Results: First 50 Flips
We’ve done about 250 projects these days, and I get lots of requests asking me to consolidate our financial results into a single page. It takes a lot of time to keep a page like that updated, but I figured I’d throw together this page with the results from our first 50 projects (since I had the data available on the site already). Below is a recap of each of our house flipping projects, when they were purchased and sold, for how much, and the final profit.
Our Total Profits (For Our First 50 Houses):
| House | Purchase Date | Sale Date | Purchase Price | Sale Price | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House #1 | 8/8/2008 | 4/28/2011 | $63,500 | $112,500 | $3,356.08 |
| House #2 | 8/21/2008 | 10/20/2008 | $58,500 | $115,900 | $24,134.68 |
| House #3 | 9/19/2008 | 4/13/2009 | $42,000 | $129,900 | $35,045.48 |
| House #4 | 11/3/2008 | 11/21/2008 | $60,000 | $95,000 | $20,927.63 |
| House #5 | 1/28/2009 | 4/24/2009 | $48,000 | $127,500 | $29,225.55 |
| House #6 | 2/12/2009 | 10/2/2009 | $45,000 | $104,900 | $28,858.40 |
| House #7 | 2/16/2009 | 5/13/2009 | $22,000 | $28,500 | $5,287.77 |
| House #8 | 9/3/2009 | 9/18/2009 | $39,000 | $55,000 | $8,659.48 |
| House #9 | 4/20/2009 | 8/17/2009 | $45,000 | $113,500 | $25,778.51 |
| House #10 | 6/11/2009 | 6/18/2009 | $24,000 | $28,600 | $5,097.19 |
| House #11 | 6/24/2009 | 10/16/2009 | $33,000 | $122,000 | $10,190.81 |
| House #12 | 6/30/2009 | 2/5/2010 | $50,000 | $85,000 | $15,137.70 |
| House #13 | 9/24/2009 | 3/15/2010 | $33,000 | $132,500 | $30,760.55 |
| House #14 | 1/20/2010 | 10/21/2010 | $40,000 | $124,500 | $6,382.87 |
| House #15 | 1/25/2010 | 3/19/2010 | $50,000 | $60,000 | $6,812.81 |
| House #16 | 1/15/2010 | 4/5/2010 | $70,000 | $144,900 | $40,487.06 |
| House #17 | 3/17/2010 | 5/20/2010 | $75,000 | $175,000 | $33,188.41 |
| House #18 | 9/10/2010 | 8/4/2011 | $43,500 | $95,000 | $31,476.49 |
| House #19 | 10/19/2010 | 1/27/2011 | $31,500 | $97,000 | $21,287.89 |
| House #20 | 11/29/2010 | 2/23/2011 | $60,000 | $99,500 | $15,295.85 |
| House #21 | 4/28/2011 | 7/21/2011 | $54,500 | $105,000 | $19,510.50 |
| House #22 | 1/28/2011 | 3/31/2011 | $59,000 | $105,000 | $19,893.95 |
| House #23 | 3/14/2011 | 6/8/2011 | $46,000 | $110,500 | $35,735.61 |
| House #24 | 5/12/2011 | 7/1/2011 | $46,000 | $58,500 | $11,258.48 |
| House #25 | 9/2/2011 | 10/25/2011 | $56,500 | $98,000 | $16,944.86 |
| House #26 | 9/13/2011 | 12/13/2011 | $56,500 | $110,000 | $21,366.34 |
| House #27 | 10/12/2011 | 12/22/2011 | $47,000 | $103,000 | $22,974.14 |
| House #28 | 12/5/2011 | 4/20/2012 | $57,050 | $100,000 | $20,886.21 |
| House #29 | 1/12/2012 | 5/31/2012 | $80,000 | $145,000 | $33,601.20 |
| House #30 | 2/17/2012 | 3/9/2012 | $53,000 | $59,200 | $6,536.19 |
| House #31 | 2/17/2012 | 6/22/2012 | $55,000 | $165,000 | $42,225.99 |
| House #32 | 2/17/2012 | 5/25/2012 | $55,000 | $107,000 | $23,207.65 |
| House #33 | 5/21/2012 | 8/6/2012 | $47,000 | $112,000 | $20,783.62 |
| House #34 | 6/19/2012 | 9/18/2012 | $38,500 | $43,500 | $4,828.22 |
| House #35 | 7/6/2012 | 10/10/2012 | $30,000 | $93,000 | $12,606.05 |
| House #36 | 7/6/2012 | 2/28/2013 | $151,000 | $330,000 | $27,769.44 |
| House #37 | 8/31/2012 | 2/8/2013 | $95,000 | $184,900 | $26,177.81 |
| House #38 | 8/31/2012 | 1/17/2013 | $70,000 | $157,500 | $32,448.99 |
| House #39 | 11/15/2012 | 3/15/2013 | $49,000 | $112,000 | $36,436.11 |
| House #40 | 10/26/2012 | 6/28/2013 | $35,000 | $68,000 | $17,947.70 |
| House #41 | 11/21/2012 | 12/5/2012 | $46,000 | 66,000 | $18,494,74 |
| House #42 | 12/18/2012 | 5/3/2013 | $147,000 | $268,000 | $45,276.41 |
| House #43 | 12/7/2012 | 1/4/2014 | $30,000 | $269,900 | $62,090.12 |
| House #44 | 1/31/2012 | 3/15/2013 | $75,000 | $115,000 | $28,853.72 |
| House #45 | 2/22/2013 | 9/30/2013 | $94,000 | $173,900 | $12,578.26 |
| House #46 | 2/26/2013 | 12/27/2013 | $200,000 | $300,000 | ($9,803.71) |
| House #47 | 2/25/2013 | 3/15/2013 | $49,500 | $73,000 | $16,789.91 |
| House #48 | 3/25/2013 | 4/25/2014 | $111,000 | $246,000 | $39,473.11 |
| House #49 | 3/28/2013 | 10/25/2013 | $217,750 | $325,000 | $18,542.76 |
| House #50 | 5/24/2013 | 12/18/2013 | $210,000 | $314,000 | $10,960.53 |
That adds up to about $320,000 for an average of $20,000, by my math… Great work! Why do you think 7-8 and 10-12 have the least profit. Where you paying more for properties for a period of time or did the market come down a bit?
Some nice profits in there J Scott!!
Hey Steve –
#7, 8, and 10 were all wholesales (or very minor fix/flips), so my profit goals were much lower than if I had done a full rehab.
#11 was sold to my project manager for a pre-determined profit of $10K; had we been planning to put that one on the market, we likely would have done about $10K less work, and sold it for about $5K more, so we would have probably seen a profit closer to $25K.
#12 was to be an “easy flip” when we purchased it. Paint, carpet, fixtures, and appliances and put it back on the market for a quick sale. Unfortunately, we had 3 contracts fall through due to buyer financing issues, and after about 8 months, we were just ready to get rid of the property. This one was a good reminder that there is no such thing as easy money… 🙂
Wow! Great job. Where do I sign up for your program (“smile”)?
Thanks for the update!
Exactly Monique…. J Scott, I’d love to take a class from you… name the place and the price my friend.
Very nice work, your success is very inspirational to all of us.
Mark
Nice Work – Do you see the market for flipping changing over the next 12 months
Thanks for the update even though I just started browsing the site. In 2009 you were doing AMAZING. I’m pretty sure 2010 is your year since your already off to a great start. Keep up the good work man.
I always enjoy reading the “final analysis” you offer for your projects, so this chart was pretty interesting, as well. Thanks for being so forthcoming with your results…clearly you’ve done well. Especially when you consider the rate of return given your initial investment. Congrats on a terrific year-and-a-half of flipping!
you have not mentioned the date of sale to determine the turnaround of the capital
Pretty sure the sale date is there…right next to the purchase date….
Hey guys you keep making houses like this, Im about to move in one of them. LoL !! great team work guys
This is exactly the chart that I look at each day before I make my calls. It just gets me fired up!
Looks like you have been very successful! The number don’t look right on house #13???
Is that correct?
Hey Chris –
Yes, those numbers are certainly correct…what looks “wrong” about them?
J, have you thought about maybe organizing a gathering once a month so those of us who are new and want to absorb more can get together, network, and appreciate your awesomeness! You’ve had alot of folks asking for your help and mentoring….a flip-club might be fun! Thanks for all of your honesty and allowing us all to learn from your experiences in the business!
Let us know!
Skip<
Hey Skip,
I used to attend a mastermind group in my local area that had a good number of both experienced and new investors. Unfortunately, about a year ago, attendance just died. I don’t know if people were giving up on the business or were just to busy to attend, but it ended about as quickly as it started.
If I thought there was interest from fellow investors in my area, I’d be happy to organize something like this…
J, have you thought about maybe organizing a gathering once a month so those of us who are new and want to absorb more can get together, network, and appreciate your awesomeness! You’ve had alot of folks asking for your help and mentoring….a flip-club might be fun! Thanks for all of your honesty and allowing us all to learn from your experiences in the business!Let us know!Skip<
+1
Hey Eamon –
I actually have been considering doing this. Once I work out the details, I’ll post here on the blog and see how much interest I get…hopefully in the next month or two!
I’d definitely be interested and would attend as long as I’m in town and not working!
Ok I’ ve done seen a few systems here maybe you can tell me if any of these guys works: DC Fawcett, Ron Legrand, Dean Graziosi (which looks like Scott Mcgillivary from HGTV is trying to promote, making ppl think its something different to what i gather), & this guy Stacy Kellams. Also is this freedomsoft stuff that Preston Ely come up with worth it & does it work at all ? (I mean i wouldn’t mind having a huge list of buyers to send my stuff to, would definetly help the process go a lot quicker)
Ryan,
I’ve never bought a single course or attended a single paid seminar, and you see my results. So, clearly my recommendation is that you don’t need to spend any money in order to be successful at flipping houses. And, in my experience, those who spend money on courses and seminars don’t tend to be any more successful in real estate than those who don’t spend the cash on these things.
My recommendation is to take the money you would spend on courses and use that money to actually start doing real estate deals — doing deals is the very best education you can get!
And if you really you want a top notch real estate education get a real estate paralegal degree at night from your local community college.
If you take it very seriously and sit on the front row you’ll have a deep understanding of the big picture that no book or set of tapes could begin to offer.
The courses are often taught by adjunct professors who are all practicing real property attorneys. We used the standard law school “hornbooks” along with practice manuals approved by the BAR.
*formal real estate education*
You have any documents on fliping FSBO’ s ? I know some areas have more of those than others so was just wondering ? Didn’t see anything under the education tab on here.
Im looking at housing for myself, possible to flip after ive lived in it. Many are badly pet stained. Im sure you have seen this, do you stay away from them or what do you do to eliminate the odors and stains?
Good stuff J Scott. Congrats on your success.
It looks like you’re doing 7-8 houses per year. How much time do you think you spend on each house and do you have plans of increasing your work load in 2012?
Hey Jacob,
We’re slowly ramping up the number of houses we do per year — this year I think we did 12. But, we’ve been quickly ramping up other areas of the business where we are rehabbing, staging and listing houses for other investors. In fact, this year, we did more rehabs for other investors than we’ve done of ourselves, though next year hopefully we’ll flip those numbers…
Very nice numbers and very inspiring. This is my new favorite investor site. Thanks for taking the time to do what you do. Wow, and you learned it all on your own. Thanks for doing what you do.
Derek –
Thanks for the kind words, and good luck getting started!
Are you payin cash for these of financing them? Cash on the barrel would put more profit in your pocket!
Hey Dirk –
We pay cash for about 60% of our properties and finance the rest, either through private lenders or a local bank that we have a good relationship with. Cash is certainly preferred, but there are some advantages to well-designed leverage as well… 🙂
Hi J,
I’ve been reading your blog off & on for about a year now – really great stuff you’ve got here. Thanks for sharing!
I have a question in reference to your last comment about financing your purchases:
How did you manage to FIND and ESTABLISH a relationship with a local bank willing to work with new real estate investors? I recently purchased a property in a cash deal & would now very much like to borrow against some of my equity to fund another project. I’ve had great difficulty finding ANY bank willing to lend on investment properties … especially when they would be dealing with a business entity like an LLC or similar.
Any advice you can offer?
Thanks J!
Hi Jacob –
The key is to find the banks that lend their own money — these are called “portfolio lenders.” They are few and far between these days, but there are still some out there. Generally, they are very small, local banks with fewer than 5 branches. You’ll likely want to speak with their commercial lending person, explain what you’re trying to do, and see what loan programs they can provide. Make sure you have lots of supporting documentation, including a self-generated credit report, recent tax returns, and documentation on any experience you may have in the real estate industry. Generally, portfolio lenders are going to want to see some combination of good credit, income, assets and experience; while they may not require all of these things at the same time, they will want to see several of them.
J scott. Where in the east are you finding house like house 24 for 46k. Im in a real bad market here in fl,but a house like that would still go for 200k before rehab.
Hi Dan –
I’m in the west suburbs of Atlanta. House #24 was a great deal…there were some minor septic issues that likely scared off a lot of other buyers on that one.