Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Garth.
Jennifer, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My husband Aaron and I were both government contractors in Afghanistan for a few years, there I was a Sr Security Specialist processing clearances for the civilian workers. While I was there in 2011, I found out we were expecting our first child, so I had to leave due to the fact you cannot be with child in a war zone. After giving birth to our son in June of 2012. Aaron (who at the time remained in Afghanistan) and I had to figure out a way to make our money work for us that we had saved during our time overseas. Aaron begin to read books on flipping houses for profit during his downtime and I started putting things in action here in the states, like looking for real estate, contractors, material, etc. by the time my son was four months we had purchased our first flip with 32k cash in Columbus, GA (scary right!)
Saying I’d had never spend that much money at one time and on top of that, it was for something I’d never done before and I knew my family was counting on little old me to get it done. We spent about 30k on labor and put all our materials on credit cards praying, nervous and excited the whole time lol by the end of the project we had about 80k invested. Our realtor at the time listed the home and in less than a week, we had a contract, but there is something called a 90-day flipping rule with FHA we quickly learned about which is a whole other story for later date lol. Being new to the game, we chose to wait for two months so that our buyer could purchase the home. After that, it was history we found our calling and have been flipping homes since. Shortly after our first deal, I decided going to real estate school would help us find deals, so I became licensed in Tn and Ga in late 2012. Since then, we have flipped several homes in Tennessee and Georgia for ourselves. Recently after receiving so many inquires since we are full-service contractors and investors, we decided to open up our services to other homeowners as well as investors. I also continue to work with my buyers and sellers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being self-taught there has definitely been its challenges. Along with being a full-time mom with a baby on all of the projects up until he started school, he is soon to be eight and probably knows more about constructions and real estate than most adults lol. But it’s always challenging making sure budgets are met which can go over quickly, finding reliable help, learning how to file your taxes properly, finding material that doesn’t exist anymore, late nights trying to do punch out list, thefts, learning how to budget and price jobs. A lot of things people don’t consider that’s beyond the glitz and glam of the before and after pictures, it’s all the stuff and stressors in between. Just about during every single project you tell yourself this is it I’m done, I’m not doing this anymore because the stress and the list of things to do get very real! Then when you see the project come to life, it’s rewarding it makes you proud then you start looking for the next project lol.
Garth Property Group – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We renovate and sell homes, we work with investors as contractors and real estate agents for their investment properties. We also work with homeowners for their home improvement/renovation needs. We have silent investment opportunities as well for first time and experienced investors.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is always doing your best, setting and sticking to your goals, understand the difference between needs and wants and believing you can!
Pricing:
- $150 detailed improvement consultations
Contact Info:
- Phone: 470.231.9760
- Email: garthpropertygroup@gmail.com
- Instagram: Garthpropertygroup
- Facebook: Garth Property Group
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