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Flipping Houses - Renovation Tips And Hints

by David E. Williams

An excellent opportunity that can be lucrative and lots of fun is the art of flipping houses. The way it works involves buying a home, remodeling it as quickly and economically as possible, and then selling it for more than you spent. The creative pleasure of changing a lemon into lemonade only adds to the satisfaction of making money.

The most important thing when flipping houses is to buy wisely. An ideal home to flip is one in a developing neighborhood with a few unsightly but inexpensive cosmetic refurbishments to be made. The house may have sat on the market for a long time, untouched because of its cosmetic flaws. Its price may have been drastically reduced by the time you come around to buy it.

House flippers buy a home and then perform updates and repairs for home resale as fast as they can. Speed is of the essence, since the flipper aims to pay as little in terms of mortgage or insurance as he can. Flipping houses usually means finding a dedicated staff that will work hard to get the house in resale shape as quickly as possible.

Another factor that is important to making a profit by flipping a house is making smart choices about what to renovate. Obviously, any major cosmetic problems must be fixed. Beyond this, the big money-makers are bathrooms and kitchens, both of which are important attractions to potential owners.

Remodeling a kitchen is an excellent way to improve your financial gain on a real estate resale. The addition of expensive looking counter tops, cabinetry and new appliances improves resale profits. By replacing and upgrading bathroom fixtures as well, you can get the most out of your investment.

House flippers should avoid, if at all possible, making any changes that involve removing or moving walls, since these renovations can be highly expensive and net only a small additional profit. However, a non-weight bearing wall can be removed inexpensively to combine two rooms or open up a space. Flippers may also wish to avoid doing extensive renovations to non-master bedrooms, hallways, and dens, as these spaces do not usually create increased profit.

When flipping houses, always keep your mind on the end goal of reselling the house. A few strategies you could employ include "staging" the house (renting attractive furniture and decor for showings), getting hot-selling items for a house like a backyard play set or a granite kitchen counter, and using "power" colors like deep reds and golds on walls that are proven to sell better than other colors.

Flipping houses is an exciting and lucrative field that combines designing, refurbishing, and of course making money. When flipping a house it is important to consider the area in which the home is purchased and its potential sale price after remodeling. In addition the physical state of the home and how much work will be required are important aspects to think about, as speed is essential in good flipping so as to maximize profit. When employing this approach to real estate investing it is very important to ensure that one has a dedicated team to assist them in all remodeling and repair work, and also to avoid expensive, unnecessary, and potentially difficult renovations that could blow your budget. If you would like a unique version of this article for your website please visit http://www.investing-secrets.com/recommends/article-flipping1

Published October 24th, 2007

Filed in Finance