This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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I watched home renovation shows and decided to try it. That's the title of this episode. That's not something I would do myself. I'm talking about somebody else here. We're gonna talk about a house flipper, or we're actually gonna hear from a house flipper, a guy who is a manager for a big company by day, works in middle management, and he decided to start flipping houses at night by watching TLC shows and HGTV.
You know, all those shows about like, hey, I thought I would buy a house and renovate it and resell it. He decided to do that. I know some of our listeners have done it as well. So we're gonna hear his story. His name is Dave.
This is part of a feature we call your first $1,000. And you might know if you've been listening for a while, it's shockingly descriptive. It is in fact about how someone made their first $1,000. However, this story today has been upgraded because it is a $10,000 story. His first $10,000, I guess if you're gonna go through all the effort of buying a house and taking some risks there, you wanna make more than $1,000.
So in fact, our caller, Dave Johnson, did that. Let's hear the story from Dave. He's gonna talk about his adventure into the world of house flipping. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. So I'm glad you're out there, stay tuned.
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I've always been a big fan of home renovation shows. I love the idea of taking something that's outdated and tired and turning it into something that's modern, stylish and valuable. So a few years ago, I decided to start a side hustle as a house flipper. I was working as a middle management employee. And while it was a decent job, it wasn't exactly fulfilling.
I was looking for a way to make some extra money and challenge myself. So this felt right. I started small, just fixing up a few rooms in my own home. I learned how to paint wallpaper and lay flooring. I even took a few plumbing and electrical courses at the local community college to get a better understanding of the basics.
After a few months, I was starting to get the hang of things and I felt confident enough to take on a small project. I found an old two bedroom bungalow that was in need of some serious TLC. It was in a great neighborhood and I thought I could make a good profit if I invested some time and money into it. I was able to purchase the property for a song and I spent the next few months working on it in my free time. To be honest, the process was a bit of a roller coaster.
There were times when I was discouraged and felt like giving up, but then I would make some progress and feel like I was getting somewhere. The key to avoiding the ups and downs of the market cycle was to have a solid plan in place. I did my research and I made sure to have a clear understanding of what I wanted to accomplish and how I was going to get there. I was able to flip the property for a profit and I was shocked at how quickly the money came in. I was able to earn my first $10,000 and it was one of the most satisfying experiences in my life.
I felt like I had really accomplished something and I was proud of myself for taking the risk. Since then, I've continued to work on flipping properties as a side hustle. I've learned a lot over the years and I've become much more confident in my abilities. One big lesson I learned was the importance of patience. Flipping houses takes time and there's no way around that.
You have to be willing to wait for the right deal to come long and you have to be willing to put in the time and effort to fix it up. If someone else wanted to start this kind of business, I would tell them to start small, do their research and have a solid plan in place. It's not always easy, but it's a rewarding experience and the financial rewards can be significant if you're willing to put in the work. - Dave, thanks so much for the rundown. I appreciate it.
Thanks for telling us about your first $10,000. You have 10X'd the weekly feature known as First 1K. So well done and listeners, I hope you found it encouraging. As I said, I know we have a community of folks out there who are really into the house flipping thing or sometimes rental properties. For me, I've never done super well in that world, but that's part of what I like about the show is I get to highlight lots of different stories.
And so, as Dave says, if you're thinking about doing it, start small, learn as you go, do a lot of research, watch those shows that you see on TV, they can be kind of fun and inspiring and you might learn something, but I think you're gonna learn more by kind of diving deeper. So do your research, but I know you'll do that 'cause you're smart. And if you've got a question or an update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. This has been episode 2,284. I'll be back again tomorrow with a new episode.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
