Reccession, Should I Fix & Flip?

During the real estate boom, many investors did a lot of "Flipping*" properties. Everywhere you turned you heard about Flipping a House. From television to friends, everyone was talking about (or doing) this. Now in the current economy, house flipping has slowed down quite a bit. And it is easy to understand why. It is a buyer's market, which means prices are lower, as in every market, a home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. But even in the current economy flipping houses is possible. Here's how:

-Do an analysis of the home, how much will it cost to fix it? What needs to be done? Are there going to be any surprise costs?

-Do a market analysis (I recommend contacting a local Realtor for this), how much are the homes that are in good (fixed) condition of similar size, style, & location selling for?

-Be sure that the price of home, repairs, & potential unexpected costs are less than what the market price should be. (They should be less than that amount by how much $ you hope to make and allow a bit of a buffer, for those unexpected expenses)

If you do all these things it will help you decided whether a home is worth flipping, but be aware, that during the time that it takes to fix the property, the market will be changing. The real estate market is a constantly changing thing, this is why the buffers, etc, are so important. You may want to be sure that you can afford to sit on the property and possibly rent it out, until the market goes up. Just be sure to think over all options, and very carefully weigh the benefits versus the disadvantages of flipping in your housing market.

If you decide you want to start looking for an investment property to flip contact me here for help searching for the ideal investment property.


*Flipping property: purchasing a home below market price (that usually needs work) fixing it up and selling it for profit.