Digital Social Hour
How I Bought a $1.2M House for $560K (Real Estate Secrets) | Donovan Camarotti DSH #1009
Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0000
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Discover how this 21-year-old real estate investor scored a $1.2M house for just $560K! 🏠 In this eye-opening interview, learn the insider secrets of finding and closing incredible real estate deals in today's market. From flipping 40+ properties to managing a growing real estate empire, Donovan Camarotti shares his journey from high school graduate to successful real estate investor. Learn how he identifies undervalued properties, negotiates amazing deals, and scales his business through smart hiring and money raising strategies. Get the real scoop on: • How to spot and close massively discounted properties • Dealing with difficult HOAs and problem tenants • Scaling from single flips to dozens of properties • Raising capital and building a real estate team • Managing contractors and renovation projects • Navigating market changes and interest rates Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out, this conversation is packed with actionable insights on finding deals, building wealth through real estate, and scaling your business. Learn from someone who's actively crushing it in today's market! Ready to transform your real estate game? Watch now for the full story behind this incredible $1.2M house purchase and many more real estate secrets! 🔑 💰 #airbnbbusiness #realestate #wholesalingrealestate #houseflippingmistakestoavoid #passiveincome CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:37 - Donovan's Real Estate Journey 02:19 - Section 8 Insights 03:19 - Rapid Scaling in Real Estate 06:26 - The Importance of Mentorship 08:05 - Squatter Stories in Real Estate 11:44 - Dealing with HOA Conflicts 15:09 - Money Laundering Issues in HOAs 16:31 - Florida Real Estate Market Analysis 17:30 - Austin's House Discount Strategy 18:59 - Wholesale vs Novation Explained 20:40 - Strategies to Profit in Real Estate 21:54 - Weather Comparison: Florida vs Vegas 22:56 - Car Enthusiast Discussion 24:26 - Choosing Your First Car 27:58 - UFO Experiences 29:10 - Impact of Dogs on Our Lives 29:49 - Biohacking and Personal Growth 30:12 - Connecting with Donovan 30:48 - Outro APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Donovan Camarotti https://www.instagram.com/camarottihomes https://www.camarottihomes.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: How did Donovan buy a $1.2M house for $560K?
I bought my personal house recently too. And the way it went down is they were listed on the market for 935 grand. Then they dropped it to 850. I offered them 550. And they were like, no, we can't do 550. I was like, all right, what can you do? They're like, we'll do 560. You low balled them. Yeah, low balled them. Wow, so you got that for like 40% off.
Yeah, put like 250 grand into it just to make it nice and like I don't want to, but you know, it's solid property. Dude, you got a steal. You doubled your money overnight. Exactly. All right, guys. Donovan Camerotti here today. We're going to talk Airbnb, right? Yeah. Airbnb, flipping, whatever, man. Let's go. And you're a young person to be in this space. 21.
Did you start at like straight out of high school or? Yeah, I really kind of just started, you know, looking into it. You know, when I was like a senior in high school, I needed to figure out what to do. Then like first week in college started, you know, I got my first property first week of college and just been doing it ever since. Wow. How'd you afford that first one?
um saved up some money um had to you know basically just put everything i had into it yeah um and then um you know just bought that one ended up having no money um so sold it then i had some money and i bought a few more and just kind of kept doing it oh so you were able to flip it quick i was yeah within a few months nice and what what gave you that conviction to pick that specific property
Chapter 2: What are the secrets to spotting discounted properties?
Well, you know, it was, it was cheaper. It was easier. It was like a condo. So it was like super easy to get into. Um, and it was a light renovation. So it was like a good first property. Nice. And how'd you learn how to like fix it and everything?
Um, honestly, I kind of just figured it out by doing it. Um, I, you know, my parents had like this handyman that worked for them. So he kind of just like did the renovation, um, had to find a couple other subcontractors and just basically figured it out. A good handyman is important. I feel like for that business, cause you get ripped off with certain guys.
Yeah, certain contractors take advantage of people, especially if they don't know what's going on or whatever. Dude, I've been getting wrecked out here in my house. Have you? Bro, because I just bought a house. Did you? And I've never had to use contractors before, but a lot of them be highballing, and you have no idea what to compare it to. Right. You're just overpaying.
Yeah. If you have like no reference, you know, you'll pay a hundred grand for something that'll cost you like 40, 50, you know, normally actual cost. I just paid like 12 K to fix a leak. Oh gosh. I got wrecked. Yeah. Yeah. That should be like a couple thousand. Right. Max.
Chapter 3: How does Donovan manage rapid scaling in real estate?
Max. Yeah. So you live and you learn though, man. A hundred percent. Um, so is your main strategy to fix and flip? Yeah. I do have, um, like one Airbnb and then one that's in the, um, in the process of being built, but fixing flip is my bread and butter. I feel that. Um, what do you think about this section eight stuff?
Section A, I mean, it's good for some people, and I think it works for some people, but I don't think it's really something I'd wanna get into. I mean, I know people can make a lot of money, but not so much my thing, I think. Just attending classes, lower level people is what you're dealing with. It seems kinda too good to be true, the ads I'm seeing for it.
I mean, it's nice because the government will pay the rent basically, or they guarantee it. But then, you know, you get just the lower class of people, which I mean, it's kind of unfortunate to say, but like me personally, I would rather kind of just deal with businesses and, you know, I'd rather rent to a business and, you know, they have a, you know, guarantee on it. And it's just a lot easier.
Yeah. So you're targeting like B2C. You're targeting like the upper middle class. Yeah. Yeah. People that are a little more stable, a little more, you know, they just are comfortable. Yeah. You know. So how many units do you have now? So I currently have just under 40 flips on the books right now. And then, you know, the two Airbnbs as well. That's so fast because you started recently.
Yeah. Yeah. Within the last three years. Holy crap. So that's like 15 a year almost flips. Yeah. Well, I'm on track to do about like 80 flips, 80 to 100 flips, you know, in the next 12 months. And then, you know, just kind of like scaled up. So like my first year I did like nine flips, second year, maybe like 22. And then now it's just like, you know, totally took off.
Damn, exponential growth. So what was that thing that, did you change anything from what you were doing?
Well, so between year one and year two, I learned how to raise money, right? Cause like you can only do so much in real estate, just, you know, money wise. Right. And then from year two to year three, I figured out how to hire people. So I hired project managers, I hired acquisition. I now have an assistant, you know, disposition as well. So everything is like kind of covered essentially.
So that just allows us to scale like crazy. Yeah. I feel like raising money is really hard to figure out, but once you got that and you have a good ROI system in place, like why would you not continue investing?
And I kind of had to raise money just out of necessity. Yeah, you didn't have any. My fifth or sixth flip, I already had a proof of concept. I know I could do it. And then I just ran out of money. So I was like, okay, hey, I need 50 grand for a down payment on this house. Paid someone interest and just basically kept doing that. I was like, oh, well, I can do this and do 100 properties.
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Chapter 4: What challenges have been faced with HOAs?
Really? Yeah. They were keeping all the money. No way. Yeah. So what, what, what's going to happen with that? I don't know. I left that neighborhood, but I'm, I think they're getting sued. I don't know, but that's probably common where, cause they're getting all this money. They're obviously not spending it all. Right. Like, let's be honest.
There's a big thing in Florida with, um, with condos. Cause like, you know, um, I don't know if you've heard about it, but there, there's something called a milestone inspection where if the, um, property is more than like three stories tall, they have to come in and do an inspection, make sure it's like up to, um, you know, up to spec and everything.
If there's not, they get these huge assessments. Um, like there's this one with had foundation issues near me. It was a probably like 70 something unit deal on the beach. And they wanted to sell it for like a million sticks, which is worth like $20 million fixed up. Yeah, it just because they were gonna dissolve the HOA and just wanted to get rid of it. So yeah, right. Because they-
So it's a whole process. I'm trying to. But it's a whole process to dissolve an HOA and everything like that. Yeah, it sounds complicated. Yeah, but they didn't have the reserves to do the foundation repairs. And the people... didn't have the money to come up with, you know, for the assessment and everything. So they were just, hey, it's better to just get rid of it. Yeah.
How's the market in Florida about you right now? Right now, there's a lot listed in Vegas.
Yeah, there's there's a decent amount listed in Florida, too. I would say like a few months ago, it was it was a little worse. It's picked up a little bit now with a little bit of an interest rate cut. Yeah. But it's definitely slower than it was, you know, like last year, a year before. But it's not horrible. You know, we're still selling. It feels like there's like a stalemate still.
There is a little bit, right? Because people think interest rates are going to keep dropping, which they probably are. So then they're kind of just waiting. But, you know, then again, if you wait, then, you know, prices are probably going to go up. If you wait. Yeah. And there's more offers. Yeah, exactly. You're going to be competing with more people and you're going to pay more for the property.
That's why I bought now because I was chilling. I was the only offer. I had all the leverage. I was like, you know.
I bought my personal house recently too. And the way it went down is they were listed on the market for 935 grand. Then they dropped it to 850. I offered them 550. And they were like, no, we can't do 550. I was like, all right, what can you do? They were like, well, we'll do 560. I was like, all right, cool. You got that for like 40% off.
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