When it comes to making money in the business of flipping houses and other real estate investments you will find all kinds of do’s and don’ts along the way. The truth of the matter is that these are extremely useful whether this is your first house flip or you have been flipping houses for years. In fact you might just find that you can learn something new on occasion by reading lists such as this even if you’ve been flipping houses for years and have many successful flips under your belt.
1) Don’t forget to check out the neighborhood before you buy. You will want to make sure that the property you are considering is a good fit for the neighborhood. You should also take the time to make sure that the plan you have in mind for the property will match well with the other neighborhood residents in order to guarantee a quicker sale.
2) Don’t blow your budget without just cause. Your budget is what you used to determine whether or not the house would be a profitable venture. If you blow your budget and cannot recover the extra money you’ve spent in the selling price on the house you will have seriously cut into your profits if not eliminated them all together. The goal in property flipping is to get in and out quickly and spend as little money as possible in order to make as much money as possible.
3) Don’t forget to set daily goals and hold yourself accountable to those goals. If you don’t reach your goals for the day it can set the entire project back by as much as a month depending on the goals and what has to be rearranged as a result. Stick to your timeline and your daily schedule in order to avoid potentially costly delays in time and money. read more…
You know that somebody out there is making good money fixing and flipping properties, but maybe things aren’t going as well for you as you anticipated. There could be many reasons of course, but here’s a proven, low cost improvement that makes remodels sell faster and for higher prices. This simple bit of knowledge could make your property 50% more likely to sell to the next prospective buyer.According to industry research, “Storage” is the top wish for new and remodeled home buyers. As total square footage is decreasing, places to store stuff is worth a premium. Interestingly, 50% of buyers choose a closet upgrade if offered at an additional cost. Why not just upgrade as you fix up the rest of the house. There are some great systems that cost a couple hundred dollars but may well add $500 or $1,000 in value and increased marketability to the house. Not to mention of course the fact that when you sell quicker, holding costs are reduced, your money turns faster and you will be able to use available capital for increasing profits via reinvestment. You owe it to yourself to consider upgrading closets in bedrooms.
Another area of possible improvement are dead are spaces, like certain walls where built in book cases/knick-knack shelves etc. can be built. These give a property a refined “custom built look and feel.” Dead space under stairs can be converted into work areas, desk space, a pantry, kid’s play rooms, or storage. Small unusable closets might best be utilized as storage with access from a different room or built out into better-use space. When closets are few and far between, corner closets are easy to build in for bedroom upgrades and make a huge difference in desirability. In all cases, these items can be converted or built-in and dramatically increase marketability. read more…
You have all heard the term before, I’m sure. Flipping is just real estate investment slang for the process of buying and selling a property quickly, with hopes of a healthy profit. Flipping is neither illegal nor unethical — it is simply business.
The idea that this process is illegal was born out of the media, whose reports have a tendency to become inflated in order to tell a more exciting story. And it is this: that flipping involves an attempt to deceptively inflate the market value of a property in order to turn a profit, to the extent even of falsifying documents and/or colluding with others to defraud a buyer. That is not flipping; that’s fraud, which is both illegal and unethical.
Now that we’ve covered the difference between flipping and fraud, we’ll press on, to more important matters.
In order to flip a property, you must first do your research. Search for the cheapest properties in the best neighborhoods. Find honest buyers who are eager to sell at a bargain price. You may need to anticipate minor repairs and/or cosmetics; it’s almost always a good idea to paint the interior, which is a quick and easy (and relatively cheap) way to brighten any room. read more…
