Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Hamilton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kevin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I received my degree in accounting from UC Santa Barbara and started a career in public accounting. After spending several years working for an accounting firm, I decided to leave public practice and went to work for a real estate education company. While working there, I signed up for my dad and I for the company’s education and coaching program that teaches how to renovate and flip houses. We officially joined the education program in January 2015. We started out pretty slow and it took us over a year to find our first deal. We have been steadily building momentum and have bought and sold three houses within the last 12 months and we are currently in escrow to buy another. To date, we have bought and sold six homes in San Diego county. My goal is to eventually be able to leave my full time job and run our real estate investing business full time.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. We’ve learned a lot about real estate over the years by attending training events, joining real estate investor associations, and going through the online training curriculum through the education and coaching program. We also made some mistakes early on with two of the properties that we renovated. I one instance we made the mistake of having a family friend manage the renovation, but he is a difficult person to work with and the project took much longer to complete than it should have. In another example, we were selling a house in the over $1M price range. We had the house priced too high initially and the house went on the market in the fall, which is a slower time of year for sales and the house sat on the market a lot longer than we anticipated.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Excel Homes is a professional, full service real estate solutions firm that buys and sells properties throughout San Diego County. We specialize in buying distressed homes at a significant discount, then renovate and resell them to retail home buyers and landlords. We intend to revitalize communities and encourage home ownership. Our mission is to rejuvenate neighborhoods and increase the standard of living by improving the overall quality of housing for the residents. We pride ourselves on the quality of our work and strive to put the absolute best product on the market.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, San Diego is a good place for a business like mine since there are a lot of older neighborhoods where the homes are outdated. However, San Diego is also a very competitive market. There are a lot of other real estate investors who renovate homes, so it is sometimes difficult to find good deals where you can purchase the house at enough of a discount. Also, since real estate prices in San Diego are very high, you need a very large spread between the price you purchase the property and the price you would be able to sell it for. In other markets with lower housing prices, you don’t need as great of a spread.
For someone just starting, I would say that it is possible to be a successful real estate investor in San Diego. However I would strongly recommend that they educate themselves and find a mentor before getting involved in a deal.
Contact Info:
- Address: 225 Royal Oak, Unit 406
Escondido, CA 92025 - Website: www.excelhomessandiego.com
- Phone: 858-705-3814
- Email: info@excelhomessandiego.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excel_homes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excelhomessandiego
Image Credit:
Tailor and Reach
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