How it Started

A parade of houses to kick off our property investing journey.

We looked at countless houses.

We put offers in on three.

February 2024:

The first one was a tiny 2 bed/1 bath on Gilbreath St. in Graham, NC.

Hardwood floors and teeny tiny everything, which means we could afford to make it lovely. It was only a couple of blocks to the Children’s Museum of Alamance and the Arts Guild. And only a couple more blocks to downtown proper. It was listed for $85,000. We offered $100,000 (the competition was hot!) There were multiple offers and so the sellers asked for our highest and best.

We offered $106,000.

We lost.

We had to assume that someone had offered more (over $20k over asking!).

I was so sad. I loved that little place. It was exactly the size (798 sq ft) with which I felt comfortable launching our investment journey.

When it closed, we found out it sold for $106,000. I was aghast! Why did the other party win and not us? We had to assume they were not flippers, not investors. But perhaps a little family that wrote a personal letter. I could understand that.

Fast forward to August 2024: the new owners sold it without having touched a thing. They listed it for only $98,000 (why the loss!?) and it sold in September 2024 for $101,000. As far as I know, it still sits there today. I can only assume we dodged a bullet. I included the link above in case you like pictures like I do.

April 2024:

Our second offer was on 1016 Walnut St in Burlington.

It was listed at $150,000, which was way over our original budget, but we had already started our application with Kiavi to use a hard money loan - it was looking less and less likely that we would be able to do this without other people’s money (OPM). But other than a soft spot in the floor in the kitchen, it seemed to only need cosmetic updating - no major construction, so we thought it would be a fun update. Plus, it had a great yard. So we offered $162,000.

IT HAD 27 OFFERS!

Needless to say, we didn’t win that one. Our realtor told us that it must not have been an investor that bought it, because a higher offer price eliminated much profit margin. It must have been someone wanting to live in it and let it appreciate with time.

It sold for $170,000. And what do you know - it WAS a flipper who won that bid! It went back on the market again in October 2024 for $247,500. After a few months and a price drop to $235,000, it is now pending.

Looking at the “after” pictures, it looks like they cleaned it up and did a nice job, but it’s clearly a flip. They took the wall down between the small living room and large kitchen, like we would have, but we would have put in hardwood floors (I have yet to meet an LVP* that I don’t hate - but I am willing to be proven wrong!), removed the single back door in the kitchen to include more storage (there’s a slider right there!) and I was determined to add a shower to the primary bath to make it a full two bathroom home. Maybe that would have been too expensive, but my aim is to improve a home, not just do a fast flip. Perhaps that’s why we’re not rolling in side hustle money yet though. Ha.

No, I do believe that quality work will pay off, one day.

*Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)

April 30, 2024

We toured 523 N. Main St. in Graham.

It was listed for $250,000, way more than the $70,000 price point we had started with. But this point, after the Walnut St. loss, we were realizing we needed to up our budget, so our realtor took us to see it.

It was instant love.

The house had dirty beige, pink, and green carpeting, bad linoleum, a different bold floral wallpaper in each room, acoustic tile ceilings, and severe leaks in the kitchen and primary bath ceilings. In fact, the primary bath was a study in the worst space planning I’d ever seen. I’ll elaborate more on that in a later before and after post.

BUT it had originally been built in 1917 as the home for the pastor of the Methodist church. It had an unfinished second floor made of pure cedar rafters. There were original hardwoods under that fluorescent carpet. And thanks to a leak in the ceiling of the kitchen, we could see cedar ceilings under that acoustic tile. The windows were large with deliciously thick moldings and wavy glass (which unfortunately was not energy efficient, but we kept it in the original front door, which we stripped down the the natural wood and sealed.)

Unfortunately, a wholesaling company had bought it for $215,000 after it had been sitting empty for five years, and now they were just re-listing it at $250,000. Bummer. We got every possible inspection and they all came back with flying colors. The structural engineer said that had never seen a house that old in that good of shape.

It was a much bigger house than the first ones we’d tried for. And with a much bigger price tag. But it also had more character, more story, more soul. And for the kicker, I found a four-leaf clover in the front yard the day we went to look at it. I was sold.

My realtor posted my good luck symbol on her social media.

We put an offer in the very next day. There were no other offers on this one, and our offer of $245,000 was accepted quickly. It was meant to be.

Next week:

• Before and After of the living and dining rooms and the hallway.

• The drama of closing, and yes, people are crazy.