For real estate developer Walter and his wife Emily, flipping houses is boiled down to a science. He’s flipped over 100 houses in Rhode Island, and 75% of the houses he buys are auctioned, foreclosures, or tax sales – and, of course, are purchased sight unseen. When he walks into a house that he’s already bought, he knows that all-too-familiar “unveiling” feeling – will he be making money, or losing money?

Walter is a no nonsense investment professional who specializes in acquiring and flipping the types of homes that most people aren’t aggressive enough, or who have enough sheer grit, to take on. As a New Englander, Walter is known to do whatever it takes to get a deal at auction. He bets smart, not emotionally.  He’s a known “hard a$$” at the auctions. He’ll barter, haggle and negotiate a price with the best of them.

Because the houses are often tenant occupied until he purchases them, he’s not allowed to see the insides. BUT he and his crew will do whatever they can, peer from the sideway, looking at the exterior for any clues of what might be inside… Walter and his team often have the difficult and surprising job of entering a house for the first time, never knowing what or who they might encounter.

Sometimes it’s animals. Sometimes it’s people. Sometimes it’s dirt and animal feces. Odd collections. Ceiling high piles of junks. Mattresses. Trash. The list goes on and on. It’s Walter and his crew’s job to clean up the space before they can even think about the restoration process. Walter is constantly working, kept on track and organized by his daughter Daisah who helps him to identify new properties, contact home owners, deal with tenants and manage constructions crews.

With the support of his wife Emily, who brings the creative design eye to each project, the two work together to flip the nastiest and most unthinkably grotesque in Rhode Island. Emily has a modern, clean and classic sense of style. The two often bicker about the age old “budget vs style” debate. He wants to keep the budget down and she always thinks the nicer finishes add value to closing cost. They do their best to come to a compromise but it’s usually a fight.

With Walter’s fearless, down-to-business attitude, he can walk into a house and spend less than 10 minutes to evaluate the state: what it’s going to need, how much it’ll cost, and most importantly – what he’ll make. His biggest fear is not losing money on a flip, but losing money by not making the flip. Walter spends more time looking at a pair of sneakers in the mall than he does buying a house, and it hasn’t steered him wrong yet!