House Flipping: John Medina On the 5 Things You Need to Know to Create A Successful Career Buying, Rehabbing, and Selling Properties
Surround yourself with like-minded people (i.e., a mentorship or mastermind) so you can have success as fast as possible, so if you do make mistakes, you’ll have people around you to help you improve.
Shows like Flip or Flop and Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines have really glamorized the creativity and enjoyment that comes with buying a rundown home, fixing it, and then selling it for a profit. Some amateurs have ventured into this industry and have made a lucrative career out of it. But others, particularly when a market is stagnant, have lost their shirts. As a part of my series about the ‘5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Career Buying, Rehabbing, and Selling Properties’, I had the pleasure of interviewing John Medina, Founder of John Medina Buys Houses.
John Medina a real estate investor, cash home buyer, house flipper, family man, and believe it or not, a former plumber. As a plumbing contractor for 21 years, he always had a passion for real estate. In 2013 he decided to make buying and renovating houses his full-time job. Since then, John’s been in the “house buying business” and has flipped over 70 houses to date.
John’s wife Yvette (and business partner) started off in the salon industry over 25 years ago. When John started his home buying business, Yvette decided to get involved and got her certification in interior design from the Interior Design Institute in Newport Beach. She now leads the design team for all of John Medina Buys Houses projects, making every house look spectacular when they are put on the market.
John and Yvette were both born and raised in San Pedro, California (near the Port of Los Angeles). They take an active part in their community as it is important for them to be honest with people. As John says, “we believe in doing what we say they’re going do, be fair to them, and leave people in better situations than when they found them!”
John’s goal is to set a different standard when it comes to looking to sell their home. He and his team are focused on providing people with a life-changing solution and ensure a simple process along the way. He has guided his team to also be upfront, honest and caring. Regardless of someone’s situation, John Medina offers an easy home sale on the seller’s terms.
John Medina and his team at John Medina Buys Houses continues to provide Los Angeles and now Orange County California communities with a different way to sell their homes, and at the highest price possible, especially when time is of the essence.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Real Estate industry?
I got interested in real estate because I did have the plumbing business. I worked on a lot of properties over the years. So, I started to think about an investment property or two of my own. I had a budget and wanted to basically leverage that budget. In 2009, I emersed myself in started studying more and more about the industry, the business. As I was about start looking around, I started to get a little fearful. That’s when I enrolled in a Bruce Norris boot camp to look at how to invest in property in California. That’s when I started taking action in California. I bought my first property in Wilmington (California) in 2012. Right around then, my plumbing business started slowing down a bit. Instead of ramping up for that business, as I felt things were sort of changing for me, I decided to make real estate investing and house flipping my fulltime business. I had the education and confidence and also took another 20-week educational course. In November 2013, I along with my wife and her “okay” [and that was a 1-minute decision because at that point we both knew this was a business we could truly get behind fulltime], started shutting down the plumbing business and began ramping up the house flipping business.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
I have a million stories! Early on I bought a really beat up house in Carson, California. I was a rental. The seller’s stepdaughter was in the house. She was not paying her rent and he could not get her out. I was able to buy the house in order to help him avoid foreclosure. He had no choice, and even then, once, I had the contract on the house I had to literally escort her out of that house by paying for her to move to Las Vegas! All of her moving costs. Once I got her on the road and the neighbors saw me on the property, they started asking questions. It was actually the worst house on the block! As I began answering their questions and they started seeing the property actually blossom from a rubble mess into a beautiful house — the nicest house on the block. The neighbors were overjoyed. They are so excited. I became friends with one of the neighbors across the street who told me that he had be praying for me to show up. I told him, “I’ve been praying to buy a house like this!” It was so cool to take the worst house on the block, with the worst neighbor on the cul-de-sac block (who was even running a day care business out of that run down house) and transform it into something that the neighborhood was proud of. I sold it to a great family who they also absolutely loved. It was a win-win for everyone! I am still friends with John to this day too!
Do you have a favorite “life lesson quote”? Can you share a story or example of how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Every failure is an opportunity to learn.” I loved to play baseball when I was a kid. In the beginning, when I started playing t-ball, I was not really very good at it. But I loved it so much, I didn’t want to stop playing it. The next year, we switched team and my neighbor Bob, was my coach. He knew I had potential, he just had to get it out of me. So, in my second year of baseball, I made the All-Star Team! So, my lesson there is, if you really love doing something, don’t quit, don’t give up. Keep going after it, whether that means playing a sport and working hard to get good at that sport or expanding your house flipping business and getting better and better at it. I work extremely hard, and I am very persistent. I listen and I take instructions, then playing baseball, and now flipping houses. I am willing to study and learn from my mistakes to keep moving forward. I never quit; I figure it out. That mantra has been a huge part of my success!
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Constantly working on projects, we are averaging about 2 rehabs a month. Flipping houses that are the most run-down on block are improving people’s lives. Whether it’s for the people who buy our homes, or the neighborhood in general. Our philosophy is about putting out a quality product! I am excited about the joy I see in those people who buy my property flips as well as the joy the neighbors have about the beauty of the home. We don’t cut corners, because it’s not going to benefit anyone in the long run. I don’t want to put out a bad product, which in turn is not good for my brand. I want people to say, “Wow John Medina built that house.” Interestingly enough, I bought a Skipjack boat. Jack Cole is the guy who built these boats, he used one cloth of fiberglass from the bow to the stern, he didn’t use the two (cloths) that most boat builders use. That’s why Skipjacks last forever because of the way they are built. I want to be the Jack Cole of the house rehabbing industry. I can sleep at night when I know I add value to the neighborhoods I work in while at the same time making the money that I know I need to make.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I know there is a certain formula that we must abide by in this business, but I like to say that I work on a quantity and quality basis. We put people before profit. We are in this for the long run. We put out a good product, we bring value, and safety and quality to the homes we rehab! It’s so satisfying to know that we can create a win-win situation for everyone from the buyers and home inspectors to the buying side and even the neighborhood.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I was in business for a few years, and we were growing, but we didn’t have great systems in place that could take us to the next level, so we hired Jerry Green. Through six months of coaching and mentorship and beyond, we implemented his processes and did what he told us to do we started getting and continue to get huge results. We just got better with everything.
You are a successful business leader. Which 3-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Training and Education — It’s very important. I’ve mentioned this in many of my stories above.
- Accept Failure — move on from your failures, you have nothing to lose! Move on and keep going!
- Never quit/don’t stop — learn from your mistakes, always have a long-term picture!
Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Real Estate industry? If you can please share a story or example.
- The Challenge — buying and watching the project evolve from the worst to the best house on the block
- Working for myself — controlling my own destiny for myself and my family as well as the people who work for and with me
- Giving a Family the opportunity to have the American Dream in beautiful and affordable home!
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest? Please share stories or examples if possible.
- Giving promises people can’t keep. Getting a contract on a house and not able to have the ways and means to perform on that contract.
- Putting “lipstick” on things to cover up problems (on the house) in order to earn a quick buck.
- Bad work that sets up a bad situation for the buyer
I want to set examples by doing quality work and setting an industry standard. If I continue to not compromise on the work, I am putting out, then others (in this industry) will want to follow suite. Good things can never, in the end (at least long term) come out of bad work! If things go wrong on a project, do the right thing, don’t cover up mistakes or try to squash certain things in order to hit your profit goal. Just do the right thing, in the end it will all work if in fact you are in this business for long-term and even if you are doing a one-time flip, I say, still do the right thing.
What advice would you give to other real estate leaders to help their teams to thrive and to create a really fantastic work culture?
Lead with integrity. Do what you say you’re going to do. Continue to put forth core values that your people can believe in (watch my video: https://youtu.be/Oz2hjxyeWVM) and have a vision. Hire the people who have the same values because if they don’t believe in your company, it will only pull people down and break down the company’s culture and true values!
Ok, wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. Can you please share with our readers your “5 Things You Need to Know to Create A Successful Career Buying, Rehabbing, and Selling Properties”? If you can, please give a story or an example for each?
- Education Yourself at the start
- Create good systems and a structure — from beginning to end, from start to finish.
- Surround yourself with like-minded people (i.e., a mentorship or mastermind) so you can have success as fast as possible, so if you do make mistakes, you’ll have people around you to help you improve.
- Create Goals — written down with positive mindset
- Create a quality product — and don’t compromise quality for money.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen other people make when they try their own hand at house flipping? Can you share any stories?
- This is something I myself have learned over the years and through my many years of educating myself
- Purchase the property at the wrong price
- Underestimate the repairs (over budget)
- Over-inflate the ARV
- Compromise on quality (wrong materials, cut corners). When you do that, in the end, the house does not turn out the way it should have and in the long run this is a way to lose a lot of money on the project.
From your experience, what can be done to avoid those errors?
- Education and Experience there is plenty of it out there!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Just be kind and compassionate to people! Put people first. Know that we all have a story and that we are all different. I’d like to give back and help as many people as I can in many different ways whether it’s here locally or in the near future, also globally.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaahtgHo58IMgnK44slAALg
Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/johnmedinabuyshouses
Follow on Instagram https://instagram.com/johnmedinare
Connect with me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmedina-buyshouses/
and or follow my company page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/john-medina-buys-houses
Follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/JMBuysHouses
We are also launching a John Medina Buys Houses Podcast here in the next few months and possibly a Clubhouse. We plan to feature discussions with our home sellers and home acquisitions team (as we want to also put forth integrity to that side of our business) as well as the buyers of our properties (flips) and the people who help us with our projects. Stay tuned.
Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
Thank you for the opportunity.
