When Dave Evans was working in corporate America, he started investing in properties part-time. Dave used a buy-and-hold strategy to build a portfolio of multi-family homes and eventually, he left his cubicle to go all-in on his real estate career. I have gotten to witness Dave’s inspirational journey to success, and now, he is paying it forward by helping other professionals to follow the same path. Dave is still managing an impressive portfolio, but he is also working as a realtor and has even started doing some land development deals. Every experience has taught Dave a unique lesson, so no matter what happens in your own projects, remember that you always have something to gain.

Textbook Flip

One of Dave’s recent projects was like clockwork. He managed to find a lakefront property that was for sale by owner and listed at just  $123,000. The owner inherited the property and did not want it, while the property itself needed only minor renovations and some touchups in the yard. Dave was able to sell it in just three months and it was a textbook flip by any market’s standards. One of the great things about this deal was that everybody won; the seller got to offload the property, the new family found a perfect home, and Dave got to pocket $18,000 with minimal headaches. 

There’s Always a Lesson

The harsh reality of this industry is—things don’t always go according to plan. In another scenario, Dave decided to move outside of his comfort zone and pursue a new construction project in an upscale neighborhood of Atlanta. They were targeting a $1.7M house in that area, but everything that could possibly go wrong did. Dave and his partner were hit with months of rain during the first phase of construction, and they had to compete with large developers for subcontractors To add insult to injury, the GC they were using jumped ship. But Dave managed to find another GC who cleaned up the mess and enabled them to sell the home just two days after receiving the certificate of authenticity. Moral of the story—when things don’t work out, there is a lesson to be learned no matter what.