So, what’s your target house size and sales price for your flip project?This is the destination you should formulate from your first review of the property, even before you commit to the project. What to buy, what to avoid – this is how it works – and how it doesn’t!   How do you determine the direction for your project size and eventual asking / closing price?   In a nutshell – focus on the average local market price and size of a finished move-in-ready house, in the market today. Build an addition onto your flip project only to the Read more…

Houses with no one in residence attract crime … and unlocked vacant houses, especially with valuable contents, virtually assure things will go missing in the dark.  It’s critical to protect your property throughout your project, and here are my tips for keeping everything safe.   It isn’t uncommon for vandals and thieves to strip wiring, plumbing, appliances, even remove cabinets and uproot landscaping from an unoccupied property. As if that weren’t bad enough, they may leave behind running water and damage that jeopardizes load-bearing frames.Even in good neighborhoods, overnight you can lose costly material and be left with a seriously Read more…

It may look move-in ready; it may even be staged to the nines – but it’s still a vacant property until the next resident moves in, and therefore a magnet for thieves and vandals. What are some ways you can protect your unoccupied flip house while it is being marketed and shown to prospective buyers? Some of the strategies for protecting an unoccupied house will depend on the neighborhood and the incidence of local crime. In some areas you may consider not putting up a sign in the yard advertising “for sale” or “for rent”,instead depending on listings and other Read more…

Is it really necessary to stage a house to get it sold? Aren’t the buyers coming to look regardless? Moving in furniture that has to be moved out again at closing, placing endless cosmetic items (from wall décor to fruit bowls to bath towels), just to impress lookers? Given the trouble and expense, it is no surprise that many flippers don’t stage their sale properties.   In my experience – yes, staging is worth doing because it works, and here’s why.Beautiful, professionally-done staging has high impact with home buyers. Staging connects a buyer with the idea of living in the Read more…

I recommend having a professional home stager do their magic, as the most effective way to shave the days on the market and motivate buyers to offer and close. But if you are on a very tight budget, perhaps focusing on a lower-end market, here are some approaches to adding a little bit of warmth that can help you move this house.   All staging materials should look new. No one wants to move in on someone else’s old stuff. There should be no nicks or dings, and fabric, paint, stain, décor and knick-knacks should look fresh.   Focus on Read more…

Flipping is all about adding value to a property in need of help.Today I’m sharing my secrets for the smartest things you can do to add marketing appeal to a newly-comfortable home.   Kitchen & Bath Granite counters – granite is often expected; competing homes will have it Modern tile that is 18″-24″ Updated cabinets – new paint or stain is usually sufficient, but very important to do New modern cabinet hardware –an  impressively high-impact, low-cost item New light and plumbing fixtures   Bath Everything just above, and … New vanities and shower surrounds – old showers often just won’t Read more…

Let’s talk for a moment about cabinets, especially kitchen cabinets.Attractive cabinets carry a lot of impact with home buyers. But, over-working the cabinets can turn into an expensive and difficult MESS for a flipper.What value-added work on the cabinets do home buyers really appreciate – and what is more than buyers want or will pay for? Kitchen cabinets greet a home-shopper’s eyes with an impact equal to carpet and paint (sometimes greater). But they don’t have to be elaborate or cutting-edge to satisfy the majority of home-buyers – just attractive, clean and functional.   Cabinets should appear very clean and Read more…

So you ended up sinking far more money into your flip project than your anticipated profit margin allows. After re-checking market prices for your finished property, you realize you’re faced with a very low profit or even a loss when you sell this one. Can you salvage this disaster by renting it instead?   My advice, based on long experience in this business: No, you can’t make an expensive flip project better by re-directing it to the rental market – you are only postponing the inevitable. Yes, you can find articles on the internet encouraging you to do just that Read more…

In my blog post [DON’T Switch to Rental – Why You Should Flip It and Move On LINK] I give an overview of several compelling market reasons why it’s a bad idea to attempt to salvage dwindling profits from a cost-heaving fix & flip. In short – it rarely works out as hoped. Here are some back-of-the-envelope financial reasons not to switch from a fix & flip to a rental strategy mid-stream.   Let’s run the numbers and show why recovering the profits you planned for this project probably won’t succeed by switching it to a rental.   1)      A Read more…

You need to know that that no matter how sexy flipping for hefty profits sounds to the new investor, at the core it is a grinder’s game. The flipper who is not actively working the market and rehabbing a project is not earning anything. The flipper is far more exposed to unexpected events, from sudden market downturns to unanticipated problems with a project.   By contrast, a landlord has abundant quiet time to walk to the mailbox to pick up checks (figuratively speaking), for as long as she or he wishes to keep and maintain the property.So long as the Read more…