Send us a text

Every successful house flipper has battle scars from deals gone wrong—I'm pulling back the curtain on three of mine that nearly cost me everything. These aren't theoretical warnings; they're real mistakes that drained my bank account and tested my sanity.

Your contractor selection can make or break your timeline. When I hired that bargain-basement crew from Craigslist, I ignored glaring red flags because I was hypnotized by their low bid. Six weeks turned into twelve, with days of complete silence between sporadic work. By the time I finally fired them, I'd hemorrhaged thousands in holding costs and repairs to fix their shoddy work. The painful lesson? Vet contractors aggressively, visit past projects unannounced, and never ignore your gut feeling—even when the price seems right.

Then there was my fantasy-based ARV calculation. Instead of trusting comparable sales data, I cherry-picked outlier properties that supported what I wanted to believe. I overpaid, over-improved, and watched potential buyers walk away as my carrying costs mounted. When reality finally hit, I barely escaped with a profit. House flipping demands brutal honesty—underwrite like a pessimist, execute like an optimist, and always ground your numbers in today's market reality, not tomorrow's potential.

Perhaps most frustrating was watching an attorney torpedo my perfectly viable deal just days before closing. After successfully negotiating repairs with a qualified buyer, an ego-driven attorney unfamiliar with investment transactions scared my buyer into walking away. While I eventually salvaged the situation by pivoting to a rental strategy (which ironically resulted in a higher sale price a year later), the experience taught me to stay vigilantly engaged throughout the closing process.

These hard-earned lessons transformed my flipping business. Follow the show to learn from my mistakes instead of making your own, and share these insights with fellow investors. Your next flip doesn't have to be a flop—let my experience become your equity.

Want to learn how to flip houses?

CLICK HERE to learn more about our upcoming boot camp, Flipper Camp.