Buy home, renovate and then sell?

Question

I am a contractor, would it be any good to buy a cheap house in Pennsylvania, renovate it "increase it's value" and then sell it?

Answer 1

If you buy in the right neighborhood at the right price.

Answer 2

Only YOU can make the decision concerning the financial viability of such a venture. You must know what the house will sell for when you have completed renovations. Calculate your initial purchase cost, your renovation costs, and then decide if there is enough profit in the venture to proceed.

If you intend to use a realtor to assist in the purchase and sale, he/she should be able to give you a reasonable sale price expectation.

Do bear in mind that the real estate market is currently somewhat soft nationwide, and an estimate a realtor gives may no longer be valid six months down the road. If the market grows softer, so will your final sale price.

Good luck.

Answer 3

When buying real estate to rehab and then retail, you want to make sure that you are 1) buying in an area where your Market Value is higher than the purchase price of the home 2) you want to make sure you estimate the cost of your rehab. (how much is it going to cost to bring your home up to the standard of the rest of the homes in that neighborhood. 3) After you have estimated the rehab cost, the purchase price and the Market value - make sure you factor in about 3 - 6 months holding cost. This is mortgage payments, insurance premiums, etc that you will have to make will your home is on the market. I usually make sure I can make about $20,000 after everything is completed.

But to answer your question, yes if the deal is right, you can make great money and it sounds like you can save a lot of the rehab cost by doing some or all of the work yourself, depending on what needs to be done.

I say go for it once you've done your research.

Answer 4

Yes my father-in-law does this for work now that he's retired. Just make sure you buy for less than what it's worth in order to make a profit. Most of the time he buys from "for sale by owners" who want to get out quick for whatever reason. He gets a loan not a mortgage, flips the house by fixing it up and selling it for more than he paid. I'm not sure of the specifics but you could call a loan company/mortgage company and find out where to start. You will need some upfront capitol from somewhere....

Answer 5

Only if you can buy dirt cheap, fix it in a hurry, and sell ASAP.

Homes today are hot potatoes.

The longer you own it the more money you will lose.

I would not even look at buying a home in this market unless I could NET $50,000 after all expenses. You could do better in the stock market then risk a lot of money buying homes.

Terry S.

Answer 6

if you buy in the right neighborhood. Spend your money where it is important, like the bathroom and kitchen. Don't forget the outside of the house too. Make sure you don't scrimp on the materials, people will notice. Instead save money on labor. Try to do as much as you can yourself. Make sure you have experts do what you can't or you'll waste more money fixing what you messed you. And try to finish as quickly as possible or you'll loose some of your profits to morgage payments.

Answer 7

Only if you have done the research!
Here is a great book: FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
INCREDIBLE BOOK!!!
Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071486100?tag=cruhogs-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0071486100&adid=0JBXHGHK3P1DRAXSX6FK&

I LOVE this book! I'm a Realtor in Arkansas and this is my #1 Reference tool for flipping properties! It is easy to read & well formatted.

Answer 8

3 most important things of real estate....
1. location
2. location
2. location