I quit my job at 22 to flip houses. I'm making money, but I wouldn't do it again.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Teagan Trapp, 24, a Canadian based successful Kelowna, British Columbia, who buys and sells existent property successful the US done his institution Blue Peak Ventures. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I grew up successful Regina, Saskatchewan, each my life up until a twelvemonth agone erstwhile I moved to Kelowna, British Columbia, successful September 2025.

I grew up reasoning I was going to spell to assemblage and get a occupation moving for the authorities pinch a bully pension and paychecks.

For 3 years, I worked arsenic an HVAC and refrigeration mechanic arsenic a commercialized work tech. I would activity up connected roofs, I would activity astatine hospitals connected crystal machines aliases connected their commercialized room equipment, walk-in coolers, and walk-in freezers.

I would activity successful ceiling spaces, connected aerial handling units, and successful crawl spaces. I would activity successful each kinds of very difficult areas wherever astir group would not work.

Growing up, my dada had rental properties — he still has them — and each my life I was astir them. He had tenants successful his houses, and I would thief him pinch things for illustration evictions, doing repairs earlier move-in, aft move-out, doing showings, throwing large mattresses successful dumpster bins, and thing you could deliberation of.

I saw what it was for illustration to person rental properties, but I didn't spot immoderate benignant of financial opportunity wrong Canada for residential.

I wanted to activity successful HVAC for astir apt 5 to 10 years. I thought I would prevention up capable money to bargain a mates of flat buildings that had astatine slightest 32 units, and past I would live successful 1 of those units and rent out each the different ones.

That was my goal. I didn't want to person residential houses and rent them retired successful Canada, because I didn't spot it being profitable because of mortgages — they renew each 5 years successful Canada.

If I want to get indebtedness connected a property, I don't want truthful galore different things changing successful the adjacent 3 to 4 years. Taxes and security are going to spell up nary matter what; you tin task that. But not the owe liking complaint — and your costs could spell measurement up.

Say you get a house, and it's rate flowing, and past you person to renew your owe aft 5 years — you're screwed. I can't power the liking complaint connected my debt. Whereas successful the US, you tin get an liking complaint locked successful for 30 years.

I decided that instead of doing multifamily successful Canada, I tin conscionable flip homes in the US, and it's a batch easier to make the numbers work. There's conscionable truthful overmuch much of a marketplace opportunity versus successful Canada.

It took clip to onshore my first waste from Canada

I ne'er thought astir doing thing successful the US.

Someone who I utilized to activity pinch successful HVAC near the waste and acquisition to spell activity for his dad's building institution and go a partner successful the business. He knew I was willing successful existent property and sent maine a webinar that was happening connected US existent property successful March 2024. That's really I initially sewage the idea.

I spent a batch of clip erstwhile I wasn't moving looking astatine YouTube videos. I sewage immoderate books connected Canadians who are snowbirds successful America, trying to understand the taxation strategy and ownership. I was talking pinch cross-border accountants and attorneys successful the US who had worked pinch Canadians.

In October 2024, I discontinue my HVAC job.

I was grinding each time trying to fig retired really to make it work.

At 1 constituent successful November 2024, I sewage successful my car and drove to Minnesota — it took maine 2 days to get location — and I was door-knocking looking for homes to buy. I sewage doors slammed successful my face.

That was the only clip I went to the US and went looking for properties, though.

I tally a business that buys existent property that astir buyers would locomotion distant from: personification has passed away, there's a problem betwixt the family, aliases the owe didn't get paid. Sometimes the location is vacant, aliases sometimes personification is surviving successful it. Sometimes we person to way group down.

They're very analyzable existent property transactions. Sometimes there's a will, and it's locked successful a information deposit box, and it could beryllium astatine 2 different banks, and the family doesn't moreover cognize which slope it's at, and cipher has entree to the information deposit box, and 1 of the heirs is missing who mightiness person the key. All kinds of situations for illustration that.

So I ain the properties, and past I find a purchaser for them.

It took maine until March 2025 to bargain my first property.

It was an auction for a pre-foreclosure condo conscionable extracurricular of Atlanta. It was an older lady; she wasn't surviving location anymore and was successful an assisted surviving facility. She was down connected her payments, truthful I bought the location from her and paid disconnected the owe arsenic well.

There were liens connected the spot from the inferior companies for the water, sewer, and a batch of different outstanding things.

I paid astir $70,000 cash.

I recovered personification online to spell complete location and return pictures, and they discovered it was a hoarder's house. There was cat poop everywhere. The powerfulness was turned off. It was a disaster inside.

But I sewage a purchaser lined up for it and sold it as-is wrong astir 3 weeks for $130,000.

Between March 2025 and now, I've done complete 30 deals. I mean astir 2 deals a month.

This business isn't for everyone

I deliberation I will do this for rather a while and yet bargain flat buildings, RV parks, self-storage, and larger asset types successful the US.

But if I were to commencement complete and knew really difficult this was going to be, and really overmuch you person to give to really make this a business, I would person done thing else, to beryllium wholly honest.

You person to person an insanely precocious consequence tolerance, and expect it to return measurement longer than you ever thought, and costs measurement much than you would person ever thought.

I make astir $25,000 connected the mean woody — that's earlier you salary each your overhead, operating expenses, payroll, fees to support your entity, and everything for illustration that.

I'm beautiful acold into it that I person this each going, and engines and group who are relying connected me.

Right now, we've sewage a squad of five, and now I'm hiring an executive assistant. I'm bringing connected a business operations head arsenic good to region myself arsenic the usability truthful that we tin fundamentally do more. My capacity is maxed out.

I devoted myself to this business. I'm successful it now, but if I knew really difficult it was going to beryllium — and really agelong it was going to return — I wouldn't person done it.

Last year, we did deals successful 13 different states, and it was conscionable chaos. My caput was connected occurrence each time pinch each the problems and stress. By the extremity of the year, the extremity is to run successful only 4 different states: South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and North Carolina.

Very fewer group will return connected this benignant of stress, risk, and complexity successful their lives. It's conscionable truthful overmuch easier to neglect and messiness up.

You person to person very heavy tegument to beryllium capable to woody pinch moving a business.