Built From the Field by Chris Momongan
đď¸ Posted: May 2, 2025
âď¸ Category: Financial Freedom / Fix & Flip
When we moved to Augusta, it felt like a leap of faith. I wasnât an experienced investorâI was just hungry to build something real. I spent my commutes binging BiggerPockets and soaking in real estate audiobooks, trying to compress years of knowledge into months.
The journey started during the early days of the pandemic. In April 2020, I was furloughed. Like a lot of people, I felt stuck. But I also saw an opening. I started swing trading and turned $7K into $60K. I picked up old hobbiesâvlogging, gaming, even binge-watching Ozark while making dalgona coffee. But more than anything, I realized: I never wanted to depend on a job again.
Thatâs when I found Our Rich Journeyâa couple using real estate and intentional living to break free. Their IKEA flips and home improvement weekends reminded me: we were already doing that, just without knowing the name for it.
đ The House That Started It All
In 2017, long before Augusta, we bought our first houseâa $155K fixer-upper in Norcross. While others were pre-approved for $250Kâ$300K homes, we chose something smaller, messier, and more hands-on.
We didnât realize it at the time, but we were doing our first live-in flip. Over the next few years, we slowly improved the home with sweat equity and strategy:
- Swapped out worn floors for LVP
- Painted every wall from canary yellow to soft gray
- Refinished the cabinets
- Added subway tile and floating shelves to style the kitchen like our favorite cafĂŠs
- Upgraded lighting, one fixture at a time
- Cleaned up the backyard with gravel and grit
No fancy budgets. No contractors. Just weekends, YouTube, and elbow grease.
When we sold that house in 2022, we walked away with roughly $115K in equityâthe capital that launched our journey in Augusta.
We used it to buy two properties, kicking off our first BRRRR projects and stepping fully into real estate investing.
𧹠What That Flip Taught Us
That first home did more than build equityâit built a blueprint:
- You can build wealth with effort, not just capital.
- A live-in flip is the best beginner classroom.
- Real estate is mindset. Start where you are, not where you think you should be.
We werenât seasoned. We werenât connected. We were just two people willing to take on a fixer-upper and learn as we went.
Now, with several Airbnbs under our belt, weâre heading back to Atlantaânot because we have to, but because weâve built options.
And it all started with that first house.
đ Takeaway
Donât overlook the power of an imperfect starting point.
Our fixer-upper didnât have granite countertops or perfect staging. But it gave us something far more valuable: a foundation. A place to build skills, equity, and momentum.
If youâre considering real estate, you donât need the perfect dealâyou just need the right intent.
That $155K house didnât just teach us how to flip homes.
It taught us how to flip our trajectory.
đ Follow the Journey
More stories like thisâhonest and in real timeâare coming soon.
â @builtfromthefield (brand)
â @chrismomongan (personal)
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