what it takes to flip your first house and want incredible step-by-step training and support to get you there faster? Click here to see if we may be a fit to work together.

2. Follow That Flip! Follow this 8-part video series as we flip a house! 

3. Our goal is to inspire 1,000 new women each month and we've been achieving it with help from loyal listeners like you! If you are getting value out of this podcast will you kindly leave us a rating and review and help us spread our message?

Debbie DeBerry | The Flipstress®
Leaving people and places better than we find them.



Transcript

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

Debbie DeBerry: Hey there, thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope that whatever you're up to, whatever you're doing, you're having an easy day. Today, we'll be chatting with Linda, who's in Portland, Oregon. And she'll be taking us through her first flip experience. And this is such a great episode, for many reasons. And I know I say that all the time. But guess what they are each really great episodes. So in this one, we'll hear about how she found the deal, how she financed the deal, some hippie dippie woowoo that went into it, AI and something that came up as she was renovating the property and listed it. So it kind of started happening while she was renovating. And then when she listed the property for sale, it was an issue. It was feedback she was getting about this specific thing that was affecting her property. And she had little to no control over it. So we're going to talk about that how she handled it. We're going to talk about her buyer and the buyer's inspector and real estate agent and how Linda got mansplain. So that was fine. We'll talk about so much more. All right, so sit tight. And let's meet Linda, you're gonna love her. She's a rock and roller. Awesome energy, awesome vibe. Let's get into it. So first name, and then any any information you want to share with us about like, your backstory and what brought you to this. And yeah, why flipping houses?

Linda:  Okay, well, I'm Linda. And I live in Portland, Oregon. I've lived here for about 30 years. And I work in public health didn't always work in public health. I was a bartender for a long time. And then I decided to go back to school, I thought health care was where it was at. And I still do have my day job with the Health Department. And, you know, as inspiring as that is, I have always wanted to flip houses. I'm constantly just, you know, watching all those flipping shows, and, you know, dating contractor. Yeah, and just, you know, trying to figure out, how can I do that someday, you know, how can I do that someday and, you know, I, when the pandemic hit, I was fortunate enough to be able to work from home, we did that transition. And I still work from home, which I just I love, I love it. It works for me. But it did enable me to have some extra time in the evenings because I wasn't commuting anymore. So I was like, you know, I want to maybe take some classes or something. And I don't even remember how this happened. What I do remember is that I was on Facebook, and I think one of your ads just kind of popped up in my newsfeed. And I was like, Who is the flip strips? Kind of interesting. So I started listening to your podcast, and I was like, Oh, this is what I want to study. Like, this is what I want to take this class, you know, so I, I think I took my tax refund and paid for it. It's awesome. So in February of 2021, I took your I purchased your course and I just devoured the modules. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really interesting. It was just stuff that I could really stay engaged with. You know, when I was in college, I mean, my eyes would bleed reading what I had to read, you know, but this was so much more fun and the modules were interactive. And you know, I learned better in that way where it's like a video and I can pause it and go back. Yeah, you know and listen to you again and be like what did she just say? You know, I don't think Wait, grasp that. And so just devoured the modules. And then I was like, I'm gonna just start seeing if I can find if I can actually this is the way I thought about it, can I manifest a property? Because I'm totally a meditator. And I believe in like, you know, the law of attraction and stuff. So I was doing this meditation, that's all about the law of attraction. And, and in the meditation, it's a guided meditation, the guy's like, picture what you want, picture what you want. So I just kept saying, I need a property to flip. I need a property to flip. You know, that's what I want. And I would listen to it while I was exercising, you know, just multiple times a day. And I happen to be on a, what is it called next door? The next door app? Oh, yeah. And I just happen to see this lady's post where she was like, I really want to sell my house, but I don't want Realtors involved. It's it's a long story, but I Please don't. I don't want any realtors to respond. Well, of course, 30 realtors have left their information, oh, we take care of you, you know, just trying to encourage her. And I was like, she just said she didn't want to talk to realtors, you know? So I messaged her and I said, Hey, full transparency. Well, I said, I'm looking for a house to purchase directly from the seller, full transparency, I'm looking for a house to flip. So you know. And then I kind of gave her some reasons why a seller would go with somebody like me versus listing on the market. And so I gave her like some you know, you wouldn't have to do any repairs, you wouldn't have to do any cleaning. You know, you wouldn't have people traipsing through your house except for me and my inspector and my contractor. And that's it. And I also said that she could leave all of her stuff behind that she didn't want, which I later regretted. But

Debbie DeBerry  every time I offer that I regretted that I still offer. Yeah,

Linda: I know. I know. And it actually was fine. It was just like, whoa, what did I get myself into, but she was receptive to that. And I also told her that I really try to work with women owned and minority owned businesses. And that resonated with her. So she, she let me come over and I checked out her house. And yeah, I kind of just went down a rabbit hole there. But that's kind of how it all just started happening. That's awesome.

Debbie DeBerry: So I had no idea. You found this on next door. I had no idea. That's so cool. Okay, I love that. And you just reached out be like, hey, so this is what's up. And then you went over there. And were there other investors? Was she talking to other investors? Do you even know?

Linda: So I heard something later that an investor was interested in her property. But this was already after we were under contract. But that other investor had told her that he wanted to tear down her property. And she was not happy with that. She lived there for 25 years with her family. And she was like, and she also I just don't think she liked him as a person.

Debbie DeBerry Right. Thank you, sir. Okay, so you walk the property? Do you make an offer that day,

Linda: I went home and crunched the numbers, what I did was, you know, thanks for letting me come over. I really appreciate it. I can't remember if my contractor went with me the first time or not, I think I just went over there by myself the first time to kind of introduce myself and I was so nervous that she was and you know, this family was a little eccentric. I mean, they, they weren't very approachable. And I learned that all the neighbors around them had really bad interactions with them. And I'm glad I learned that later or else I might be too scared to approach her but when I went over there, you know, I their dog bit me. Just a little nip on the foot, but it broke my went through my shoe. And her husband basically told me Well, you shouldn't have been walking there, you know, so I was like, Oh, my goodness, and it was just a little dog but still it bit me. And I'm a dog person. I love dogs. Yeah. Oh, gosh. But yeah, so the first time I just said, you know, let me go home and, you know, see what I can come up with, you know, and so I kind of presented an offer to her just via email like this is how much I can pay. And this is why I'm this is, you know, this is how much is gonna cost for my renovations. This is how much it's gonna cost for me to hold the property. And I really just told her all the numbers, you know, if I want her to just know how I arrived at that offer.

Debbie DeBerry: Absolutely, yeah. It's totally transparent. Like, this is what I this is.

Linda: Yeah. And she had given me a number that she wanted, but I was probably $20,000 less than that interesting. $25,000 less than what she wanted.

Debbie DeBerry: What was her? Okay, so that was sent via email. What was her reaction? And what was it was it? Did you have to wait a while? Or how did that? How did that play out?

Linda: But she said, she really appreciated the breakdown. She was like, Thank you for sharing your numbers with me. It does make sense. I'll have to think about it. I want to I want to consult my family attorney. I don't even know if she had one. But, you know, she, she wanted to consult some people first and just figure out if it was cool. So it took her like two weeks to get back to me. And I was sweating it. And also, you know, I was worried that she didn't have a place to move to yet. So I was like, I wonder how this is going to play out? Like, is she gonna be just ready to, you know, pull the trigger, right? Or is she going to need some time right to find house? Right?

Debbie DeBerry: What time of year was this? Like, What month was this? 

Linda:  I initially contacted her in May. Okay. Okay. He didn't close till September. So this took quite a while. Wow. We had, yeah, yeah, we had a contract. That was a 45 day contract once she finally signed the contract with you know, I said I would entertain continuing the contract if she wasn't able to close by then. But then I'd have to do a I'd have to reanalyze the market and see if my offer was still going to be the same. Yeah. Well, I think as it got towards, you know, towards the end of that she was like, You know what, I don't want to risk this, you know, real estate investor upping the, or lowering the price on me. And she just found herself a property kind of last minute, we closed right before the contract expired, and she moved out. Or she found a place to live. She didn't move out right away. We did a rent back for a few days. Okay, which I was super uncomfortable with.

Debbie DeBerry: Did she get out when she was supposed to?

Linda: She got out a couple days early. And so I told her that I would give her the, you know, the rent, you know, I split the divide, give her a refund for the days that she wasn't in there. And she let me keep it. She's like, just keeping it. She's like, I feel bad for how messy my house is, is it's kind of her deal. So I just kept the rent back and she wouldn't take a refund and we got right to work.

Debbie DeBerry: Okay, so did she leave a bunch of stuff?

Linda: Oh, yeah. I don't even know what was in the attic. My contractor dealt with all that.

Debbie DeBerry: Going up there. That's creepy.

Linda: Yeah, I did see a Bart Simpson poster. Like it was super, super old. And I just told one of the crew that he could keep that and see if it was worth anything. That's awesome. But um, yeah. I mean, it was just, you know, I don't want to insult the folks that owned the house, but it was really trashed. Yeah.

Debbie DeBerry: You know, accumulation of what, 25 years. 20 years. Yeah. So, alright, so you get in and you closed on it in September. Okay. You get in and what was what was your purchase price?

Linda: Okay. And 500 Oh, yeah, not 295 but 500.

Debbie DeBerry Interesting. Okay. And what was your initial renovation estimate budget before actually getting into it?

Linda: 50,000.

Debbie DeBerry: And what happened when you actually got into it?

Linda: Well, we started doing things. And you know, at first it was going okay, you know, we were on track. We were doing good, but it was moving a little slow. But really, you know, I liked my contractor so much that I just kind of didn't worry about that so much. But I had a woman I have a woman contractor that I just become really good friends with and I and I adore her and she's so smart and so good that you know, there was there was some personal things that happened with her And one of our crew members got sick. And so we got behind a little bit. Okay. But then, as we're demoing the bathroom, we discovered under the shower, that it wasn't installed properly. So there had been water damage that got into all the floorboards underneath the bathroom, up the walls a little bit, and then into the adjacent laundry room. So that was a surprise. Yeah. So that set us back a while because we had to remove all of that rotted wood and replace it. And then we had to replace one of the piers underneath I think, is what you call it. Yep. And, you know, and that's when my contractor was like, Okay, we're going to be above our, you know, we're going to be out of budget, I'll try to save money here and there, let's see what we can do. But just be prepared that, you know, it's we're probably going to go over budget a little bit and I'm like, okay, cool. I've got that 2% buffer in there, you know, and I'm, you know, I've got my little running tabulation of it. I'm like, here's my buffer. And as we used it, I was subtracting how much was left? Debbie DeBerry 16:13 Was your initial timeline, like, how long did you think it would be before you got it back on the market? Unknown Speaker 16:19 So my contractor said, you know, two months for the ran out, so I provided a four month timeline. Well, the Reno ended up taking five months. Oh, gosh. Okay. And from Close to close, it was seven months. Okay.

Debbie DeBerry : Oh, gosh, it didn't seem that long. I mean, I'm sure it did to you. That wanted me. 

Linda: I mean, now that I look back at it, it, it seems everything that happened, it was all realistic. It wasn't any, you know, I'm glad that I had those buffers in place. And my contractor was really good about reusing some things on the property. Like we refurbished some of the cabinets that were there. We did put some custom cabinets in up above, but the lower cabinets we saved in the kitchen. So there were things that we did that helped mitigate being super out of budget, but I did go on a budget.

Debbie DeBerry Okay, well, what was your What did your budget end up being?

Linda:  It ended up being 56.

Debbie DeBerry : Oh, that's not bad. Okay. Okay. That's not bad. Yeah. Okay. So obviously, the shower pan and all the rotten wood under that. And all of that surprise was, were there any other surprises like that, that you found when y'all got into things?

Linda: You know, the roof, we knew we were going to have to replace the roof. But we did have to replace a lot of the, I guess the wood? The sheets of wood underneath it to got it? Uh huh. So because there was some leaking that happened so there was some other water damage from the roof. Okay, what else happened? That water damage was the biggest surprise. And then when we replaced the the porch, we, you know, the the roof was kind of sagging over the porch because they didn't have support beams. So we ended up having to reinforce a whole new brand new kind of porch frame, frame out situation

Debbie DeBerry: on the front, on the front. It's so cute. It's a really cute house.

Linda: Yeah, it turned out really good. I wish I would have had a little extra money for landscaping. But I hadn't planned because I was thinking I was going to be selling in the wintertime.

Debbie DeBerry: Now, what was the main delay? From the two months of estimated two months of estimated renovation to five months was it? You said she had something personal come up and then I think some of her crew got COVID Was there anything else? Like?

Linda:  It was actually mono? My her crew got mono?

Debbie DeBerry: Are you serious? Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Linda: But anyway, I think I mean, it did. I think things just take longer than you think, you know. And in the future, you know, as I got to know, my contractor, I'm like, hey, you know, let's talk realistic timelines. You know, I, I was like, yeah, it would have been great if we could have done this in two months. But now that we're into it, and we're doing a new roof and we're doing all this new stuff, and we're doing a completely new bathroom and almost a completely new kitchen and all new flooring like this stuff is gonna take time. And, you know, running into the things that we did. I told her that I had doubled the timeline, but I you know, and she was like, Yeah, we should be good. To go with that, and so I guess it took a month longer than the double. No, got it. But yeah, I mean, I just think that weather had a lot to do with it too, like, Oregon is really wet. Yeah, here in Portland.

Debbie DeBerry: I forgot. You guys get a little bit of rain.

Linda: Yeah, it's really wet here. And so, you know, some of the exterior stuff had to wait. The roof had to get done right away. We tried to knock that out, right in the beginning before it got cold and, you know, rainy for the wintertime. So, you know, and then there were two outbuildings two that we were working on as well. We didn't do much on those, one of them got a new roof, and then they just got cleaned up really well and painted. So that wasn't really a big deal. But let me think.

Debbie DeBerry:  Oh, were they being positioned as like storage sheds? Or what were you? What were they being positioned as? Well.

Linda: So there was a smaller one that looked like a potting shed. So you know, that was kind of what we did with that one. And then the larger one they had built within the last few years. So it was pretty new. Okay, so we just, that's a storage shed, or I kind of wanted to make it like a meditation room slash yoga studio and put some windows in it and stuff like that. But we didn't have enough money to do that. So I was I envisioned this really cool yoga staging, you know, with a yoga mat in there and a plant and like a Buddha or something. And it's just an empty shell. paint on it, and whoever bought the house can do whatever she wants.

Debbie DeBerry: Exactly, exactly. You can do whatever you want. Okay, so when did you end up putting it on the market to sell?

Linda: February 28.

Debbie DeBerry:And how did that go? When you first put it on the market? How are you feeling? Let's talk about feelings 

Linda: feelings. stressed out, I was so stressed out, because during the renovation period, our mayor had I don't know what they call it. But he did an emergency like statute or something where he banned houseless folks from camping on busy streets and highways and freeways like along the sides, because several folks had gotten hit by cars. So all of a sudden, these folks are moving into the neighborhoods more. So you know, and then they obviously need a place to sleep. So you know, it was really hard. It was really hard to watch. Like right at the end of the street, the activity just really increase tense popping up within within eyesight of the property. And it was right across the street there. The property sits right across the street from this city. Walkway bike pathway, oh, yeah, that will use to commute downtown on their bikes and families use it to walk on and it's very lush, and lots of greenery around it. Well, that was a really good campsite for folks. And so, you know, I was getting really nervous that the value of my property was going to go down that I was going to get stuck with the property, or that I was going to have to move into it. I just wasn't comfortable with any of those scenarios. Yeah. So I reached out to a city service that comes out and engages with houseless folks and tries to get them services, okay. It was really important to me that they didn't come in and sweep the camp out because I'm against that I don't think that's humane. So in my meditations, I was, at that point meditating that these folks would find a better place to stay that was safer for them, and everyone else involved. And so I was meditating on that. And nothing was happening, but I was like, you know, this is all I can do. This is the best I can do because I'm not gonna like call the cops on these folks unless they start vandalizing the property, which they did. Okay. Um, but anyway, so we had a couple of attempted break ins. And I actually did not call the police. I just we just fixed it. They tried, they bashed in the the window in the bathroom to get in the bathroom. Oh, man. You know, and the house next door was vacant as well. So they were getting a lot of breaking attempts there. And actually, we were finding hypodermic needles all over the driveways. And guess we were like, What are we gonna do? You know?

Debbie: So is this right before you listed that you started seeing all of this or kind of it was

Linda: kind of slowly developing through the course of the whole project. And so what was causing me a lot of stress? Oh, for sure. I can see that. Yeah. And, you know, and trying to do the right thing. Yeah, you know, but also making my presence known. I checked on that property every single day. And I would be out on the front porch just looking around spending some time, you know, and when the people broke the window, I stood on the front porch, and I yelled, I said, I'm here every day. Do not break into my property, please. Thank you. So anyway, it was just scary. I just was really worried. But I guess at one point, the an organization that helps houseless folks came out and helped them clean up their, their area, I believe, and a bunch of tents came down, and they moved elsewhere. Okay. So it started to clean up a little bit, but there were still some campers within just, you know, the distance of maybe three or four houses away. Gosh. So yeah, the feedback I got, in the beginning was, wow, it sure is a gorgeous house to bet it's not in a better neighborhood. Oh, gosh. And I was like, Oh, no.

Debbie DeBerry 26:38 Okay, so what? When you listed it, actually, when you first ran your numbers in May? What were you thinking you your ARV would be 450. Okay. When you list it in February of 2022, what did you list it at?

Linda: 450.

Debbie DeBerry: awesome. Now, isn't it like, we can only control the things we can control?

Linda: Right? I can call myself that too.

Debbie DeBerry : And when  there's other stuff that's right there impacting you and your livelihood. It's like, and then you've got your, your morality, right. And you're in this like, well, but I don't want to just put them in the system, right? Because maybe UPS aren't the right answer. But right breaking in, and then there's hypodermic needles. It's like, oh, my gosh, that's all very stressful. Yeah, I can see that. That would all be very stressful. And I'm glad that they were able, hopefully, the hopefully some of them got the services they needed, and then just get moved to somewhere else. Right, that's all we can ever hope for is that they're actually getting the help they need. Okay, so when you first put it on, there's still some activity there. And how long did it take for you to? Well, first of all, let me assist did that ever clear out completely?

Linda: No.

Debbie DeBerry:  So how long did it take me to get an offer?

Linda: think it was about two or three weeks. So it I was very happy when I finally got an offer. And I did get some realtors calling my realtor saying hey, will she take $10,000 less? And I said no. Yeah, I just wanted to. I was like, You know what? We're short on inventory. I believe that we will hopefully see some progress cleaning up you know, helping folks get into housing. Housing first is what I believe the answer is we need to house these folks. And you know, just I wanted to stick with my number because I knew that the house was worth that good brand new on a dead end street you know, I very idealistic spot, I can see why folks wanted to camp there because it was really like being in the country. But you're not in the country. Like you literally just have greenery everywhere and there's this park across the street and it's gorgeous. And so I was like, you know, 450 is totally realistic. And I was kind of hoping that I would see some bidding wars but you know, and I was hoping to get maybe five but I didn't.

Debbie DeBerry: So okay, I remember though. Remind me to come back to how you financed everything. Okay. Oh, I guess I want to ask that question. I should have asked that already. But I will. I remember it coming back on the market. It went under contract and then came back on the market.

Linda: Yeah, we actually so this is Interesting. So this is where, you know, we hear all these stories about, you know, man's laners. And, you know, men that don't take women seriously in this industry. I get under contract with the single. It's a single woman, newly divorced, ready to buy her, you know, a place for her and her son and her realtor. Is it a guy who was not nice at all? I mean, he was just, he was very verbally abusive to my realtor who was a woman was just awful. And he was second guessing everything. And I think the way this what poisoned him was the inspector. Gosh, man, who? Who when you read the inspection, I got to actually read it. And he was inserting his opinion everywhere. Yeah, that's not your job, sir. And using using my using my pronoun, like, he's literally talking about me like she, it looks like she did this. It looks like she did that like, oh, wow, it looks like she did a bunch of work that required permits and didn't get permits, which we didn't, we did not do that. So that made. So after reading, it was like, wow, this guy is one of those good old boys that does not want women in the business. And he is just ripping apart this project that I'm very proud of. Yeah, that my general contractor is very proud of, and she's a woman as well. Right. And I just we got the vibe that they just did not like the fact that two women pulled this off. Wow. You know, with rose. I mean, we did have some guys working on the property too. But like, you know, my general contractor was managing it. And she was doing a lot of the work herself. And, you know, we were proud of the finished product. Yeah. So I think the realtor got a little taste of that in him. And then he, I think that he killed the deal at first with the buyer. You know, just saying I don't know about this property, you know, doesn't look like he literally said, it does not look like the owner knows how to manage contractors.

Debbie DeBerry:  Wow.

Linda: You don't even know me. You don't know what we've, what we've done like you weren't here. And obviously you're not a contractor yourself. Because I can tell you one of the things I have to tell you this part, this is when we realized, wow, this, this inspector, don't use this guy ever. She sent a message to the realtor who then sent a message to my realtor saying the shower doesn't even work like literally doesn't even come on. So the whole thing's gonna have to be taken apart and redone. I just turned on that shower, like the day before, you know. So it was just like one of those fancy spa showerhead didn't know how to put a toggle switch on it. He didn't know how to use it, use it, you know? So I go over there. And I took a video of it. And I'm like, I just you know, turned. I was like see this toggle switch up here. And I turned it on and I turned the shower on and and I just said user error. I realtor send her realtor, but they still ended up backing out of the deal. And I was just that sucks, you know, and me and my realtor were just like, you know what it was that Inspector, he just really poisoned everybody on this property. So there was a couple of things that came up in the inspection that we thought we'd take care of in the meantime, and then we would relist it within a week. So we didn't relist it yet. And right as we're about to get ready to do that, I got a message from my realtor. She's like, you'll never guess who's back. And I was like, What is going on? So the original buyer sent me an apology, saying that she really did believe that we did a good job on the house. Wow, that she is sorry that she backed out. She said, You know, I'm this is the first decision I've made as a single person in 21 years and I just basically got cold feet. 

Debbie DeBerry: Yeah. And well, and he enabled that right. Like he enabled the cold feet. He's like, Oh, yeah, you should totally have cold feet here.

Linda: Yeah. Oh, so he also threw her under the bus. his apology to me was, hey, sorry, we're back. You know, but the buyer knows now that she really mess things. up on this one, totally threw her under the bus.

Debbie DeBerry: He is

Linda:  terrible was not lost on us. You know, we we definitely felt for her at this point. So she was like, Will you will you accept an offer from me? She's like, will you even accept another offer from me? And I said, yes. But with no contingencies and full price. And I want to close by the end of the month, because, you know, we're going on over 30 days at this point, we were supposed to close in a few days. Originally, I said, I want to close by the end of the month. She agreed to it. And everything happened and we closed on time.

Debbie DeBerry I remember now that that buyer came back, let me say yeah, and now it's like we I can't wait to tell the story on podcast. This is gonna be a fun one. Yeah, that's so interesting. Unknown Speaker 35:55 It was a rollercoaster ride for sure.

Debbie DeBerry: Yeah right. It is. It's how did you out? Okay, let me go back. How did you finance the purchase and the renovations?

Linda: I used hard money lender, okay. Which did a fix and flip loans. So the budget? Was the rental budget was included in the loan? Awesome.

Debbie DeBerry: Did you have to have any down payment or anything? 

Linda:. Yeah, I did have to have a 10% down payment. And then obviously, my holding costs. And I actually did have a private lender lined up one of my dearest friends, which actually made me feel so much more confident knowing that that friend of mine believed in me enough to to be my private money lender. Yeah. It made me nervous, though. Because I was like, oh, gosh, what if I screw up and you know, I have to hold her money longer. And you know, all these like, scary thoughts were coming in, of course. And it turned out that I was actually waiting for some settlement funds for something from a long ass time ago. Wow. From a long time ago, like five years ago, showed up, miraculously?

Debbie DeBerry:Are you kidding me? Out of the blue? You had no idea?

Linda: I well, I knew it was coming. But I just I thought I'd be waiting another year, you know, for it. And then all of a sudden, I got an email saying that my settlement was coming. And I was able to and it was just enough. It was like the exact amount of the down payment and the hippie dippie woowoo. I know. I know. Well, that's the meditation. Where I swear to Buddha.

Debbie DeBerry: Oh, that's trippy. I love it. I totally love it. Oh my

Linda: gosh. Because I was just like, Please universe, you know, I don't want to just, you know, I'm, I was having those limiting beliefs. Like, what if I fail, and then you know, my friend loses money or whatever. And, you know, I understand there's, there's promissory note, promissory notes, and things like that, that are in place and all that, but I just didn't want to put any kind of strain like that on our friendship, you know? Sure. So I went ahead and used that settlement for my down payment and holding.

Debbie DeBerry: That's incredible. That's so cool. Okay. Now, when you did you do, who chose like the design and then the finish out and all of that? Did you do that? Or did your contractor you did? Okay, Linda: I did. That was my favorite part. So that was my favorite part of the whole thing.

Debbie DeBerry super talented at it.

Linda: Thank you. Just so charming. Thank you. I really enjoyed that part of it. I mean, I already knew that I wanted quartz countertops and move like that. But I had so much fun shopping for bathroom vanities and like tile, and I was in Home Depot and Lowe's all the time. Like, oh, I'm gonna go look at tile just just for like an hour. While I think about it, you know, I've got some time tonight. I'm gonna go look at tile. You know, and then I'd walk out with a big ol cart full of tile and paint and stuff and sounds about right. Yep, that was stuff that I really enjoyed doing. Yeah, there. There was this one room originally that had a bunch of cedar shiplap in it that we tore down. But I said can you be really careful when you tear that down? I feel like we could use that as a feature wall somewhere. And so we ended up using that cedar shiplap as a feature wall in the laundry room slash mudroom. Very cool. And on the front side of the kitchen Peninsula.

Debbie DeBerry: Yeah, I'm remember the picture.

Linda: Yeah, it turned out really cool.

Debbie DeBerry: Love it when when I can take something that, that that was there and I can keep it there. I love that. That's so great. All right now, when you went to put it on the market since you did choose the design and the finish out. Were you nervous at all about what people would think, or really totally nailed this.

Linda: I was actually pretty proud of it. I was super stoked to share the photos with people. To be honest, I, I thought the photographer did a great job that photograph really, really well. And I was like, You know what, I just want to, you know, I'm proud of this. Yeah. You know what, whatever happens happens, but we did it, you know. And high fives all around. Let's see what happens. And yeah, I was pretty proud of it. The only thing that I would have done different is probably made the yard look a little nicer, but I just, it was kind of winter time. Not quite spring. And I just didn't know what to do with that piece. Yeah, I mowed the lawn.

Debbie DeBerry: Okay, so you bought it for $290,500? Put about $56,600 into the renovations. Obviously you had some closing and carrying costs. You sold it for 450. What did your profit end up being?

Linda: My profit ended up being 44,000. That's pretty awesome. Just under 10%.

Debbie DeBerry : That's pretty awesome on on seven months. Like that's pretty awesome, sister. That's fantastic.

Linda: I'm pretty stoked about it.

Debbie DeBerry: what was your? What? Like what how did you feel when? Obviously, it's exciting when you get the offer. It's exciting when you go under contract. After closing like we like I did that? It did I did that? What? Yeah,

Linda: I mean, yeah, I just will. So I had COVID, the week of the signing week. It was just so weird. I got COVID right at the end there. And I was like, how am I going to go to the signing? You know, what am I going to do? And they weren't doing DocuSign at this point, like, geez. So I literally like had to practically put a hazmat suit on and go over there. And I sat in the car, and they brought out the documents to me in the car, and then stepped away and watched me sign everything from your I know, it was so weird. And I'm glad I wasn't like, I mean, I was sick. But I just dosed up on DayQuil and went over there and had cough drops because I didn't want to cough or anything. Gloves. We all had gloves on, you know. Yeah. But once it funded, I just went it funded i I felt this physical just lifting off of me. And then it was just pure joy that I actually did it. And that the universe was like yeah, Linda, you can do this. You're allowed to do this. This is your calling. Like this are one of your callings. I mean, this is it's my thing. I love it. I loved. I loved the roller coaster ride like yeah, it was stressful. Yeah. But like, I really loved kind of being presented with a problem and figuring it out and solving it. Yes. And I also really loved that I could haven't brought this up yet, but being able to go into the Facebook group and be like, Oh my gosh, have you guys ever been in this situation? Or what do you do when this happens? I'm freaking out, you know? And then to just have people say, oh, you know, that's happened to me before or this is how we handle that or whatever. And it was just so priceless to have that group there. And and everyone's support and just having them all be women as well and just empowering each other was super helpful. I mean, I really can't imagine, you know, being able to do it without that.

Debbie DeBerry 44:28 Awesome. You did it. We're stoked you did it. You know, everybody has their own journey and it's just so it's so fun and rewarding and inspiring to see you do the thing and see you. prove to yourself that you can and in I love that you said that. The universe is allowing you to do this right like you have permission to do this. And that's it. Ah, I'm so happy for you. What's up? What's up now? Are you? Are you in another flip right now? Or are you looking or what are you doing right now? Unknown Speaker 45:14 I just made a verbal offer on it's it's actually on the arm MLS. So I'm actually waiting to hear back on that one. I mean, I'm trying to manifest it. But you know, if it happens, then it was meant to be if it doesn't, I'll just looking I don't. I don't stress about like, I don't feel like I've lost when I don't get the house that I want. I just feel like okay, that wasn't the house for me, then that wasn't meant to be, there's going to be a better one around the corner. 

Debbie DeBerry: Well I think that I think that's because you have an abundance mindset versus scarcity mindset. I think when people get so hung up on, that one didn't work out. And oh, my gosh, I can't believe that didn't work out or when they they're under contract on a house, and they do their due due diligence, and they discover like, the numbers had changed dramatically, right? Like the renovation budget is way up this and this is this. And now based on the numbers, this is not a good deal. And back out, right, like that's, that's a gift that you get to back out and some people get so bent out of shape on it. And it's like, no, thank goodness you were you. You discover that now, before getting

Linda: you're allowed to walk away your gears and pivot.

Debbie DeBerry : Yeah And there, there's plenty, there's plenty of opportunity that you will absolutely find something else. There's plenty of opportunity, but I think it is like a scarcity versus abundance thing.

Linda: Yeah, yeah. I'm seeing them everywhere. So I'm just like, ah, what else do I want?

Debbie DeBerry: I want them all. Were there any other weird things about your first slip or any other lessons learned or anything you would have done differently? That we haven't already touched on? Yes.

Linda: I need to one of the things I learned is that the neighborhood does matter. You know, finding I mean, I know Portland very well, I've lived in in different areas of Portland, I know Portland very well, and I know which neighborhoods that I feel comfortable in. And to be honest, I wouldn't want to live in this house that I just flipped. I just it's the thought of having to move into it myself, gave me kind of a panic attack just thinking about it. And I thought, You know what, the buyers are thinking that too, you know, thank goodness, I found a buyer that really fell in love with the house and you don't mind the situation around there. I'm guessing she works in social services. So she's not, you know, intimidated by that. And so better neighborhoods that house required flood insurance to because it was very close to a creek got it. No more flood insurance houses. I actually tried to get FEMA to change the flood map, because does need to be changed. It's really outdated. And I was in the process of that at closing. So I just kind of passed it off to the new buyer if if she wants to continue that process. But I thought the flood insurance would deter people from buying the house because it was a 10 out of 10 flood risk or whatever. So it had to have flood insurance. So there was that. And then what was the other thing I was gonna say? I think timeline, you know, don't give yourself time to do these projects, you know, even though Yeah, time is money Time is money will factor that in. Yeah. Give yourself enough time to do it. Yes. Because if you don't give yourself enough time to do it every day after that, you can't sleep, your stress and because every day is costing you X amount of dollars. And if you didn't account for that, and your original deal analysis. That's when you start losing money. Debbie DeBerry 49:16 Yes. Yes. Just give yourself the time. Yeah, Unknown Speaker 49:20 yeah. Yeah. And I wanted to say something else. I don't hear a lot of about this to happening. But like, I gave myself another stream of resources in case I needed it. I was able to open up a business line of credit. Oh, nice. Just in case, you know, who did you go through advanced credit union. They're my credit union. So I just walked in there one day and I'm like, Hey, I just started this business. Do you think I qualify for a business line of credit? And they're like, well, we'll base it off of your, your day job or whatever. And so they did extend me a business line of credit, which wasn't very big, but I actually used some of it nice. But I didn't have to use my own money or some of the last, the last couple mortgage payments I put on that business line of credit. But as soon as I closed and it funded, I ate it right back down to zero. Yes. So it's sitting there. They're already offering to double that line now that I've Wow, demonstrated that I can, you know, use it and pay it off. Yeah.

Debbie DeBerry: That's awesome. That's huge. That's a huge tip. Yeah, I love my credit union. Huh? Pretty Things are the way to go. Yep. I love those three tips. Anything else?

Linda: Believe in yourself.

Debbie DeBerry: Yourself.

Linda: Don't let anyone else tell you. You can't do it seriously. Like I've been listening to people. My whole life. Tell me. Why are you doing that? Why are you? Why would you try to be a musician? It's so competitive. Why would you try to do this? So competitive? It's like, quit smashing my dreams people.

Debbie DeBerry 50:56 So I Yes. 100%. Yes. And that reminds me of I volunteered for this organization many years ago and part of the training. And so it's kids teenagers. Part of the training was one of the lessons in the training was don't Yuck, they're young. Oh, I love it. So whatever they're like excited about don't yuck it like why are you yucking their yum. And that's exactly what people were doing to you. They were yucking your yum all over the place they were. But now I've got some believers that you see. Now they're like, oh, my gosh, we're so proud of you. 

Debbie DeBerry:  Imagine that. So, um, all right. I'm, we're I'm sorry. I just looked at the clock. I had no idea what that went a little bit over.

Linda: I apologize. We'll get back to a job now.

Debbie DeBerry:  I'm sorry. So, thank you. Thank you for sharing your story. It's gonna inspire others. And that's really cool for you to to do that.

Linda: Well, you inspired me, and I just I devour everything that you post that you put out there. And it's been just everything.

Debbie DeBerry: I appreciate that. I really do. It means so much to me. Thanks for hanging out with me. Really. It's it means a lot to me. I appreciate you. Thanks for sharing your story. Thank you. I'll see you in the group. Okay. All right. The moral of the story, right? Believe in yourself. Pivot when necessary, handle what comes your way? Trust yourself, and everything will be okay. Okay. It's just buying, renovating and selling houses. Okay. It doesn't have to be this big, scary thing that you psych yourself out of. It's just buying an old house, loving on it, putting it back on the market for a buyer to create memories in. That's it. All right. And if you're sitting on the sidelines, still not doing the thing that you want to be dealing with all these stories in your head. All the naysayers around you. I'm here to tell you we have women across the US who are doing this thing successfully. All right. Show you how to do it. Not only that we support you along the way. All right. So if you want step by step, if you want daily guidance and advice and feedback and help. That's what we do. We are super intentional about what we do. All right. So if you want to see if we're a fit, go to her first flip.com and schedule a call with us. All right. 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. 

Debbie