my husband and i are going to start flipping houses.?

Question

is there anybody out there that has flipped a house before? we are interested in learning all there is to learn about it, so that we can ensure that we make a profit.

Answer 1

Depending on your local market successful house flipping may still be profitable. I am a realtor in Las Vegas and I know of people successfully doing this today. I have done this myself in the past and made a lot of money. The key is finding the right property at the right price in the right area. The best way is to start at the end and work backwards.

First, determine what price homes are still selling. Let’s say for example that homes in XXX area selling for $250,000 are still selling well. Then, you need to locate a property in that area such that once you buy the property, rehab the property and sell the property for $250,000 you still made a profit. I am oversimplifying the elements below but hopefully the following will give you an idea.

Eventual Sale Price: $250,000 – be pessimistic as to what the home will sell for. This is a soft market.

Now subtract all the cost elements:

Profit: $20,000

Cost to Sell property: Use 7% or 8% (agent charges, state taxes, etc.) or .07 x $250,000 = $17,500

Improvement Cost. This will be different for each home. Use $40,000 as a typical number.

Holding costs (it takes time to repair a home and to sell the home and you have to make the payments during this time): $10,000

Acquisition costs: Use 3% of the purchase price or about $5,000

$250,000 - $20,000 - $17,500 - $40,000 – $10,000 - $5,000 = $160,000

Thus, the MAXIMUM you can pay for the property is about $160,000. And, this has to be a property that once restored will sell for $250,000.

When you look at all the costs I listed above, the only one you can really control is the improvement cost. It is critical that you do not over rehab the home. If homes in the area with 5 year old stoves sell well, you do not need to install a new stove; a used stove that looks nice and is in good repair is the right answer.

I hope the above gives you some ideas.

Eric Fernwood
[e-mail]
http://www.iselllvhomes.com/

Answer 2

Buy low and sell high. It sounds simple but that's really the key.

1. Analyze the sales in your area. Is it still active now?

2. Analyze the rents in your area, is it preferrable to be a landlord?

3. Look at your finances, can you hold out for a year or more if your house doesn't sell?

4. How are you going to own the property? Is it by corporate or individual ownership?

These are the type of problems you will be getting if you do not time your properties properly. Too much pros/cons to type here, I suggest you get a real estate book that can guide you.

Answer 3

You can get loans for any number of people on it. With the higher interest rates today, it's getting harder to flip a house. Make sure you price "EVERYTHING" you will need for repairs and updating, make a budget and stick to it! Number one you have to buy as cheap as you can possibly get the house for. Secondly, you should hire out some or all of the work, unless you have your own work crew. Time is a major factor when trying to flip a house, and trying to all the work yourself to save money can be a costly mistake as it will take way to long and most likely go over budget doing it all yourself. When you finally are ready to show the home, make sure it is all Complete, no missing knobs, shelves paint, wallpaper, fixtures. etc. It MUSt BE COMPLETEED! Thirdly make sure you "Landscape" and lay sod if neccesary, Do the "Landscaping First" as this will need time to turn green and get off to a good healthy start. No one wants to see a home with a freshly laid sod yard,

Answer 4

You picked a poor time to do this, The housing market is almost comatose My neighbor took 3 months to close on a really nice property . You can get squashed if the house doesn't flip .

Answer 5

If you've watch those shows on flipping then you understand not all goes as expected. One show that I really liked - was one where they showed that they sat on the home for over a year.

Flipping isn't as easy as it looks, it is harder than it looks.

Make sure you have the financial help behind you - so you do not get into trouble and hurt yourself in the process.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 6

there is a show on TV about flipping houses. i have seen it a couple times. it is very interesting. i bet you could learn some stuff from that. it's called "flip this house". good luck!

Answer 7

i love the show on HGTV "flip this house."

If you got your idea from that watch the show more!

If Youve never heard of the show you should definatley watch it you can learn it and the houses they end up with are beutiful in a semi-small budget lol.

Answer 8

Didn't anybody tell you the housing market is not gaining in value at the moment? House prices and values are FALLING.
You should have done this four or five years ago.
Sorry,

Answer 9

the real esate market is very slow right now

be careful

Answer 10

wow