Top 10 Flipping tips
Don’t Get Stuck in Analysis Paralysis
Too many would-be real estate investors get stuck in this phase of house flipping. They spend years doing endless amounts of research and thinking about flipping houses instead of just getting out there and doing it. While market research and understanding house flipping is critically important there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. As NO amount of study or research will ever teach you more about house flipping than flipping your first house.
Develop a House Flipping Team Early On
A house flipping team can help you avoid many costly mistakes and can save you a lot of time. House flipping team members can include seasoned and professional real estate agents, contractors, and sub-contractors, real estate attorneys, and accountants.
Learn Everything You Can About House Flipping
Learn as much about house flipping as you possibly can when first starting out, as this can help you to avoid costly house flipping mistakes. There are many great resources to help you get a good handle on house flipping. Below were some of my favorite resources when I was first starting out.
- “The Book on Flipping Houses” – See on Amazon
- “Flipping Houses for Dummies” – See on Amazon
- “The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs” – See on Amazon
- flippingprosperity.com – Hey I had to include our own house flipping website.
- flippingjunkie.com – Provides a lot of information on how to get started flipping houses.
- investfourmore.com – Tons of information on flipping houses and rental property.
Know Where to Find Capital
Figuring out and understanding where to find the money to not only buy the property but also to rehab and carry the property is critical to being a successful house flipper. Because if you can’t find the capital you can’t flip houses.
If you don’t know where you can find money to flip houses, check out our article “How to Get Money to Flip a House” which gives all the best ways to fund a house flip.
Or this article we wrote on “How to Flip a House with only $10,000“.
Know and Understand Your Real Estate Market
You need to know the real estate market you are working in like the back of your hand. By this, I don’t mean go on Zillow and look at a few houses. I mean know everything there is to know about your local real estate market. Things you should know include price points, average days on the market, supply and demand, neighborhoods, school districts, local government, what the average home buyer is looking for, etc… Understanding your local real estate market can be instrumental in making or breaking your house flipping business. As it will not only help you identify a good deal when you find one but it will also help you to avoid overpaying or losing money when flipping houses. When it comes to market knowledge, your goal should be to know more about your local real estate market than anyone else.
Patience is a Virtue When Looking for a House to Flip
Even though popular house flipping shows barely mention or show the process of looking for a house to flip. Finding a house to flip can often be one of the more time consuming and difficult aspects of the house flipping process. For example, I recently went for several months without buying a house, because I couldn’t find a house that made sense. Sure I could have overpaid or bought a house for too much but then I would have been in real danger of ending up with a flop instead of a successful flip. My patience finally paid off though because after months of looking I actually found two houses back to back that made great flips.
Avoid Undesirable Areas
When looking for a house to flip, avoid houses that are in undesirable areas or have issues that can’t easily be fixed, even if the price is cheap. Remember when you get done with the rehab, you’re going to be the seller of the home. And no matter how nice you make a home, if it’s in an undesirable area it’s going to be a struggle to find a buyer and make a profit.
Never Overpay for a Property
Never overpay for a potential house flip, remember a home can only be sold for so much in a particular real estate market. This is because when you sell your house, banks and buyers will use other similar homes in the area or neighborhood to determine how much your house is really worth. So no matter how much you paid for the house or how fancy and nice you make the home, your ultimate sale price is going to be a direct reflection of how much other homes are selling for in the neighborhood. So when you overpay for a home, what you’re really doing is giving away the profit on the flip, as you can’t sell a house for more than it’s worth.
Don’t Get in Over Your Head
While it might be tempting to buy a really rundown house that needs to be gutted and redone because of the super cheap price. It’s best to steer clear of these kinds of flips until you become more confident in your flipping ability and more seasoned with rehabbing houses. So when looking for your first few flips, focus on houses that need light updating and paint and carpet to avoid getting overwhelmed and in over your head.
Have a Plan and a Budget for the Rehab
The worst thing you can do when rehabbing a property is to try and wing it. Having a plan and a detailed budget will help keep you on track, allow you to hit your deadlines, and keep the costs under control.