Has anyone here ever flipped a house?

[hinodis]

I am in the process of looking for a house to flip. Please do not lecture me on the real estate market. I know the area well and I know the current market here. DH is a contractor and we have been in this business for over 20 years. I would love to hear about other's experiences and any advise on how to find a good deal to flip. I will be buying the house with cash.

 

[christine*]

I am in the process of looking for a house to flip. Please do not lecture me on the real estate market. I know the area well and I know the current market here. DH is a contractor and we have been in this business for over 20 years. I would love to hear about other's experiences and any advise on how to find a good deal to flip. I will be buying the house with cash.

I haven't actually done it myself but I came across someone who does it for a living and asked him how he finds houses. He says he found a good real estate agent that has experience in the type of homes he's looking for (foreclosures/short sales). And every month or so his agent is more than happy to give him a list of properties he might be interested in because he knows he'll purchase one.

 

[Tinkerbelle99]

As a Realtor, I can say that there are plenty of good deals to be had for homeowners and investors alike. If you are deligent in your research and realistic about what the market can bare, you should do fine.

You should have a good handle on the areas you are investing in; you never want to over-do a renovation, thats especially important in a market such as it is today. And when the flip is complete, pricing the home for sale is vital. Many flippers get greedy, or need to cover over-the-top remodeling and end up with a beautiful house that they can't get people to come in and look at, let alone purchase....

 

[okeydokey]

My BIL has done this a couple of times. He made some money but then had to reinvest it in another property to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the profit.

 

[donkeyandshrek]

I did! In 2004 my sister and I purchased a foreclosure at the foreclosure sale. We kept our remodel budget to a minimum and sold the house within 6 weeks. I told my sister if we could sell the house before Thanksgiving, I was taking my kids to Disney World - AND WE DID! That was our first trip!

You can make money doing it, but you have to be very budget-minded in doing so. You can't go in and make the house liveable for you - you have to make it appeal to everyone, so everything has to be very neutral.

I work in real estate - and the market IS crazy - but it's times like this that investors can get really good deals. Find yourself a realtor with short sale experience and find a good real estate attorney to help you through the process. You will do fine!

 

[akcire]

My husband and I have flipped a few houses.

My #1 advise would be to build a time machine and shoot yourself back to 2005, when you could buy anything and sell it for a profit. Those were the good times!

Realistically, with cash you can low ball a homeowner that is desperate or an estate. Banks and foreclosures generally don't care, they have deeper pockets than you. However if an individual has a bridge loan or is carrying two mortgages and you make them an offer and can close in 10 days that can be huge. Of course you need to make certain you have a lawyer and title company that can deliver. In the past, we have seen a house on Monday, had it inspected on Tuesday, renegotiated on Wednesday and closed on Friday--keep in mind we use a family friend for our house closings and have a long standing relationship with our title company.

You also need to know going into a property how much it will cost you to rehab. You need to remember to value your husband's time. A friend of ours did this for a while, and after he "flipped" and made many properties beautiful--I pointed out that had he taken a job at Home Depot he would have made more money.

Make certain you figure out how many properties the home you are looking at has for competition currently, and also how many will be available once the property is completed. Assume 10% in selling costs (real estate plus incidentals).

Good luck