Flip a house.

I just bought a house and am in the process of fixing it. It was a foreclosure so I think we got a good deal, and there isn’t a ton of things to fix. Mainly just cosmetic stuff. It’s our first, so I hope it goes well.

A little slower than planned, but I bought my first house and it is now being rehabbed. I’ll be renting it after, and try to sell it as a turn-key property.

I’ve started looking for my second, and have a couple of offers in.

I’m so very proud of myself for doing this! Every step has been a challenge and scary, but I’ve done it, and I can already tell the second one will be easier.

We have purchased several houses to rehab, but have only ‘flipped’ one of them. That is, we bought it, fixed it, and sold it.

It was very satisfying but also difficult. I would certainly suggest working with someone with experience (that you trust!) on your first one. We had a lot of fun and made some money.

All the other properties we bought, fixed, and kept. The market is ripe for this type of investment – many areas have excellent prices, even for properties that don’t need a lot of work. Use the 1% rule and you’ll find that the rents will easily give a positive cash flow.

These days, we prefer Seller Financing and Rent-to-Own strategies rather than just ‘Flipping’. We’ve also figured out how to significantly accelerate our mortgages, without refinancing; our properties are making more money, faster!

Good Luck to those Flipping Houses – I always like to hear about people getting into real estate for themselves.

Michael Wilson
www.VPIproperties.com
www.SmartMoneyForLife.com

I’m ready to do this. I live on the West coast and am looking to do this remotely somewhere that the prices are lower. My goal is to have 3 done (or pretty near done) by the end of 2008. I just spent a week in St Louis looking at properties, talking to rehabbers, property managers, a hard money lender and mortgage broker. I need a good inspector on my team.

At this point my plan is to get a real inexpensive REO, put about $15k into rehab, and sell it below market for a $10+k profit.

I currently have 11 properties. A lot of people are trying to flip when there is a lot of money in rehabbing and KEEPING the property. For example, I just bought one at $40,000. I put $15,000 in rehab that i got from a rehab loan. It appraised for $125,000. I rented it out at $900. So that is about $300/month in cash flow plus $65,000 in equity for me to sell later or borrow against. I don’t have to sell right away. I am making money renting until I want to sell.

If you want I have properties I can pass on to you to flip or rehab and keep. We usually get them for about 60 cent on the dollar or 60k – 70k and they appraise for 125k – 130k.

good luck,

Kent Hamilton
www.southernskyproperties.com

I want to flip a house. I got my real estate license in February 2006 and then the local markets tanked. It is a great time to buy if you can afford to hold on for a couple of years and see if things get better. I think I’d like to do minimal renovating for now and rent for two years, then do the real thing. I’d love to hear feedback from others who have tried it.

I have watch flipping houses on tv. I have also done work onmy own house. Fisrt off, I would like to see what percentage ratio to use for calucating how much to spend on up grades. I would see if there was any issue to be done to up grade the house structurely, roof, plumping, electrical, heating, air, windows. foundation. Then the kitchen and bathroom upgrade if needed. Paint with neutral colors. Do either hardwood floors or carpet. Then would do the curb appeal. I would like to do a staging of furiture aday or two before open house. Thank you for this time to explain myself. Bob

i know i could make it work (i sure have watched a lot of it on tv!), i just need the capital or credit to get in the game! hmmmmmm

There is nothing better than being in charge of your own destiny and feeling good about a job well done and then see the new owner so happy with our homes.

I recently completely remodeled my house including gutting it down to studs and floor joists. I then put in all new electric and plumbing and finished it all out nice and neat with 16” ceramic tile floors and carpet. I had alot of fun, plus alot of stress doing this. But all in all it was very enjoyable. Now I am interested in changing careers and moving into the house flipping side of things. I think there is alot of opportunity where I am located and would like some advice and information on this. I have fairly poor credit due to an untimely divorce. So any advice on money and financing would be welcome too. Thanks.

Aaron