The Harr Family

Tom Harr: Home Flipper / Business Owner

Katie Harr: Tom’s mother - Interior designer / realtor / property manager

Chris harr: Tom’s Dad - Home Inspector

Jake harr: Tom’s Brother - Home Inspector / Aspiring Home Flipper

Columbus, OH

The Harr Family of Columbus, OH, has a long history in home inspection but it wasn’t until one of the five kids, Tom, decided to flip a home that life transformed for the family. Father, Chris, owns a home inspection company and raised his children in the business, teaching them the in’s and out’s of property maintenance. Therefore, the family is no stranger to chaotic, gross and problematic homes and how to fix them.

Tommy is the brains of the operation. He is the one to look at the homes and make sure it’s a project that he wants to take on. He does a walk through with his mother and discuss layout and design options. His mom oversees the design process and Tommy helps to oversee the construction part of the project. Tom uses his father and brother to inspect each of their homes. A lot of the houses they work with are 100+ years old so they never quite know what to expect – sometimes nasty and covered in feces or bugs, sometimes a full gutting-job because of the age alone. Sometimes there are even people living in the house, so Tom and his team have to be extremely careful. Tom has even been advised to bring protection when entering a sight-unseen house for the first time… When he enters a home he makes as much noise as possible to scare away any human (or animal) to alert them of his presence. He’s done and seen just about everything at this point in his career: extreme filth, garbage, feces, burned homes, hoarder homes. He isn’t afraid to take on the properties that others won’t touch.

Harr finds off-market deals by driving around looking for properties that show signs of distress. He then notes the address and looks up the property owner through the auditor's county page. He and the team will send the homeowner a letter asking if they'd consider selling the property. Oftentimes, an owner may have inherited the property or had a tenant damage the house and they want to offload it but doesn't know how. Tom and the team offer a solution to a problem for the tenant, helping them unload a money pit or a problematic property.

Tom and his father worked together in dad’s home inspection business for many years until Tom decided to start flipping homes on the side. Tom did his first flip with his uncle. The duo made a lot of rookie mistakes that ultimately cost Tom 100k! Where most people would have given up by such a significant loss, Tom instead kept going and eventually built a thriving business for himself. Now, Tom owns 42 properties, has a team of over ten full time employees (including mom!) and flips 100 homes a year. He’s come a long way and he’s only growing and getting better!

Tommy’s mother, Katie, left her math teaching career to work full-time for her son as the in-house interior designer, manager, and realtor. Yes, her son matched her salary and brought her on. Katie is called the “Budget Buster” –  she always seems to find a way to spend more money on the houses they flip with her expensive taste! Finding a distressed house also brings the opportunity to add value to the property to increase the sale price. When Tom and the team do a deep clean, add carpet, flooring, update the fixtures, etc, it not only increases the sales price, but it preserves the home along the way.

Tommy’s father, Chris and his baby brother Jake work together in dad’s home inspection business.  Naturally, Tom has his father and brother on speed dial for all of his own inspections. It’s also how Tom built his business. As a home inspector, Tom would always be the first to see properties and asked the owners if their homes were for sale. Tom is currently mentoring his baby brother, Jake, who is following in his brother’s home-flipping footsteps. However, Tom isn’t going to make it easy for Jake. Tom had to make a lot of mistakes and put in a ton of time and effort to get where he is today. He isn’t going to hand his brother a career on a silver platter…

Though not technically related by blood, Tom has an extended team that feels like family. Big D is the one to find properties by knocking on doors, cold-calling and looking for referrals. Big D is covered in tattoos but that doesn’t hinder his success with acquisitions for the company - as he says, people LOVE him! Then, there’s Daniel who dropped out of college to join the team as project manager, overseeing contractors, budgets, timelines, and materials for all the work that comes through. Eddie is the property manager. They own several homes and properties and Eddie is responsible for overseeing and managing those properties. Eddie will also be drawn in to help on the acquisition side. Together the group of loud, fun, and loving individuals who would do anything for each other are business-minded and focused, but they sure don’t forget to have fun along the way.