Maya BrownIf you’ve lived long enough, you’ve probably been in a relationship where red flags were flapping like one of those wild, wavy car dealership blow-up dolls, but you got in or stayed in the water a little too long anyway. I learned this lesson the hard way with my second fix-and-flip. I talked about this project in my last article, and every time I relive the experience, I die a little inside. It was supposed to be a life-changing investment, and for several reasons, it went wrong. I lost a significant amount of confidence and, worst of all, money. One thing I completely own is… I fell in love with my flip. Scratch that, I fell deeply in love with my flip. The Yellow House. I kept pouring and pouring into it, and it kept demanding more. In the end, when I had turned it into a beautiful butterfly, it flew away into the arms of a 20-something whose father paid cash, leaving nothing for me, who had loved it so passionately. Yeah, I’m bitter AF, to this day. But let’s get to the bright side of this story, because I am no fool, and I would not be taken advantage of again, especially not by a house.
I had big plans for my most recent endeavor as well. The Hoarded House. A great house, great price, and loads of potential profit. However, this house was holding a deep, dark secret that would take nearly four 40-yard dumpsters to uncover. I’ve been inside hoarded homes before, but this one deserved its own TLC episode. Human excrement, rodent excrement, and clothes and trash piled so high I could put my elbows on the ceiling. The smell was atrocious. I have to shout out to the cleaning crew I worked with. Dominick and the Rockies Cleanouts crew made a truly disgusting cleanout lighthearted and fun. We were able to locate the few important items the seller was looking for and laugh and smile through the absolute horror that this hoard presented.
Once the hoard was removed, I hired an additional team to deep clean and remove the carpet. With the smell and air quality significantly improved, my GC was able to get a clear picture of what it would take to resuscitate this home. Despite an extremely attractive location, floor plan, and healthy six-figure repair budget, I was feeling very skittish about tackling such a huge endeavor. The hoard had done its worst, and there wasn’t anything in the house that wouldn’t need to be touched.
Going back to the Yellow House, I had a chance, a few months in, to walk away and take a good chunk of change. I chose to go the distance. I couldn’t make the same mistake twice. This was going to be a great project for another investor. I simply didn’t have deep enough pockets—or the experience—for such a complicated project. So, with the hoard and smell removed, I opened the house to other eager investors and SOLD. Guess what? I also made a five-figure profit in only 30 days of work.
I wanted to spend the summer turning something horrific into something lovely. I wanted to take everyone on the journey with me, and ride into the sunset with tons of money. While it’s easy to envision a cut-and-dry happy ending, fix and flipping is more like a Choose Your Own Adventure book (yes, I’m old). A series of choices that can lead to several different endings. It’s through education and experience that we learn the choices that make the most sense. Fixing and flipping homes isn’t always a straight shot to a glamorous before-and-after reveal. Sometimes, it’s a gut check. It’s a reality check. It’s knowing when to go all in—and when to pass the baton. I didn’t get to transform this house the way I had dreamed, but I made smart choices, avoided repeating past mistakes, and still walked away with a win. That’s growth. That’s the real adventure. And next time, who knows? Maybe I’ll find a house that loves me back.
