How Scott Durham Quit $10/hr & Built a 6‑Figure House Flipping Machine (Without HGTV Fairy Dust)

2026-02-02

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Most people watch house flips on TV. Scott Durham figured out how to own the deal in real life. In this episode, Junaid sits down with real estate investor and coach Scott Durham, who went from a $10/hour hotel job to flipping houses and building a repeatable system for wealth. Scott pulls back the curtain on his first flip, how he almost priced himself out of his own deals, and the simple math he still uses today to know—within seconds—if a property is worth the risk. If you’ve ever binged HGTV, scrolled past “before and after” photos on Instagram,...

Most people watch house flips on TV. Scott Durham figured out how to own the deal in real life.

In this episode, Junaid sits down with real estate investor and coach Scott Durham, who went from a $10/hour hotel job to flipping houses and building a repeatable system for wealth. Scott pulls back the curtain on his first flip, how he almost priced himself out of his own deals, and the simple math he still uses today to know—within seconds—if a property is worth the risk.

If you’ve ever binged HGTV, scrolled past “before and after” photos on Instagram, or told yourself “I just need to learn a bit more before I start,” this conversation will hit hard. Scott exposes the real numbers behind TV flips, why “research without action is just entertainment,” and how ordinary people with no construction background can step into real estate with the right mentors, community, and mindset.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Scott went from hotel front desk to top agent to profitable flipper
The exact back‑of‑the‑napkin formula he uses to spot real deals fast
Why overthinking and underestimating costs both kill beginners—and how to avoid both
Creative ways to fund your first flip, even if you don’t have the cash
The mindset + community shifts that turn a one‑off flip into a real business

Timestamps

00:00 – From $10/hour hotel job to real estate insider
03:39 – The first flip: clueless with contractors, $50k in profit
07:08 – What HGTV never shows you: the real costs of flipping
11:10 – The simple formula Scott uses to know if a deal is worth it
16:00 – “I don’t have the money” – funding flips with other people’s cash
20:29 – Surviving fear, 2008 scars, and the mental game of real estate
27:20 – Scott’s one piece of advice if you’re on the edge of your first deal