Does anyone flip houses? I watch those shows and it looks so easy but I've read articles about how it can be a disaster.

If you do it, do you have your real estate license?

my brother, best friend, sister in law all flipped houses. It was all mixed results. And I would really strongly add - yeah it does look easy on tv - they edit stuff down and they go through a screening to get on the shows in the first place - notice how you really never see disasters?


they are a great way to make fast money. however, they really only work out well in larger markets (cities, suburbs of big cities) where real estate is hopping and people are trying to get into the next "in" area. my sister did a flip in her residental area about an hour and a half outside of nyc and yes she did make money but it was a grueling, marriage testing issue - and the house took 4 mos to sell after the 3 mos flip (and she had a fantasy that she would have offers the day of the open house like on tv...not so) my best friend lost their pants and went into forclosure and lost all their money (poor budgeting and unrealistic confidence that nothing would go wrong) - she also wasnt prepared that she would have to do 2 mortgage payments (on her own house and her flip) indefinately
any my brother is on his 3rd flip, one successful, one forclosure and one he's working on now.

the keys to flipping that i've seen (since ive helped out many times with all 3)

know your real estate market. have a good 15k OVER your budget amount so you dont go into forclosure, make sure you have little or no cc debt because when you get into $$ trouble and still need to go to home depot, you'll be slapping it on your cc. make sure you already know reputible contractors, make sure you have a few "friends" who can be a second set of eyes for you so you know you're not getting taken...make sure you have the time - my sis in law tried to do it while her kids were in school and it was a nightmare. constant runs to the bank, home depot, waiting for inspectors/contractors (that wouldnt show) that dont care that you have preschool pick up at 1140!

what i've seen is that - if you have a good chunk of money to invest, alot of time/child care help and have some working knowledge of home renovation and know others that do also, it might work...providing you're in a hot area that people are dying to get into.

just my .02

my cousins husband does this for there living- he is a contractor and does all the work himself and he is good at it- though he says it sounds easier than it really is. He also says he has lost $ on homes- so it is not always a winning situation.

We love this show! We watch every Saturday night, my hubby and I would love to flip houses one day...well once he has an idea on how to fix houses that is

I've known about house flipping long before it became the theme of TV shows. It is my opinion that the business of house flipping has peaked. It has gotten to the point now where many homebuyers won't touch a house that has been flipped because newbies in the business have done some pretty unethical stuff (hidden damage) or not put the quality into the house that it needed or (3) they simply didn't know what they were doing. Plus some flips end up way over priced. As soon as I see a house on the market that is (1) empty and (2) advertised as recently remodelled I'm immediately skeptical. The people who are making money in house flipping now are (1) those who have been in the business for a long time so they have a decent reputation and (2) are those who are working as a team.

People who flip a few houses a year are successful because they can do most of the work themselves. If you have to rely on contractors to do all the work, you won't end up making much money. After all, why would they need you? They could flip the house themselves. Unco-operative contractors will mess you up every single time.

Do you have to be a real estate agent? No, but it can help to work closely with one.

What my husband and I do is buy houses to live in that are in desparate need of updating. It is VERY difficult to live in a house that is in constant state of remodelling but that is what we do. We live in the house, improve it, wait for the local real estate market to increase the house's value with appreciation, then sell. This has some tax advantages as we can take the homeowner's exception and avoid capital gains. When you flip a house in a couple of months, there are some very serious taxes that need to be paid. You should check into that, too.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

I have to agree that it isn't what it is cracked up to be. I live in a 50 year old home with some 50 year old problems. We have been fixing things since we moved in. So far our fixes total 11K. That is with DIY and knowing a few of the RIGHT people. Yes our homes Value has increased We would make now 50K on selling our home. The big problem is that most of that is due to a general market increase. We could sell our home, make 50K but we wouldn't be able to find a home for less then what we sold ours for. So its not worth it to flip. Many of our changes were done because we wanted to live with a remodeled kitchen NOW and not have to remodel to sell our home 5 years or so from now,
Yes, Remodeling does wear on your relationship. There are things that come up and frustrations. Our current project a DIY out door space has taken forever. Last April I told DH Memorial day to be finished by. I guess he figured I ment Memorial day 2008 because it is still not done, we are out of money, DH feels he doesn't have the skills he should to DIY a patio. He things I am limmiting him because I keep telling him no money. We lucked out and got a bonus that paid for our fencing.
The kitchen it was the same thing always something. We tore out cabinets to find wet rot in our floor. we tore up our floor to find the old floor, to find a sub floor, to find the original floor that we stopped there in fear of Asbestos. Cabinets were delayed, things were sent back for being damaged, The counter top took its own sweet time getting here.
Experience with having the job Contracted. We did this for insulating our home. I got a referal in Nov, Contractor came out early Dec, We signed papers a week later. They told us January. We call in Jan, We call them in Feb, We call them one last time in March. They Call us in May and install the insulation.
My point is that you really really need to be prepared for everything to go wrong and for you to still make a profit if it does.
I wouldn't house flip I would take on a fixer upper again but to be constantly remodeling takes its toll.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

This is what my DH does for a living, along with his AC business. He's a do it yourselfer though, and could do it all by himself if he needed to. He hires a couple guys that can help him do the work, extra hands, and makes it go by faster, also cheaper than hiring a contractor, when he is already his own. He loves the work, but it is tiring and physically hard work. Not as easy as those shows make it seem, I've seen all of them. In fact, sat my butt on the couch all day for re-runs on TLC yestrday..lol. Not worth it if you don't have the cash to front all the costs.

i would caution that with the way the market is and with mortgage companies going under and its now harder for people to get a mortgage not maybe the best time to get into it unless you are in a market that is really hot... my sil was looking to buy and 6 months ago with 10% down qualified she did not find a house that she liked and had to reapply to get a mortgage and guess what with a credit score of 720 she is finding it difficult to get a mortgage she has been turned down 3 times in the last two weeks.. definately something to consider.

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'The will of God will never take you where the
Grace of God will not protect you.'

I love watching the shows, but unless i have won the big lottery i would never be able to handle the cost of it all or the stress of worrying if the house will sell quick enough to avoid extra mortgages to pay each month.Nothing sells very quickly in this small town either.

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"Go on, get outside, get the stink blown off ya!!"

I have my license so let me say that it is not easy like it seems, it's stressful and complicated and right now the market is a mess so it is not a good time to flip. Tons of forclosures are happening b/c of flipping right now. However, if you have the money it IS a good time to buy while prices are LOW, live in the house for a couple years then sell when the market is hot. That is the best way to make money in Real Estate. Each time you can move up into a nicer house so by the time you are on house 3 or 4 you should have your dream home. That is our plan-by house 3.

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale