How To Flip Houses Getting Dirty

I loved playing in the dirt when I was a kid. My mom would swing open the door and I would rush out straight to the sandbox. Since I loved playing in the dirt so much, my favorite cartoon character had to be “Pig-pen” from peanuts.

I still love getting dirty today but I love getting dirty when flipping houses. Getting dirty while making money is much more fun.

How To Flip Houses Getting Dirty

Perhaps you’ve wanted to start flipping houses for a while now but many things have discouraged you. Perhaps you lost some money the first time you tried, or you don’t have enough money to fund your flip or you just do not know how to find a house to flip.

Right now you have to put all that behind you and learn from your mistakes. This is the time to get dirty and start flipping houses.

Research Houses To Flip

It takes a lot of research to find that first house you can flip. Unfortunately, this is the stage where

many people get stuck. They uncover a great house but never take any action.

Doing research helps you cover your bases but you have to also get out there. Googling on your computer all day will help you find a nice house to flip but you can find something better if you go out into the field.

Getting Out And Playing In The Dirt

Finding a house to flip includes much more than viewing a picture of the house on the internet; you have to poke your head into dusty attics and even navigate down to that scary basement that was once a crack den. In short, you have to physically visit the house just to ensure it’s a good deal. And that’s how you get out and play in the dirt.

Sometimes getting dirty means talking with a real estate agent face to face rather than talking to them over the phone or sending emails back and forth. I can tell you for sure that you will never know your market if you play it safe from behind your computer.

My Example

I once flipped a house located in a tough subsection of Massachusetts. Just to give you an idea of what the neighborhood looks like, there are police officers placed at every street corner to ensure peace prevails.

It happened that I found a piece of property on the World Wide Web and I decided to go out and physically view it. I knew what the neighborhood was like and so if I hadn’t gone to physically inspected the property, I would have passed on the deal. Besides, who would want to invest in a house located in a neighborhood patrolled by police officers 24/7 because of the high crime rate?

Since I knew the neighborhood very well, I knew some streets were better than others. For instance, there were homes which had an ocean view but that information was never included in the online listing. The values of the homes in this particular area were higher than those in the other areas. Again, I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t visited the area.

Search The Streets and The Neighborhood

So I bought the house, rehabbed it and sold it for a profit. I would have never found that house if I hadn’t driven all the way there. I would have missed out on a great deal.

There are many other benefits to visiting the geographical area where the property you plan to buy is located. For instance, in my case, I could have decided to approach home owners and given them an offer or I could have identified other houses on the same street that were for sale. The possibilities were endless. If you don't get dirty, you will lose out.

If you’ve made it this far, please leave a comment below. Share what you think about “getting dirty” and anything else you have on real estate investing and flipping houses.