Archive for April, 2008

Managing Money During a Flip

Money management during any real estate investment venture is an essential skill. If this is your first time flipping a property it is probably more important on the first flip than any other as you need to fully realize how much things cost and how quickly those expenses can up. It is so simple for the budget on a house flip to get completely out of control. For this reason you need to take control of the financial situation from the very beginning.

Begin by establishing a realistic budget for the entire project. If you find yourself spending more money in one area than you had originally planned you need to either revisit the initial budget and plan for adding more money to the pot or you need to make cost lowering adjustments elsewhere along the way to recover the excess. You will need to have a firm idea of the projects you are going to tackle, big and small, as well as the costs involved in each project. Take a walk through a hardware store and get a firm grasp of today’s prices on the hardware, equipment, and supplies you will need to complete the job. Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-Construction Real Estate Investing

If you have the heart and soul of a gambler or love extreme sports and activities such as skydiving or bungee jumping then you may be the ideal candidate for pre-construction real estate investing. Pre-construction profits are often among the highest in the industry. At the same time so are the risks. You will find the greatest highs and lows that can be found in the field of real estate investing lie beneath the umbrella of pre-construction profits and many of the big names we know so well in the real estate investing field have made much of their fortunes through speculation and pre-construction sales.

Before I go any further, one word of caution should be spoken. While the potential for profits in this particular corner of the real estate market are unconventionally high the risks are also abundant. This is speculative real estate at its very best and as we have all learned in the past, when the bubble bursts in a specific market those who have the most invested are the ones who often loose most heavily. Read the rest of this entry »

Pros and Cons of Flipping Houses

If you have watched countless shows on television about flipping houses and making tons of money in a very short amount of time you’ve probably thought to yourself that you could do that and possibly wondered why you haven’t. If you are considering entering into the world of real estate investing through the role of one who flips houses there are a few pros and cons that you might want to carefully consider before taking the plunge.

Pros

Potential profits that are large and relatively quick. Those who flip properties as a sole source of income can make in a few months what the average worker in this country makes in an entire year. The potential profits are great in this line of work for the successful house flipping team. Read the rest of this entry »

Finding a Flip

Flipping houses is becoming increasingly popular. Unfortunately, the popularity of the idea is creating a bit of competition among those who would love to try it out for the first time. The increased competition often serves to drive up the costs involved in purchasing the profit, which only manages to lower the profit potential. However if you find a good deal and feel that the property is a good candidate for a flip you can ask yourself the following questions to help you determine whether or not the property really is a good candidate.

1) Have you had a qualified inspection and determined that there are only minor repairs that need to be made to the property and the landscaping? This is important because every repair that needs to be made will eat into your budget. You want to complete the project with as little extra money invested as possible in order to get the greatest return on your real estate investment possible. Read the rest of this entry »

House Flip Sob Stories

What you don’t see on many of the television shows about flipping houses are the many sad tales of promising flips gone wrong. These epic tales of woe are often the precursors to financial hardships for quite some time as those who fail at their property flips work on recovering from their heavy losses and moving on with their lives. Some are hit harder than others but the snowball effect of a bad flip are often not even hinted out on the prime time televisions shows that are so proud of the many success stories that arise because of serious and studious efforts in the house flipping arena.

If you are planning to flip a house for a real estate investment you really need to take a step back and decide that you are absolutely not going to be one of the house flip sob stories that are rumored about in Internet chat rooms. In fact, you want to be listed among the success stories. Unfortunately that takes a great deal of proper planning that is almost never shown on these television shows. In fact, to put forth your best effort you need to devote as much time to studying and planning properties, prices, and home values in your area before you even begin to search for your first property to flip as you need to invest in the entire process of actually working on your first flip. In other words, months worth of planning need to go into your first property pick in order to lower the risk of failure and to greatly improve the odds of success. Read the rest of this entry »