How We Got Started

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People always ask how we got started in this business. I wish I could say we were visionaries and had a grand plan, but the truth is we started out of pure desperation! Remember 2008 when the stock market was crashing and the financial stability of the entire country was in serious trouble? If you recall, it was all of the “sub-prime” real estate lending that caused the crash. Great time to start a real estate business, right? Ha! Not exactly.

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Amber and I were both going through divorces, running out of money quickly, sleeping on an air mattress (with a slow leak), and had to buy a couch off Craigslist from the bad area of town just to have a place to sit in our 2-bedroom condo we shared with my 2 small kids. I was over $80,000 in credit card debt just to add to the pressure! Getting the picture? Not a great time of life for us, on top of the country being in one of the worst financial times in our history. Timing was certainly not ideal, and we did not have a grand plan. We needed to make money… and fast!

‍Our First Flip

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We decided to go to a local seminar about flipping houses, and then traveled to CT the next weekend to hear a professional investor speak. We bought a course and some forms to get started, and we took off. We bought our first house in Rotterdam, NY to flip in late 2007. We really had no idea what we were doing, but we did all of the work ourselves, and I am not that handy! We fought, laughed, cried, and wanted to kill each other some days. We were almost out of money and credit of all kinds, and absolutely needed the house we just renovated to sell quickly to get our money back and hopefully make a little profit. After many months, we did sell the house and made a small profit.

‍Early Challenges and Successes

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In 2008, we decided to tackle another house in the same neighborhood in Rotterdam. This time we did all of the work ourselves in 33 days. We worked 18-hour days, 7 days a week. Neighbors brought us meals because they were so happy we were improving their neighborhood. Amber had to sell her car so we had enough money to finish the renovation! She’s a team player for sure! We sold that house in a bidding war, in a time when everyone said Real Estate was the worst place to invest. We sold that home for $2,000 over our asking price. We watched a young couple move in with their family and we literally fell in love with making our neighborhood a better place, one house at a time.

‍Growth and Learning

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As the years passed, we made a lot of mistakes… I mean a lot!! But we learned and grew from all of them. We have flipped hundreds of houses since 2008. We still remember the days of dreaming about buying that one house for the year. We have handpicked an amazing team to work with. They inspire us every day to be better in every way. We work hard and play hard. They help take our dream and vision and make them a reality. Without them, we would not be where we are today. We thank them and want them to know how blessed we are to have each of them.

‍Flipping with Integrity

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After the first few flips, we started to make a name for ourselves. We quickly realized that “flipping” was sort of a derogatory term at that time. We decided to prove to the masses that you can flip houses and do it with Honesty, Integrity, Character, and Class. We are a family-owned business, leading and teaching with those same core values. We love to help people. No matter who comes in contact with us, we want them to have the “Signature Experience” and be able to tell everyone they know about us.

Turning the Ugliest Building into Our Office

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As we grew, we saw the need to do business from somewhere a little more professional than our kitchen table! So in 2014, we decided to practice what we preach, and we purchased the ugliest building on Altamont Avenue in Rotterdam, NY. We renovated it into one of the most beautiful offices in the area. It’s been great to hear the feedback from the town and community about what an incredible transformation it was!