Skip to content
Real Estate
Link copied to clipboard

North Philadelphia native returns home, flips dozens of properties

When Greg Parker was growing up in North Philadelphia in the 1980s and watched his parents struggle to make ends meet, he knew one thing: he wanted to make something of himself.

Greg Parker stands in the kitchen of his latest rehab, located at 3025 Redner Street in the Brewerytown neighborhood in North Philly.
Greg Parker stands in the kitchen of his latest rehab, located at 3025 Redner Street in the Brewerytown neighborhood in North Philly.Read moreLauren Mennen/Philly.com

When Greg Parker was growing up in North Philadelphia in the 1980s and watched his parents struggle to make ends meet, he knew one thing: he wanted to make something of himself.

His role model? Donald Trump.

"I learned a lot from watching him," Parker, 39, said. "Growing up in an area like this, anything is better."

And when Parker saw Trump on the street in Atlantic City one day with his mother, something clicked.

"I was a little kid and can never forget it," Parker said. "He had two armed guards with him. Growing up as a kid, I wanted that kind of power."

But as Parker would learn, establishing his own real estate business as he had envisioned, wasn't going to be easy.

For years, Parker worked many jobs to support himself. And after having his first kid at age 19, the struggle was even harder.

"I was doing anything I could get my hands on," Parker said. "I had a carpet cleaning business, I was painting here and there. Anything you can think of, I've done it."

Eventually, at the age of 28, Parker was able to purchase his first property for $5,000. It was across the street from his childhood home in the Brewerytown section of North Philly.

Although Parker was living in South Jersey in a rental at the time, he still worked in the neighborhood, which is how he found this property.

Through trial and error, Parker fixed up the place for about $5,000. He hired an electrician and plumber, and did the rest of the work to get it up and running.

That was in 2004, when the market was hot before the recession.

Two months after Parker listed the property for $103,000, he sold it to an investor for $75,000.

"After that, I never looked back," Parker said.

Parker spent that entire $75,000 in the next week, and bought eight similar properties in Philly for less than $10,000 each. He rehabbed those homes, and sold each of them for at least $40,000.

From there, his real estate business boomed. He said he was selling several rehabs per month, and was making about $150,000 monthly.

"It happened so fast," Parker said. "One minute I was in the street trying to figure what direction I wanted to take my life in, and the next I was a millionaire."

He said it took about 20 months for him to make $1 million after he took a gamble and sold that first property.

Ten years later, Parker is still going strong. He's been successful in spite of some bumps along the road. Right after the recession he said he made some bad investments and spent all of his money. He has bounced back from the market crash about two years ago, established his business G Parker Unlimited, and has rehabbed and sold about 70 properties in Philly – mainly in Brewerytown, Strawberry Mansion, and South Philly – in the past decade.

His most recent completion is on 30th and Redner Streets in Brewerytown. He purchased the home as a shell in June for $18,500. He put in about $40,000 of renovations, and finished it in six weeks. The 1,014-square-foot home, with two bedrooms and two baths, is currently under agreement for $154,900.

The cost breakdown includes:

Kitchen:

  1. Appliances: $1,900

  1. Granite: $1,600

  1. Backsplash: $300

  1. Cabinets: $1,600

  1. Flooring: $600

Bathroom:

  1. Flooring: $600

  1. Cabinets: 350

  1. Mirror: $1,200

  1. Tub and shower: $600

Powder room: $750

Rails: $1,500

Basement: $3,500

Heating: $5,200

Electric: $3,000

Plumbing: $4,000

Sheetrocking & tape total: $4,200

Yard fencing and concrete: $2,500

Exterior front: $3,000

Roof: $2,500

Parker has many more properties in the works. He said he has never used a loan, and serves as the general contractor for each of his projects.

For others looking to get in the business, Parker offers this advice:

"It's not a hobby; you can't do it on the side," Parker said. "You get out of it what you put in. Find an area that you're most comfortable being in, and just do your research."

Parker now has six kids, and has moved them all out to Miami with family, where he splits his time.

As for his business, he said his next career move is to get his nephew and oldest son into the business to eventually take over for him.

"I'm building a strong foundation now," Parker said.

Looking back on his first gamble, he realized it changed his life forever.

"It took me 28 years, but I found my niche."