How To Flip Houses

Experienced investors are absolutely loving today's market. They are snatching up properties left and right. They know it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to make tons and tons of money. Are you going to be left out, or are you going to get in the game?

Flipping homes can be confusing when you are just starting out. Especially if you are new to the real estate industry. For you newcomers, here are some quick start steps:

1. Prepare yourself mentally. Determine your motivation for wanting to flip homes. Ideally, it should be emotional. Make it personal and be specific. This motivation is what will push you through the rough patches and will help you overcome your fears. Have faith that if someone else can do it, you can too! You have to believe you can be successful at flipping homes.

2. Begin your education. But, don't go crazy. Read books focusing on the particular area of flipping you want to focus on. Read articles. The internet has an amazing wealth of information, but since there is so much; you'll need to be careful not to get overwhelmed. Read enough so that you are familiar with the process, but realize there are experts that will help you along the way. Understand and accept that you will need to start before you are 100% comfortable.

3. Determine your investing niche. Decide which section of the home flipping market you want to begin with. Pre-foreclosures, bank-owned, HUD? Determine how much money you would need for each type, compared to what you have available or can get. Focus all of your energies on that one type of property. You can branch out later.

4. Find a real estate agent to represent you as buyer. Select someone that focuses on the specific type of properties you want to flip. Speak with several. You will want someone that not only understands the needs of investors, but one whose personality meshes with yours. Be sure they understand your goals. You'll likely be asking them to make creative offers and they need to be comfortable with that.

5. Get your financial ducks in a row. Check your credit. Do what you can to improve it. Determine the capital you have to invest. Determine potential partners. Determine your funding source. Research potential lenders. Don't forget Hard Money Lenders. Get pre-qualified from three of these lenders. These steps are biggies, but don't let them overwhelm you. Take them one at a time and remember your motivation. Don't forget to set goals.

6. Join a local Real Estate Investors Club. Attend meetings. Being around like-minded people will keep you motivated, not to mention networking opportunities.

7. Attend seminars. These could be real estate seminars, or self-help seminars. They will both build your confidence and keep you around like-minded people.

8. Find your property/ies. Yes, do your due diligence. That means, research area comparables. Visit the property. Have an inspection completed. Determine how much money you'll need to invest in the property to flip it quickly. Understand the local market so you have a realistic turnaround time.

9. Make an offer. Be prepared with a pre-qual letter and earnest money. (This could be a very nominal amount.) Do not forget your addendums to the offer that will protect you!!! Negotiate as necessary. Make as many offers as necessary. Remember, it's a numbers game. Expect many offers to get rejected, that just means it wasn't the right deal for. Know that the right deal for you will be accepted. Be patient.

10. Close on your property, rehab and flip. Start out flipping one property at a time. With more experience, you'll be ready to handle multiple properties.

To your success flipping homes!

How many times have you let fear stop you from doing what you wanted to do? We all think we're beyond that. However, the truth is, fear stops everyone at some point in their lives. Think back to a specific incident in your life where you were so intimated by the "what ifs" that you completely talked yourself out of your idea. Have you ever convinced yourself that obstacles were insurmountable and there was no point in proceeding?

This happened to me when I first decided to flip homes. My goal was to quit my job and flip homes full time. I had strong desire, will and motivation; and was willing to work night and day if I had to. I started by doing what most people do. I educated myself on how to flip homes for profit by reading everything I could. Luckily, I like to read, so I read tons of articles. I surfed tons of websites including the real estate investing clubs. Then, I read books. Books on how to flip homes, how to find foreclosures, how to %u2026.. You name it. My next step was to attend seminars.

I knew I was getting down to the wire and it was time to start taking action. I had read that the most difficult part of the process was to find an appropriate property; however, this was easier than I thought. I found several properties that were within a few miles of my own neighborhood (which is what I should do, according to my research.).

And that's exactly where I got stuck%u2026%u2026 I was afraid to move to the next step of actually making an offer. All I could think of were the "what ifs". "What if they don't accept my offer? What if they think I'm an amateur and won't want to deal with me? What if I can't get a loan? What if they want more money down? What if I do something wrong to blow the deal? What if I do end up with the property and then it doesn't sell?"

I really outdid myself and paralyzed myself with doubts, and yes, fear. I almost gave up at this point. Luckily, although it took a little while, I finally dug myself out of my well of fear. I called up a friend who routinely invests in HUD properties and picked his brain. I needed to hear that it actually could be done. Then, I called another friend. I told him about this property I had a lead on and asked if he was willing to partner with me on the deal. (I had no money and no credit.) He would get the financing and I would do the legwork. We determined a profit split and%u2026.. believe it or not, everything worked out just as planned! We closed the deal a month later and I was on my road to flipping homes full-time. The next one I did on my own and the next. Six months later, I was able to quit my regular job and focus full-time on flipping homes.

Looking back, I wonder what would have happened to me if I would have let fear stop me and I had just given up. I would probably still be at my old job. Which, I liked, but didn't provide me with the financial freedom I wanted. I would have always wondered, what if? Boy, am I glad I don't have to wonder.

Although it was a personal challenge, I moved past my fears. You can too. The key is DON'T GIVE UP. Don't listen to that ugly, doubtful, inner voice. Let your positive voice speak louder. Ask yourself, "What if I make tons of money? What will I do with it? Who in this world can I help?" Let those positive and empowering what ifs speak the loudest.

And I promise you; you won't regret it! Don't let fear stop you! Create the life of your dreams!

Buying a property is one of the most important factors in real estate flipping. As they say you make money when you buy the property and not when you sell it. Finding good real estate deals is an art that takes time to master.

Your primary customer is the seller who is motivated to sell below market value. Finding motivated sellers requires advertising, marketing, salesmanship, and, like any business, keeping your nose to the ground.

Nothing happens and nothing matters in real estate until you find a deal. You cannot put together a deal without a motivated seller and you can only convince a motivated seller to do something creative or that involves a discounted price. A motivated seller is one with a very good and pressing reason to sell below market.

The most common problem new investors face is finding bargain properties. Many who start out in real estate investing quit without ever buying their first property. They go through the motions of looking for deals for a few weeks or months and then decide it doesn't work. They forget that finding motivated sellers is similar to the salesman finding his first customer . . . it takes persistence and hard work.

FIND THE MOTIVATED SELLER

At the cost of sounding redundant, the concept is simple: find motivated sellers that are willing to sell their properties at a discounted price or "soft" terms. Currently, the real estate market in some parts of the country is hot, hot, hot! Many people are complaining that the strength of the market precludes investors from finding deals on properties. The popular misconception is that in a rising market, even the most motivated seller can find a buyer for his property at full market price.

The truth is, you can find deals in ANY market. Real estate legend A.D. Kessler once said, "There are no problem properties, just problem ownerships." The definition of a motivated seller fits squarely within Kessler's idea. A logical person knows that time, money and effort can solve virtually any real estate problem. However, some people are too emotional about their real estate problems or have other motivating issues to deal with.

Some of these issues include:

· Divorce
· Lack of concern
· Inexperience with real estate repairs
· Time constraints
· Death of a loved one
· Job transfer
· Landlording headaches
· Impending foreclosure & other financial problems

With the possibility of extra costs popping up in expected places and seemingly endless delays in getting the work done, fixer upper projects can be frightening. If you bought a house project as a real estate investment, here are a few fixer upper tips to help you get through the renovation fearlessly.

Tip #1 -- Budget Wisely

Fixer uppers are full of hidden costs. You thought you just needed to redo to the roof, but you discovered, in redoing the roof, that the entire house has a termite problem. Yikes. To accommodate for this inevitability, set your budget for twenty to thirty percent less than you can afford to pay and don't budge for anything incidental. That way, when unexpected and unavoidable expenses come up, it won't be a catastrophe.

Tip #2 -- Expect Delays

As a rule, fixer uppers are more complicated than they seem. This means unexpected costs, but it also means unexpected delays. Take the time you expect the project to take and add half again. You think three weeks? Try four and a half. Six months? Try nine. You may be pleasantly surprised, but by adjusting your expectations, you'll avoid unpleasant surprises, like having all your new furniture in a truck outside the house only to discover your fixer upper still needs lots of fixing before it's livable.

Tip #3 -- Fix Essentials First

It may be a lot more fun to think of what color to paint the upstairs bedroom or what kind of stair rail to replace the old one with, but start with the boring stuff like the old heater or the plumbing. Systems like the plumbing or the wiring are where you're most likely to uncover expensive problems and big delays. Dealing with trouble early on will make it possible for you to adjust your budget for more incidental costs, like paint or fixtures, if need be.

Undertaking major repairs on any type of real estate can be tricky business, but when your home's involved, things can get especially complicated. By giving yourself big budget and time buffers, you'll be able to avoid any truly scary problems.

Every homeowner or real estate investor wants to sell his or her home for the maximum price. Here are a few quick tips on preparing your house to get the most money from your sale by making it appealing to the most buyers.

Determine the value :

The only way to truly determine the value of a property at any point in time is to discover what a buyer is willing and able to pay for a property by selling it.

Like it or not, property value is governed by basic economics, no matter what value we might like to put on our homes. This is because the value of property is a function of supply and demand; the more similar properties there are that are available when matched to the demand for that type of property, the lower the value of the property. Conversely, if there is high demand for the type of property you have and fewer of these properties in supply, the price will be higher.

Setting the right price :

Once we have a good idea as to the market value of your home or property, we need to determine the optimum price to position your home on the market.

The first thing you need to understand about property prices is your home is going to be placed on the market with competing properties (homes similar to your own in a similar price range). When you consider the price of your home, you must determine where you would like to position your home when compared to your competition; do you want to be the most expensive property, the best value or somewhere in the middle?

When buyers are looking for homes they will compare your home to your competitors and they will determine your home's value by comparison to others on the market. It will quickly become evident to buyers that your home is either expensive, good value or priced at a fair market price.

Prepare the property for sale

By upgrading specific items that are most appealing to buyers. As we've said before, focus on the kitchen and bathrooms in terms of spending money on major upgrades. However, even without remodeling there are things you can do to add value.

Given the choice between more space or higher quality features, new home buyers are overwhelmingly opting for the latter, according to survey data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Among several other observations on what people want in their homes: The top features homeowners want in the kitchen are:
walk-in pantry (84 percent),
island work area (77 percent),
special use storage (62 percent)
built-in microwave (62 percent