Jeanette Fisher asked:


eginning real estate investors get started by flipping real estate to make quick cash. If you would like to make more money by investing in real estate, you need to know a few essentials.

What is the definition of real estate flipping?

Simple definition: Buying property and reselling quickly, hopefully for a great profit. Usually, people think of flipping houses, or the buying and selling of a home fast, as the only way to make money flipping real estate. However, some investors specialize in other types of real estate such as land or strip centers. Some confusion arises over the process of making money flipping property. People who specialize in finding bargain real estate, obtain a purchase contract, and then sell the contract before taking title to the property are known as "Bird Dogs." These beginning real estate investors get started with no money down by: Finding a seller under stress with a bargain property Securing a sales contract Selling their contract for roughly $500 to $5,000 to a seasoned real estate investor Isn't real estate flipping illegal? Flipping real estate isn't illegal.

However, many unscrupulous investors committed mortgage fraud to make fast money. Some of these investors, working with mortgage brokers and appraisers, resold houses to unqualified buyers inflating the property value and home buyer's qualifications. Often these home purchases had no money or little money down. When these new home owners defaulted on the mortgage payment, the mortgage lenders lost money because the house wasn't worth the inflated purchase price. To avoid legal problems in real estate flipping, don't commit mortgage fraud.

To make money real estate flipping:

1. Prepare your financing so you can close on a deal quickly.

2. Learn your market so you know what makes a good deal.

3. Find a bargain property owned by a seller under stress to sell.

4. Secure a purchase contract in your favor.

5. During escrow, plan your selling actions.

6. Close on the property on time.

7. Immediately set your selling plan into action. If the property needs fixing, be prepared to get this done right away.

8. Market your property to your target market. Don't just list the property and hope for the best.

9. Find a qualified buyer. Have a loan officer check to make sure your buyer meets all the mortgage requirements.

10. Stay legal.

Don't use an inflated appraisal. Don't gift your buyer the down payment. Don't help your buyer create false W2s, write phony credit letters, or prepare any false documents. You can pay many of your buyer's closing costs to make the purchase easier. You can make money flipping real estate.

Buy low, sell for full-market value, avoid mortgage fraud, and enjoy your profits! Copyright © Jeanette J. Fisher

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Colin Egbert asked:


When you work with the homeowner to put together short sale negotiations with the bank, you’ll also be assembling vital evidence in a short sale package. This package is very important in preforeclosure deals. It provides enough information to (hopefully) convince the bank to accept your short sale offer on the homeowner’s property.

Include everything you can in the short sale package that backs up your request for a short sale. Obviously, you’ll want to leave out extra evidence, (unless the bank specifically requests it), that may hurt your claim.

Common Items in a Short Sale Package:

Standard Purchase and Sales Agreement & Escrow Instruction

This is the standard sales contract between you and the homeowner, since you will actually be purchasing the property from the homeowner with the bank’s approval.

Authorization To Release Information

In order to get the bank to work with you, the homeowner need’s to sign this document stating that they authorize their lender, the bank, to share all vital information concerning their mortgage with you. If you don’t have this the bank won’t talk to you!

Letter Of Agreement and Addendum

This is the cover your butt document stating that you will work with the homeowner and the bank to stop the foreclosure, but you can’t guarantee that the bank will agree to stop the foreclosure during short sale negotiations with you.

Warranty Deed To Trustee

You’ll need to get a notary to authenticate this document. It basically shows who owns the property you are attempting to purchase.

Agreement and Declaration Of Trust

In order to keep your own name off of public records you’ll use this document to declare a land trust on the property, which you’ll have rights too.

Letter That Trustee is Making Payments:

This letter is used when you have an agreement with the homeowner that indicates you’ll be taking the property “subject to” and notifies the lender that payments will be coming from a trustee.

Escrow Letter

You’ll use this letter to tell the bank to apply funds in an escrow account to the loan balance when the loan is paid in full and the short sale deal is complete. Be aware there is no guarantee the bank will comply with the instructions for your real estate investment. They may send the escrow proceeds to the original borrower, which is the homeowner. So, you’ll need to make arrangements with the homeowner just in case this happens.

Special Power of Attorney

You’ll get this signed by the homeowner in front of a notary. It applies only to the property and lets you make decisions concerning the property if something happens to it before the short sale deal closes.

Residential Real Estate Disclosure

This is basically to protect everyone involved. You’ll sign it as the purchaser. It discloses any defects in the property and prevents anyone from claiming after the deal is completed that they weren’t aware of certain defects in the property.

Hardship Letter

This is a very important letter in pre-foreclosure investing. The hardship letter allows the homeowners to explain in detail all of the reasons they were unable to make payments on their mortgage and why they’ll be unable to completely pay off the mortgage. A good hardship letter can really help you seal the deal.

Financial Statement

This is basically the homeowner’s pay stubs, copies of their past income tax returns and other items that show the homeowners really are in financial hardship. The bank will absolutely want to see this proof of hardship before discounting a loan and taking a known loss.

Suggested Extras to Seal the Deal!

There are a few extra pieces of foreclosure information you can include in your short sale package to get the bank’s attention in this preforeclosure deal.

Cover Letter

The cover letter helps your short sale package stand out. It basically states who you are as an investor and that you are requesting a short sale. It also states why the bank should take the short sale. You can also summarize the major points of your package in this cover letter for the bank officer reading it.

Proposed Closing Statement (HUD1)

Eventually you’ll find that a bank requests the HUD1form. It shows all the fees and payments that will be made to the parties involved in the short sale. It helps them know their bottom line on the deal at a glance. Plus, it ensures the seller is not receiving any compensation.

Opinion Of Value

This can be a professional estimate or your own statement. You’ll back it up with a quick list of all the negative points of the property, its needed repairs and the lowest comparable sales in the area.

Estimate Of Repairs

If this property in pre-foreclosure needs repairs make sure you get estimates for all of them and include those estimates in your short sale package to back up your discounted price. Use the highest priced estimates you get.

Notice Of Trustee’s Sale

This is the notice that the homeowner receives telling them that their property is going to the foreclosure sale. By including this document in your short sale package you are letting the bank know that you are aware of the foreclosure process. It also helps put a timeframe on the deal and can light a fire under them, so to speak.

Color Photos

You’ll get extra points with the bank by sending them pictures of the damaged and neglected areas of the house. They provide photographic evidence of the low market value of the property and encourages the bank to accept your discounted offer.

The short sale package usually contains quite a lot of foreclosure information. In fact, it’s an involved process and essential part of debt negotiation with the bank. The bank will want ample evidence to back up your short sale request for their loss mitigation department as can be seen by the bulleted list. This package contains information that the bank requests from you and your own research on the property including; damage estimates and the homeowner’s hardship letter, all of which work to back up your request for a discounted sale price on the property.



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Everyone has heard about house flipping. There is even a reality show called flip that house. A lot of news headlines and real estate people talk about illegal house flipping. But if this process is illegal, then how is everyone doing it and talking about how to do it?

The fact of the matter is that house flipping is not illegal if it is done properly and ethically. Anyone who has ever bought real estate for a primary home and then sold it for a profit later has successfully flipped a house. That is the basic idea behind house flipping. The real estate investment is purchased, and then resold later for a higher price. The length of ownership time may be months or decades, and that does not matter for this purpose. Sometimes this may involve renovating or repairing the real estate before selling it, to increase the value of the investment.

What everyone has been calling illegal house flipping is actually real estate fraud. These cases generally involve people who have lied or misled about significant facts to wrongly inflate the value of the real estate investment. This includes payments or bribes to get the property appraised at a value higher than what the real estate is actually worth, falsifying down payments or any other information like tax receipts and check stubs to get a loan that is not qualified for, and more. One type of real estate fraud is lying or covering up obvious or serious problems with the house to lenders, as well as to buyers who are not sophisticated. Another fraud type is to back date any documents that are needed for the loan, such as lease agreements, to give the impression of a longer length of time.

Unfortunately, the news media has confused house flipping with the types of fraud mentioned above. Many escrow and title companies refuse to do double closings, and many lenders have something that is called seasoning requirements on the ownership by the seller. This generally means that if you have not owned the real estate investment for at least half a year most lenders will assume there is something funny. This means that these lenders will not loan to a buyer who is trying to buy your house under these circumstances.

Flipping houses is not illegal as long as there are no misleading or fraudulent statements made or signed. If you are investing in real estate, make sure that you read all the paperwork and contracts very closely. The contract is the statement of facts that you are providing to the lender. This contract should not contain any deceptions or false statements. This process only becomes illegal when fraud is committed, usually in the form of deceptive or misleading statements made in the lending contract. As long as you act honestly and ethically, there is nothing illegal about making money by doing honest business.

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