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everybody’s got their rights <\/span>flipping<\/span> Now. Half the internet will tell you the math is off, margins are tight, rates have broken the model, and you should move on. The other half is posting Czech photos on Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\nThe truth lies somewhere in between. And the truth seems to be a lot <\/span>leka god<\/span>A Seattle-based investor who left his corporate career at Nordstrom to turn house full-time has done more than 60 deals in one of the worst markets in the country.<\/span><\/p>\nWe put him in the “Texting With” hot seat and asked the questions most investors are really thinking but are too polite to ask in a group chat.<\/span><\/p>\n“How can you find a Flip That Pencil in Seattle right now?”.<\/span><\/h2>\nYou get closer to the deal than everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\nLeka’s exact words: “Off-market relationships, closing speed, and knowing your rehab numbers so you can see margin where others see risk.” When every serious buyer is running the same MLS search and submitting the same offer, the edge lies in the preparation you do before the listing goes live.<\/span><\/p>\nPeople who say the math doesn’t work in Seattle are usually running the math on someone else’s deal. Investors are still doing this because they underwrite faster, move faster, and trust their numbers more than the competition.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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“What kills Flip? Tell us through the autopsy.”<\/span><\/h2>\nscope creep<\/span>. Everyone<\/span> Time.<\/span><\/p>\nYou budget for cosmetics, and when you showcase the kitchen wall, <\/span>is behind the wall<\/span> A problem that has persisted in that house since the Clinton administration. Now your light refresh has a structural component and a permit timeline. <\/span><\/p>\nAs Leca says, “What looks like a cosmetic project reveals structural or systemic issues in the middle of the demo, schedules escalate, costs escalate, and by the time you get out, you’ve eaten up your margins in holding costs, overruns, and a slow market.”<\/span><\/p>\nHonest Solution:<\/span> Build a contingency from day one, and find a price range before they raise your price.<\/span><\/p>\n“If a new flipper had $100K and a shot, what should they really buy?”.<\/span><\/h2>\n\u201cAn older but structurally sound single family in a proven resale neighborhood,\u201d says Leca. Cosmetic-only scope. purchase price <\/span>Less<\/span> Enough to cover your $100K <\/span>advance payment<\/span>Rehab, carrying costs, and a buffer you’ll actually want to use.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>ARV<\/span> There is a need to be defensive,”<\/span>comps<\/span> Closed in the last 90 days,” not from 2022 that you found just to make the spreadsheet look better.<\/span><\/p>\nIt is not assumed that the first deal will get you retired. This is one that teaches you what the cost of carrying really feels like, what real scope creep looks like in mid-demo, and whether you have the stomach for it before you go big. A boring deal with real benefits beats an exciting deal with a negative lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n“How do you actually fund a flip today? What’s the stack?”<\/span><\/h2>\nhard money<\/span> Still has the backbone, typically 70% to 75% LTV on purchases with rehab draws. It’s running 10% to 13% today, which isn’t cheap, but as Leca says, “the speed is worth it when you’re competing for a deal.” <\/span><\/p>\nAs a lender you have already dealt with more than the rate quoted on paper. He picks up the phone. They go.<\/span><\/p>\nHard money rarely covers everything, so private capital fills the gap: down payment, equity cushion, and closing costs. \u201cThis money runs on trust, not underwriting,\u201d says Leca, which means you have to earn it before you need it.<\/span><\/p>\n\nYou might also like<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n
business credit line or a <\/span>heloc<\/span> Leka says “your dry powder” on existing assets. This is not the primary stack; When something comes out fast, that’s what makes you competitive. Close cleanly, then refinance or sell before the line comes due.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd here’s the part most people skip. Leka believes: “The stack is less important than accurately knowing your overall cost of capital, timeline, and exit. Every day you are wrong on any one of those three, your projected profit is reduced.”<\/span><\/p>\n“You left Nordstrom to do flipping full-time. What’s the part no one talks about?”<\/span><\/h2>\n\u201cThe income gap that no one prepares you for,\u201d says Leca.<\/span><\/p>\nNot only financially, but also psychologically. In a corporate job, you get a pay check every two weeks, whether the quarter has been good or bad, and as Leka describes it, “Your self-esteem becomes quietly tied to that stability.” When you turn around, you can do everything right and still wait eight months to see a dollar.<\/span><\/p>\nHis retort to the whole thing: “The leap isn’t really about courage; it’s about resetting how you measure progress when there’s no external validation that you’re on track.” This part takes longer than most people think, and it doesn’t get covered in a YouTube video about your first flip.<\/span><\/p>\n“You’ve made over 60 flips. What were you passionate about that you don’t even think about anymore?”<\/span><\/h2>\ncomps. Initially, Leka would look at every sale within a mile, then estimate the price per square foot, and create detailed spreadsheets. <\/span>I am trying<\/span> “Science is my path to certainty.” Now she can walk through a property for 20 minutes and reach a narrow range of selling prices.<\/span><\/p>\nBecause, as she says, “Real comps aren’t a spreadsheet. It’s 12 years of experience seeing what buyers actually do when they walk into a room.” <\/span><\/p>\nThat kind of pattern recognition doesn’t come from a curriculum. This is what happens when you get scared, close deals, lose money once in a way that hurts, and then reappear again.<\/span><\/p>\nThe spreadsheet is still there. It’s not running the show anymore.<\/span><\/p>\nLeka Devta is a Seattle-based real estate investor and flipper with over 60 transactions under her belt and a track record in one of the most competitive markets in the country. Follow him on Instagram: <\/span>@leka_devatha<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nWant more investor conversations like this? BiggerPockets Investor Brief arrives three times a week with deal breakdowns, market news, and the real numbers behind real portfolios. <\/span>Subscribe here<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"in this article everybody’s got their rights flipping Now. Half the internet will tell you the math is off, margins are tight, rates have broken the model, and you should move on. The other half is posting Czech photos on Instagram. The truth lies somewhere in between. And the truth seems to be a lot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[2800,5587,4844,4237,18115],"class_list":["post-162198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-meditation","tag-asked","tag-flip","tag-houses","tag-times","tag-whos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162201,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162198\/revisions\/162201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}