Quote · BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast
If House Flipping is “Dead,” How Is She Flipping 10+ Houses THIS Year?
Where this was said
The Psychology of Bad Deals: Why They Bought When They Shouldn't Have
At 39:59 · chapter starts 34:10
The episode's most candid and instructive chapter surfaces when Henry asks Dominique what she's learned from her worst deals. She reveals that her most significant losses came in 2024, and looking back at all of them, one pattern emerges: she wanted to buy the house too badly. Not because the deal was objectively great, but because she felt she needed to keep her pipeline full, or because she got caught up in a bidding war, or because slowing down felt like falling behind [1] — Dominique Gunderson "The consistent theme on all the deals were, why did I want to buy that house so bad? That's it. It's a funky house. I didn't need to buy an…" 37:38 . Henry echoes the exact same experience. Every deal he's lost money on was one where he was pushing numbers, buying just outside his comfort zone, or rationalizing something he knew was marginal. He adds a dimension most people miss: the real cost of a bad flip isn't the financial loss at closing — you're often glad when that day finally comes. The real cost is the months of anxiety, sleepless nights, and emotional energy spent trying to fix something unfixable [2] — Henry Washington "It's all the anxiety and sleepless nights prior to that of you trying to fix it and not being successful, of you sitting there and waiting …" 39:12 . Dominique closes the exchange with a wry punctuation mark: "That's why they call this business an addiction."
Henry Washington intentionally listed a property $25,000 below his planned list price to ensure a fast sale, going under contract within 24 hours.
Every money-losing deal both Henry and Dominique experienced traced back to buying a house they felt pressured to buy rather than one that was clearly a great deal.
Both Henry Washington and Dominique Gunderson lost the most money in 2024, and looking back they found the same pattern on every bad deal: they wanted to buy the house too badly. Not because it was a great deal — because of FOMO, competitive pressure, or an internal need to keep the pipeline full.
