Active Real Estate Investor: Doug Wright

FlipPilot is a real estate investing group for active investors to network and share business tips. It’s a fast growing social group where any real estate investor is welcome! We really love how active this group is. There are always investors posting news about their flips, deals that are ready to sell, and hot leads available all over the country.

We love these posts so much that we’re highlighting some of our most active members and what their businesses are up to! Interesting in joining the FlipPilot real estate investing group? Click the link above to be taken to the page. We’re excited to have you as part of our fast growing community! 

Doug Wright, owner of Old Glory Property Solutions LLC in Alexandria, VA, has been flipping houses for a while. His post in the Flip Pilot group about his most recent flip was such a good story that we reached out to him and asked to tell us more about his business and the deal! Here’s what he said:

In early 2017 I was on this street to see another property that was listed and needed a lot of work. I decided not to make an offer on that property due to a very large un-permitted addition that existed. It was too much of a risk to take for the price that I would have needed to pay to get the property. When I was leaving the neighborhood I drove past a different house and stopped my vehicle. The grass was overgrown and it looked like no one had been in or out of the property in quite some time. I jotted down the address and, later, found in the tax records that the owner lived out of state. I mailed her a handwritten card asking if she was interested in selling the property. I never heard back from her.

About a year later a Realtor that I know and have done business with called me to say that she had a property that she was asked to look at as a potential listing. The owner was out of state, the rood had a hole in it (which destroyed the dining room ceiling and floor, and the damage went all the way into the basement). The house and rear yard were full of stuff and the owner was not interested in coming into town and put in the effort to prepare the house for listing. So I was asked if I was interested in submitting an “as-is” cash offer. It turns out this was the same property I had written to the owner about previously!

My offer was accepted. It had no contingencies, except the all-cash offer, and I accepted the property and all of its contents in their existing condition. It took 6 people 3.5 days to empty the property of its contents and do the necessary demo.

When I rehab properties I take the approach of “what would I hope for if I was buying this property for my family?” That means that I attempt to fix all issues that I find an am reasonably able to. I don’t do only cosmetic updates. I go far and above that level. This allows me to sell for top dollar and sell quickly. It also has given me a reputation as a rehabber that agents want to buy from (and sometimes sell to). I take this responsibility very seriously. I am willing to make less money in order to put out a better product that I can be proud of and that a new owner can be very comfortable with buying.

In this property’s case, I replaced the sewer and water lines all the way to the street, replaced all the windows and doors (interior and exterior). I also fenced in the large back yard, upgraded the electrical system, finished the 1,200 square foot basement into livable space. Then we expanded the 1950’s main level bathroom, replaced the roof, completely gutted the kitchen, replaced all of the moulding, painted everything inside and out, and took the finished to a level far beyond what a buying in that neighborhood would expect. This isn’t even the full list of all the upgrades.

Construction took about 4.5 months and the rehab cost $190,000. It likely would have been a 3 month project, but I had two other rehabs going on an we got a lot of snow and rain that kept some of the subcontractors away. I still was able to put it on the market during what has been an extremely hot spring seller’s market. I received multiple offers within days of listing the property.

At Old Glory Property Solutions, we focus on residential property development. Primarily, we work on rehabbing and restoration of existing homes in the Alexandria, Virginia area. In the second half of 2018 we have plans to expand into residential construction for the retail market and for other investors.

If you want to network with other active real estate investors and join the Flip Pilot real estate investing group, click here and send a request! We’d love to have you. This is one of the fastest growing groups for active real estate investors. Members frequently share business advice, tips and trick of the industry, andthey post available deals all across the country! Networking just got a whole lot easier with the Flip Pilot real estate investing group. See you there!