I want to flip houses in Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg area. People with EXPERIENCE ONLY please!?

Question

I have $15000 ready to invest right now. My husband has excellent credit and we're thinking of getting a "hard money" loan. I have read many books about it front to cover and done some research on houses for sale. I found a website (www.discountedproperties.com) that has listings where a wholesaler assigns the contract to buy the house (being sold by owner) to me for a fee, I would then flip it and sell it for a profit. Does this sound like a good idea? Has anyone done it this way?

Also, where can I find a website of houses that have been recently sold in my area?

Anyone who has recently, with the market the way it is, flipped houses? How have you done it? Did you partner up with a Real Estate agent or did you sell the house yourself? How much of the work in the house have you done?

Any help would obviously be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

I am aware of the percentage in taxes I will have to pay and I'm fine with it. I don't want to hold onto the house for more than 2 months if possible. Worst case scenario I'll rent the house if it can't be sold.

Answer 1

To begin your journey into flipping houses for profit, the first thing you want to decide on is the TYPE of flip you intend to pursue. Purchasing a fixer-upper is not the only option available to you, though it usually represents the greater return on investment.

So-called distressed owner properties offer the least amount of work, and quickest turn around. The reason? The owners of these homes need to divest themselves of the property as quickly as possible. They may be recently divorced, or due to unanticipated circumstances beyond their control, they need to relocate, possibly out of state.

Whatever the reason, the house represents an obstacle to moving forward with their lives. In exchange for an expedited transaction, they will accept a purchase price lower than what they would be likely to receive were they prepared to wait for market price. Your return on a flip of this type may be $5,000 to $10,000 or more. Remember, these houses may well be in prime condition, and your only role here is to facilitate a quick sale for the owner.

First, a tip regarding financing for your flip: check your credit score. This needs to be strong if you are hoping to get started with the minimum up front investment. If you are hoping to get investment property financing for as little as 5 percent down, rather than 10 to 25 percent down, you are going to need a credit score in excess of 720. If you are not there, take the time to work on improving it. It can dramatically improve your long-term return on investment.

Let's look now at the fixer-upper. If you have done your homework, improved your credit score, and borrowed at 5 percent on a distressed fixer that the owner is letting go for $100,000 you will pay $5,000 for the down payment, plus perhaps another $5,000 in payments over the course of the two months you spend making over the house--which costs you another, say, $10,000 in materials. That is $20,000 invested, and if you immediately resell the property at $140,000 you have pulled in a profit of $30,000. In this case you would have more than doubled your investment in a two month period. Not bad!

Read More from
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Answer 2

I think this is a very bad idea. My problem which is different than those who answered before me is that you are accually selling someone elses property so now you are representing yourself as a realtor. BAD IDEA!! You would have to get a license first. I suggest you take your 15K and invest in something more stable. Right now is not the time to "Learn" the real estate business of flipping. I have been flipping for the past 5 yrs or so and I am down to 4 houses and when they are gone I am too. Gonna invest in something else. The one part of flipping that people always forget when they are figuring how much profit they will be making is taxes. You flip a house and your capital gains tax is 30% if sold in less than 1 year. 30%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUCH

Answer 3

There is allot of good advise in some of the answers above. I believe the most important
Thing is to be able to purchase your investment at a very good price and in a desirable location. You will have to calculate all the expenses you will incur (title, survey, insurance, doc stamps, loan cost) just to get the property. Now are repairs needed this will be more expense. Finally time to sell. If you do this yourself you will have advertising and marketing cost and get a real estate attorney if you are going it alone. If you use a Realtor you will have a fee to pay, which is negotiable. You will have title cost and some other miscellaneous fees and of course no matter what capital gain tax. This is a buyers market right now and not the time to be a new investor with visions of grandeur and easy money. There are roughly 20 homes for every buyer on the market. To make yours stand out it will have to be priced below the others in your area. Also the home should be pristine and ready to move in with out the need of repairs. Can you make money right now flipping houses? Sure you can but the odds are in your favor not to. My opinion this is a good time to purchase some homes and rent them out to offset the cost of the mortgage. Keep them for a few years. They should increase in value if you purchased them right and in good locations (location is everything!!!) Then when the market improves you can sell. The choice is yours. Feel free to use my website, it might be of some value to you. http://www.zemetres.com
Good luck and do your homework. Remember you can loose just as quickly as you can gain and if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
Ron Zemetres Realtor ® G.R.I.

Answer 4

St Petersburg has something that gets below your skin and if you wish to find what it's then, you will have a look with hotelbye . Nevsky Prospect is St Petersburg's main avenue and among the best-known streets in Russia. Chopping through the historic middle of the city, it works from the Admiralty, mark of Russian power, to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery and it is going to be really wonderful to go along that block at night when all illuminations on. Here, you will see every thing: probably the most spectacular architecture, the spectacular palaces, the world-famous museums and the sparkling five-star hotels. Among the areas must see from St. Petersburg is State Hermitage Museum. The main architectural ensemble of the Hermitage is situated in the center of St Petersburg and consists in: Winter Palace, once the former state house of the Russian emperors, structures of the Small, Old (Great) and New Hermitages, the Hermitage Theatre and the Auxiliary House.

Answer 5

Sam B seems to know what he's talking about and so does the GIRLWHOKNOWS. If you don't have any connections to vendors who can do inexpensive and quick work and can't do it yourself it probably will be an uphill battle. You need to know where to buy wholesale for materials, Home Depot isn't going to get your in the red. I'd suggest possibly finding a buyer before a property and there by eliminating a large amount of the risk. I do this for a living so it's obviously possible but I see A LOT and I do mean A LOT of people that have no clue what they are doing and think this is a get rick quick with little work scenario and that is very far from the truth. You have to know your market, know a good deal about construction & rehab, know how not to get taken by contractors. . . it's a lot and it's not for the faint at heart. If you're in the midwest I'd be glad to help you.

Answer 6

The people who tried to flip houses in this area lost their shirts. Every day there are articles in the paper about people doing that and being unable to sell the house. They can't rent the houses either. The market is depressed and people are not buying. You are better off in the stock market.

Answer 7

I would suggest hooking up with folks that are doing what you are interested in doing, groups etc. I am a active Lic RE Broker as well as Hard Money Lender for these types of properties. Learn as much as you can...read, read, read and than practice. You can go to your local county records website to get sold comps, as well as Realtors that work the area where the property is.

Answer 8

Watch the market, studies are starting to show that the market is slowing down quite a bit. Find the area with the biggest potential for profit (and flipping it the quickest).

Answer 9

Sounds like a terrible idea. Have you read the papers lately? House prices are not rising... in many areas they are falling and are likely to continue to do so for a few years. The easy times for house flipping by amateurs is past..... many who made small fortunes a few years, have gotten stuck with unsaleable properties and lost their shirts.

Answer 10

i would suggest that you put away your plans to flip houses and try to find a foreclosure class that will expose you to winning strategies for real estate investors.such a class is offered on the week ends,cost under $200.00.leave that web site alone,and stay a way from real estate agents for now.this classes can be found on the web.