Glenn and Amber Schworm are the husband and wife duo behind Home Flipping Workshop.
They bought their first house with a no-doc loan back in 2007, fixed it up, and sold it in ’08.
It was do or die. They were down to their last $1,400, had three mortgage payments coming due, and about $80,000 worth of debt.
To add even more stress to the situation, they were both going through divorces at the time (from their first spouses, obviously).
Luckily, they ended up making $15,000 in profit off of it.
Not life-changing money, but proof of concept, and hey, it kept their lights on.
House two they bought, just a few doors down from the first.
They did all the work themselves: 15-hour days. Neighbors felt so bad, they would bring them food.
A month later, they had an open house, it was jam-packed with people, and a bidding war ensued.
Ended up selling it for way more than what they were asking, and pocketed north of $30,000 on that deal.
The education they got was worth even more.
They were able to make more money, much faster, on house two, because they actually had a plan.
Every night Glenn and Amber would sit down and make a list of what they wanted to accomplish the next day.
Then, the following day, they wouldn’t leave till they checked everything off the list. Simple but effective.
These days, of course, they’re not on job sites. They’ve built processes and systems and put a team in place to handle the day-to-day operations.
Now with over 600 flips and $57 million in deals, they’ve got it down to a science.
When asked for his best tip to avoid losing money on deals, Glenn had this to say: “Do your own homework and make sure you do it thoroughly, and run your numbers realistically.:
“Also,” he adds, “if someone mentions the words ‘quick flip,’ run. It never works out that way.”
In fact, if you’re new to real estate investing, Amber suggests doubling what you think your timeline will be, and then do the same thing with your budget.
If the numbers still make sense at that point, you’ve got yourself a flip worth pursuing.
What do the Schworms look for in a potential flip?
They like to stick with single family homes that they can renovate and list for under $200,000. Preferably in the $150- to $175,000 range.
Once in a while they’ll make exceptions, but that’s their sweet spot.
And, they’ve learned the hard way, three bedrooms and two baths is ideal.
You don’t have to buy the home that way, but it’s much easier to sell if you convert it to that more accommodating floor plan.
Buyers want what they want. If you don’t cater to them, you can’t command premium prices.
Unfortunately, there’s no secret sauce for finding good contractors.
Interview, screen, try one out on a small project, see how it goes, and go from there.
You’ll probably have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. Just how it goes.
But incentivize them with steady work year round. Explain to them how, if they do a good job for you, they won’t have to advertise or worry about slow seasons because you’ll always be doing deals; and hopefully that’ll keep ’em in line.
If not, onto the next one.
Your business will look a lot different once you finally find a good contractor.
To learn more from Glenn and Amber, consider attending one of their three-day workshops.
They’ll get straight to the point and show you how to earn anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 per flip using other people’s money.
By the end of the three days, you’ll know:
- How to find profitable properties in your backyard.
- How to fund these deals without using any of your own money or credit.
- How to flip these properties for big paydays.
- Or hold onto ’em and rent ’em out when there’s decent recurring revenue to be made.
Home Flipping Workshop costs $59. I’m guessing they have an upsell or two at the end.