I use Quicken to track all my expenses and do my books. QuickBooks is probably a better choice, but I’m so comfortable with Quicken that I prefer to stick with it for now.

For more info on our book-keeping strategy: http://www.123flip.com/education/accounting-and-record-keeping

We made 38 offers in the first year. Of those 38 offers:

- 16 were accepted (some took multiple offers and several months)

Of those 16 offers that were accepted:

- 12 we ultimately purchased
- 2 got serious mold issues before purchase so we backed out
- 2 we backed out during due diligence because of defects we found

It’s amazing that we were able to get contracts nearly 50% of the houses we offered on, but we were very picky about our offers, and tended to go after properties that had been on the market for a long time, so we were confident the bank was willing to negotiate and drop their prices.

How many offers did you make last year?

The fact that you took an entire year to learn your market and strategize is something that you don’t see people do too often. Most people (myself included), just jump in and hope for the best.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us, and I look forward to reading of your progress in year #2!

Steph

I’m doing this in Atlanta, GA. For the most part, financing for the flips is coming from small, local banks that provide investor loans.

As for how I hold title, I have a couple LLCs that I use for all business transactions, including holding title to all properties. This provides both liability protection and some tax benefits.