Making the most money at anything involves buying as cheaply as possible and selling for the biggest amount. When you can buy low and sell high, you will make money. With house flipping this is not just a matter of buying a house and hoping. By doing certain things, you can maximize your profit potential.

Start by looking for houses in relatively good shape and look terrible that are surrounded by nice homes. A yard in poor condition will work to your advantage. This will keep the price down and lookers to a minimum. You will be able to negotiate the price downward because you will have little competition for the house. If the house has been repossessed, it is better. Banks have to unload houses because they are not allowed to be in the real estate business.

If you do not have a pile of cash for the purchase, secure a good source of funds before you start to look for a house to buy. If you can do a cash deal, banks will do back bends to try to get your money for the house. This will assure you of a low purchase price. Without a source for the funds, try using the bank that is holding the property.

Put a condition on the purchase that the home pass a professional home inspection. Any new defects revealed in the inspection will lower the purchase price and may not create a great deal of extra expense on the fix up. This translates into greater profits when you flip the house.

If you want to become a house-flipper, become a carpenter first, or get to know one that you can rely on to guide you through the initial steps of checking out the integrity of the house you are hoping to flip. If not, just go get a few thousand from the bank every so often and burn it. It's the same thing and not nearly as painful or as much work.

Don't worry too much about a hole in a door or a wall. Pay attention to the roof lines, the foundation and/or basement walls and floor. Look for mold. This can be a deal breaker on resale if you can't fix it cheaply. Dirty is cheap to fix. Clutter can be quickly cleared. Watch for old fixtures and cabinets. A house won't sell quickly without replacing these items. It's ok to replace them. Just make sure that you get the cost into your budget before the purchase.

Any remodel job requires you to figure the approximate cost and double it. Old plumbing or wiring or wall board can bite your budget quickly both in money and in time. If you don't allow enough margin in your budget for a major overrun or two, you better

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