Robert asked:


A lot of people these days are preaching about the buying and holding method of gaining wealth with real estate. There indeed may come a time in your life or business when you'll want to hang onto a piece of property, although you'll only be interested in keeping certain types of property. If you're just starting out, flipping a house may be an ideal way to get started.

Basically, there are three ways that you can flip a house, although each one has it's own terms, motivation, and type of property. The first method is known as retailing. What this means, is that you buy a house in bad shape, do the repairs to fix it up, then turn around and sell it. There are a variety of houses in need of repairs out there, and several ways that you can quickly flip a house to net profit. All you need to know are the techniques that will get you the most money in the least amount of time.

The second way you can flip a house is though wholesaling. Wholesaling involves finding a home for sale then flipping it to an investor for a fast, yet small profit. To do this, you'll need to know the real estate investors in your area, the types of homes that flip the best, and how to fund your property so you can flip it to them. If you live in a big area or a city, you'll find that using the wholesaling method of flipping houses is actually easier to accomplish.

The third way to flip a house is by assigning the purchase. Using this method, you'll commit to buy the house. Instead of closing the deal yourself, you'll assign it to a real estate investor - of course for a small fee. The investor will take the contract over and close the purchase themselves - flipping the house. This can be very profitable, especially if you invest in the right home. You don't need to have your contract worded any special way to be legal, although you will need to determine the assignment fee.

If you're looking to break into the real estate market and make big bucks, you'll need to learn all about flipping houses. Flipping houses is very profitable, especially once you have learned the basics. The first and third methods are the best, although they will both take quite a bit of work on your part. Restoring homes isn't easy, and you'll need to have a team qualified to handle any repairs. Assigning the purchase may be difficult when you first start out, although it will get easier with time. If you stay at it and do your best to make a profit - you'll be an expert at flipping homes in no time at all.



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Gerald Mason asked:


If you are interested in investing in foreclosures you can make a lot of money.

This is one sector of the real estate industry that can be quite profitable if you know what you are doing.

But before you can start to invest in foreclosures you need to know where to find them.

Even though this may sound easy, in some cases you may run into problems. After all, finding foreclosures is not quite as easy as finding homes that are for sale by a real estate agent.

But with that being said there are many places that you can search in order to find foreclosures in your area.

The most common place to check for foreclosures is in the newspaper. Even though you will not find a large selection of foreclosures in the newspaper, you can find a few good properties every so often.

If you are going to search for foreclosures be sure to combine it with another method as well. This way you will be ensured of finding what you want.

Another common way to find foreclosures is to sign up for an online service. For a small fee an online service will allow you to search their database of foreclosures 24 hours a day.

The great thing about foreclosure databases like these is that you can find properties from one side of the country to the next. Just make sure that if you are searching for foreclosures through a service that you are getting what you expect.

There are services out there that do not update their listings regularly. If you are a member you are getting nothing more than old properties that have probably already been sold.

Finally, if you want the best foreclosure listings you should go to your county recorder's office. Here, you will find information on foreclosures that is updated everyday.

If you are serious about foreclosure investing you will want to make it a habit to head to the county recorder's office on a regular basis. This way you will find out about foreclosures before the rest of the world. And of course by doing this you give yourself the best chance to make money.

Finding foreclosures is not difficult to do. If you keep an open mind and search all of the options you should not run into any problems. Remember, the more foreclosures that you find, the better chance you have of getting one that best suits your needs. And buying the foreclosures that are best for you is one sure fire way to make more money.



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Beth Campbell asked:


Today, there are many money making trends that exist. Some are worth it while others are complete scams. One long standing trend that has been around is that of flipping houses for real estate profits. Not only does it really work, it can bring in killer cash!

When you find a property that you want to flip, it is important to do the research. Make sure you buy property that mainly needs cosmetic repairs. Avoid costly structural repairs. In making repairs and improvements, you will want to look at ways you can get the job done as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Doing this will save you a lot of money in the end, allowing you to make a higher profit for yourself.

After you have found the property and have done the research, now it is time to buy it. Make sure you buy homes at a much cheaper price than you will be selling it. One way this can be done is by purchasing HUD homes at cheap rates, and then fixing them up to be sold at higher prices. You will have to own the home for at least six months before you can sell it. Many lenders will not want to deal with you if you have had the home for any lesser amount of time. Some investors and lenders will even require that you own the home for nine months.

Now that things are set in place, it is time to start planning the sale of the house. Here are some tips as to how this can be done effectively allowing you to maximize your potential for profits:

1. Usually, the longer you wait, the more you can sell the house for but you also have to consider how soon you need to recover your investment.

2. Get the house appraised after you have made all of the necessary repairs so you know how much to ask for it.

3. If you do not have to get your investment back immediately and can afford to wait, wait until the market comes to a peak. The market tends to rise and fall, and obviously, you want to sell when the prices of homes are higher.

4. If you can sell the house yourself, you can cut out the realtor fee but if you cannot sell yourself and use a realtor, be sure you deal with someone with experience and a high sales record. Try to keep the sales commission at no more than six percent.

It is also important to know who you will be targeting and how you will need to target them. People you can target are lawyers, mortgage brokers, CPAs, notary publics, and title representatives. You can get a list of such individuals from a mailing broker and mail them postcards and news letters letting them know you are in the business of buying up foreclosed properties as well as properties that are sold in the process of a divorce. You can also tell them that you purchase probate and distressed properties. As they see your cards, they can pass them along to their clients so they can get in touch with you. You may be able to get some good prices on properties to fix up and flip this way.



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Angela Scott asked:


As you may hear more and more about investing in real estate the buying and holding method of gaining wealth with real estate is ideal. If you are just starting out, flipping a house may be an ideal way to get started as you will increase your opportunity for more capital to invest in real estate through the buy and hold method.

There are three ways that you can flip a house. Each one has its own advantages, disadvantages, motivation, and type of property. The first method is known as "Retailing." This is when you buy a house in bad shape, do the repairs to fix it up, then turn around and sell it. There tons of houses in need of repairs, and several ways that you can quickly flip a house to net profit. All you need to know are the techniques that will get you the most money in the least amount of time.

The second way you can make money by flipping a house is though "Wholesaling." Wholesaling involves finding a house for sale then flipping it to a real estate investor for a fast profit. In order to do this effectively, you need to network with and know the real estate investors in your area and the types of properties the real estate investors want to buy. If you live in a big area or a city, you will find that using the wholesaling method of flipping houses is actually easier to accomplish.

The third way to flip a house is by "Assigning the purchase." Using this method, you will sign a contract to purchase the house with "and/or assigns" after your name. Instead of closing the deal yourself, you will assign it to a real estate investor - for a small fee. The investor will take the contract over and close the purchase themselves. This can be very profitable, especially if you invest in the right home.

If you are looking to invest in real estate and create wealth, you will need to learn about flipping houses. Flipping houses is very profitable, especially once you have learned the basics. Finding homes that are in pre-foreclosure is a great lead source to find homes with sellers that want out.

Flipping houses can be profitable, especially as you learn which properties are best to flip and which properties are best to hold and gain long term wealth.



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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.

Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)

Flipping houses, where you buy, remodel and then sell property all within a very few months is growing in popularity across the country. And to be sure, there are great profits to be made in this kind of real estate investment. But you also need to know what you're doing as well, and here are the top five tips on how to flip houses the smart way.

1. First of all, be sure that you understand that flipping homes requires lots of hard work and effort in order to be successful. It's also not risk free, and this is especially so since it is a more short term real estate investment strategy. Small fluctuations in the real estate market can easily go against you and wipe out most if not all of your profits very quickly and easily. This is not said to discourage you, but simply to help you be prepared for the realities of the real estate marketplace.

2. Understand as well that when you adopt a short term strategy for making real estate profits that only involve a few months worth of ownership at a time, you will be taxed on the profits as if it were regular income. Many first time flippers don't realize this and are surprised when they lose a good portion of their profits in the form of income tax. So be sure that you plan ahead and factor in this expense before you get started.

3. When flipping homes for quick profits, don't try to over-renovate the house. Try to find houses instead that need some cosmetic work that can be done relatively inexpensively and easily and then stick to your game plan as you go. Don't try to build some kind of dream house instead, as you will simply lose time and money by going that route.

4. One of the great keys to successful real estate investment is to check your emotions at the door. Buying and selling real estate investment properties should not involve emotion at all in order to be successful. Let the numbers speak for themselves, and if the profit margin on a particular property is not within your tolerances, move on and find something else.

5. Learning how to build a dream team of support personnel including subcontractors and real estate agents, will be a large factor in your overall success. Of course, the more work you do yourself, the more profit you will usually make. However, on many occasions enlisting outside help from contractors, plumbers, electricians, and so forth can help keep you on track and get the job done in the allotted time. So do your best to find good, reliable people in the construction and real estate industry as you go, as a support team.

If you do your research on home market values diligently enough in advance to identify houses that can be bought well below market value and then renovated inexpensively, you can usually make a significant profit on most of your investment properties. Some of the most important keys to your success will be buying the house at the right price, having a clear plan and timeline for the remodeling work, and then pricing the house correctly in order to get a quick sale.