Day in the life of
Real Estate Investor – Andrew Ervin
I’m Andrew Ervin, owner of Maxsin Investment Group and we flip about 4-5 houses a month. Flipping houses is pretty fun but it requires a lot of time, hard work, and dedication.
First half of the day
My typical day starts at Lowes around 7 am. When I arrive at Lowes, I reach out to all the contractors to see what materials they are in need of for the day. Once I get all the materials, I head over to the properties to give the contactors the supplies. While at the homes, the contractors and I elaborate on the work that will be getting done for the day, estimated time frames, and any new problems they have encountered. I then make my way to the homes that we recently purchased, currently in the demo stage, to lay the house out and plan what we will do such as renovations, removing walls to create open floor plans, and adding bedrooms or bathrooms if necessary. Throughout the day, my property managers and I keep in touch via group message with each other on where we’re currently at, where we’re heading to next, tasks that’s being done, and tasks that need to be done. This is my daily routine in the mornings unless I have a scheduled closing to attend.
Second half of the day
The second half of my day is more on the office side. I’m going over marketing strategies such as social media ads and updating our website. Keeping our website up to date is very important to us because we want to show homeowners that we can purchase their house fast with cash and if they are facing any problem, we have multiple solutions that they can choose from. This is a big factor for our credibility and generating new leads. Also, I analyze new potential deals by reaching out to our incoming leads and writing up cash offers proposals. Once that is completed, I talk to my realtor about the houses we have renovated and currently listed on the MLS. That conversation consists of offers we received from potential homebuyers, new deals that we can buy on the MLS, and suggested renovations that we should make on our active projects to increase the house value. Lastly, before ending my day, I look at our ongoing projects to see where we’re currently at and to make sure we are still within our rehab budget. My days might seem very long and overwhelming but after many years of house flipping, it has become normal to me.
Pros
House flipping is very fun, but it does come with its pros and cons just like any other business. Let’s start by going over a few pros to flipping houses.
First pro is that when you flip a house and it is done correctly, you can make a lot of money. There have been times where I made 6 figures just off one flip. It would have taken me about 2-3 years to make that at my old day job.
A second pro is that you are your own boss. You don’t have to report to anyone, you make the decision on what will get done, and how it will get done.
Another pro is that the more you do it, the better you’ll get at flipping houses, finding good deals, working with contractors, and becoming an overall better real estate investor. Also, you can create financial freedom by keeping the houses you flip and renting them out to tenants. This method will help you retire early because it will build your rental portfolio and provide multiple streams of income every month while the tenant is paying off your debt.
Ultimately, my favorite pro about flipping is that it gives you a lot of flexibility in your time so you can enjoy what you love doing, as for me it is spending time with my family.
Cons
Now let’s get to the most fun parts of House flipping, the cons!
There are some pretty big risks when it comes to house flipping. You can lose a lot of money if you don’t do it the right way. Before you buy any deal, you want to analyze multiple homes so that you can get a better understanding of your numbers and exit strategies.
Also, another con is that contractors can make or break you. In other words, contractors can take their time on projects, take longer than you expected, and even overcharge on labor. This is why it’s best to get multiple quotes from different companies. A lot of new investors even pay contractors all upfront and never hear from them again, now you’re out of 30k along with a house that still needs major work done.
Most importantly a big con is Uncle Sam, paying taxes! There will always be taxes you have to pay whether you are purchasing a property to flip or rent it out. This is why you must keep track of all of your expenses and income. I highly recommend hiring a CPA for this task. Overall House flipping is very amazing, it can change anyone’s life, and you’ll connect and learn from so many different people.
Advice to aspiring real estate investors
“I want to become a real estate investor but how?”
I get that question a lot but if you follow these simple strategies, you will become a successful real estate investor, no doubt!
In any business what do you need first before you can start? You need to educate yourself, so you know exactly what you want to do. In real estate, there are a lot of different ways you can invest. Maybe you want to be a house flipper, a buy and hold investor, an Airbnb host, or even a commercial investor, etc. You have so many options to choose from, but the key is you have to decide on which path you want to pursue. For instance, it’s like looking for a job, but if you don’t know what job you want, you’re going to keep wandering around looking for one not knowing where you should start. To educate yourself, you can listen to any interview-style podcasts with successful real estate investors, YouTube, going to local REI meetings in your market or reading books about real estate investing.
So, after educating yourself, you should practice the math for those types of real estate deals that you want to do until you become an expert. Analyzing deals is the number one most important skill an investor can have. Unlike any other investments like stocks or starting a business, you can get really accurate predictions on the outcome in real estate. For example, when I’m flipping a house, I know exactly how much the house will sell for on the back end or even how much the house would rent out for if I wanted to keep it and add to my rental portfolio. Being a master at analyzing deals can create a lot of opportunities for you, make it easy to get funding, and can even help you retire early.
With that being said my next advice for you is to start looking for deals online on Zillow and Redfin. I recommend doing one deal a day because it’s all about consistency. The more shots you take, the more baskets you’ll make. So, in the beginning, don’t even worry about buying the deals, just get good with analyzing deals, running the numbers, and finding deals. Keep in mind, you don’t have to focus on finding the best deals, you’re just getting some shots up at the moment.
Next, I want you to start promoting yourself on social media, making flyers, and getting some business cards. Tell friends and family that you’re a real estate investor looking to buy houses with cash very quickly. Make sure you always sound confident when talking to others about real estate. No one should be able to tell that you are a new investor, confidence is key! Now I want you to start networking, go to your local REI meetups. There you can meet different investors, realtors, private money lenders, and many people working in the real estate industry. Always give them a business card, then email that person within 24 hours so they can remember you. I use this method a lot when reaching out to lenders for capital funding. This strategy helps you stand out more and build more credibility.
So now that you have the key steps to start investing in real estate, I want you to implement these strategies everyday so you can become an expert. You are one deal away from changing your life!
