does anyone have experience in flipping houses, any advice?

Answer 1

In order to be successful, you have to get them prior to them being put on the MLS. Once they are on the MLS they are at a price that doesn't make a good investment. The prices are usually too high considering the amount of work that needs to be done. The other reason to get them before they hit the market is that there are tons of people trying their hand at the very same thing, not really knowing what they are doing and thus, driving up the prices.

So, the question becomes how do we find these homes tyo flip before they hit the market?

The foreclosure market and doing short sales with the owners lenders. I could go on and on about this topic. My best recommendation is to buy a book on foreclosures and short sales. This is by far the best way. It takes a lot of hard work and determination to succeed in this arena, but well worth the efforts.

Answer 2

My advice, unless you are related to Donald Trump stay away!

Early 2006 we had little sucess selling my grandma's house, and she had a new condo that was ready to close. In order to get her cash out and close on her new place we had to sell her home.

I bought her home for $540K, comparable homes in the area were for sale around $595 and up. She gifted me the 20% down payment through escrow and I had my first rental. Right out the door plumbing we knew had been a problem for years. The plumber a good freind of mine showed me pipes a pencil would hardly fit through. $3400 in material and labor, then Grandma had wallpaper through out and it was not attractive, wall paper removal and painting about 60% of the home $2000. Termites were eating the home and to save money and in case we sold we opted for a spray at a cost of $1000.

It goes on and on. To date, 2 months to freshen and repair the outdated home, make 2 mortgage payments, and utilities and $10,000 I had to make improvements on my own home is gone. Then a little error by a mortgage professional ( ME!) and what I thought was $1800 payment, almost killed me when I went to make the first payment and it was actually $2500. Rent I now get( homes are not selling like they were) $2200 does not cover mortgage, and I pay water trash and gardner for another $200 a month. I had a reduced sales price of $55,000, and a gift over $100,000 to start this nightmare. I now have a lease for 1 year, and I dont see better days ahead. Unless you are privy to the lower sales price and huge amounts of cash ties up, and covering the costs while you flip a home.......dont put your credit on the line. I work with 2 other individuals who are sinking in debt after investing to save people from foreclosure, the problems they face are 10x bigger then mine. Not to downplay the time it takes just to oversee the project and time it takes away from your primary job. Ive been in MTG lending for 7 years and would advise this market is very up and down at this time. Most FOR SALE homes are vacant now, leading me to believe a large number of investors are getting out and they have the resources to ride out the time it takes to sell. In 25 years my mom has never personally been involved in a auction or forelcosure deal, so she believes they do exist but are very rare.