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How to flip a house

Flipping a house can be a very high risk investment if you don't know what you're doing. But then if you do know what you are doing it can be some of the easiest & fastest money you will ever make.

A lot depends on the market that you are in. If you are in a slow market area I would recommend buying something as cheap as possible so the carrying cost don't eat you alive if you don't sell right away. Or maybe even consider the property as a rental property until you sell. That way you are making some money in the meantime until a sale.

The first thing that you want to do is obviously buy a house. You should try to find something in an up & coming area, or if you are lucky you can get something in a good area for cheap. It is highly recommended to have a home inspection done before you buy so you know what you are getting into and there are no surprises. That way you don't get in over your head or overshoot your profit margin.

Once you own the house, a thorough walk through will reveal, in more detail, the work that needs completed. Concentrate on the kitchen and the bathrooms to get you best returns. Update the cabinets, change out the counter tops & upgrade the fixtures to make everything feel new and fresh.

You will need to decide if the budget allows for reconfiguring the kitchen for an open floor plan, or if you will leave the layout the same. Buyers in today's market are looking for open floor plans, but it is not cheap to reconfigure and knock down walls. But sometimes that will guarantee a quick sale.

You will have to decide if your going to go with granite counter tops or something cheaper. That depends on your market. Tile work on the counter tops is always nice and costs less than granite. You could always look at some inexpensive manufactured stone like Corian or others to get the stone look without the cost of granite. There are even some nice inexpensive things that you can do with laminate to give it that new look and feel.

The first thing to do is the demo work. This is the fun part. Tear out everything that you are not going to keep. Get a dumpster to keep on the property until you are done. This is at a minimal cost. If there is paneling on the walls, I recommend switching it out with drywall for an updated look.

You should pull out anything that looks dated to bring your house up to the current time, even if it does cost a little extra. That way when a perspective buyer walks through the don't feel like they went back in time. You want them to feel


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How to flip a house

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