Flipping Houses - A Day In The Life Of A House Flipper

Most people think that house flippers primarily get their flip deals by looking for houses through Realtors. This is true for some investors, but the best deals are usually found by looking for motivated sellers. House flipping requires a really good deal with a lot of equity. When you shop the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is where real estate agents list their houses, you end up competing with a ton of people for the same house. This can lead to some good deals, but you can do much better by finding houses that few other investors know about.

In order to find these deals, you have to consider what would make someone sell a house to you with such a good discount. Most people tend to think that only people facing foreclosure would be willing to do such a thing. This is far from true. Yes, sellers facing foreclosure are motivated, but there are a ton of other reasons why people would be willing to sell at a good price. From my experience, the most common situations are when people inherit a house, people go through a divorce, the house needs a lot of repairs, there is a terrible tenant involved, people get behind on their property taxes, people need money to do something they want to do, people don't want to sell the normal, slow way, people have had a bad experience with a Realtor and the list really does go on and on.

The goal here is to get the people facing situations that make them motivated to call you. In order to do this, we have to get our phone number in front of these people. Most new investors will put up what are called bandit signs. These are the signs that you see nailed to utility poles. They are called bandit signs because, in most locations, they are not legal and code compliance might fine you. Some people get away with this by putting them out Friday afternoon and picking them up Sunday evening (while code compliance is off for the weekend). These signs work very well and cost very little. Just be careful.

Other investors like to build lists of people and their address from public records and direct mail to them. This is another fabulous way to get motivated sellers calling you. These are some of the best deals for house flipping. County courthouses will have public records of a lot of motivating situations, like probate, foreclosure, divorce, etc. Visit your courthouse and ask where to find the specific office for what you are looking for. The people are there to help and will guide you through the information you are looking for. Flipping houses and direct mail just go together.

For more ideas on how to find good deals using your own marketing, visit my Flipping Houses Blog.

When flipping houses, talking to motivated sellers is a big part of your business. You may be able to offer more than your competitors, but if you don't have good rapport with sellers and don't find out what they "really" want, you could lose out to your competition. The main points to consider is that a lot of sellers are embarrassed by their situation and/or the condition of their house. Treat them with respect. Really, really "listen" to them and find out what they really need. Sometimes their main goal is to get it closed really fast rather than wanting the most they can get for the house.

Many sellers will not just come out and tell you their true motivation. They may mention things that allude to it, but you must ask open-ended questions to get to the real matter. Be honest and sincere. Don't try to be a high powered real estate investor. People want to sell to people that are like themselves.

If you want to learn how to flip houses, take the time to learn how to properly work with people that are in tough situations. Being a high powered businessman is not the type of person most of them want to deal with. Someone that is honest, sincere, confident and able, is who they want to work with.