How to Find your 1st House to Flip in 2013
Maybe you have been wanting to how to find houses to flip for quite a while now. Perhaps you have tried in the past but lost money or just barely broke even. Maybe you have no clue how to find good houses to flip. Whatever your situation, the New Year brings new opportunity and refreshed sense of potential that 2013 could be your breakthrough year.
At least that is how I look at it!
If you are looking to find your first house to flip in 2013, then I think it is important to get back to the basics. There is a strategy that works when learning how to find houses to flip. Have no worries if you have never flipped a house before-we all have to start somewhere.
In this post I am going to share how to find good houses to flip early in this New Year. Lets make 2013 a year to remember!
Research Houses to Flip Before Stepping Foot in a House
In-depth and exhaustive research is pretty critical when it comes to finding that first house to flip of 2013. You do not want to get hung up forever on the research step, but you do want to make sure you cover all your bases and know what you are getting yourself into.
Detailed research on a geographic area is an absolute must. I am not talking about Googling your town and just spending a bunch of time on the internet. Internet research is a good place to start to find a good house to flip, but you really have to get out there and physically visit your targeted geographic area-or else you could get yourself into some trouble.
For example I flipped a house this past summer that was located in a notoriously "tough" section of a Massachusetts neighborhood. This area of town has many run-down homes and to be completely honest, is not a very economically strong area. There are actually police officers positioned on street corners at all hours of the day in some spots.
So based on internet research and hear-say one might be inclined to write off this area as just a bad place to try to invest in real estate. I mean, who is going to want to buy a house in a neighborhood that is patrolled on foot 24/7 by police officers?
Well I went and visited this particular neighborhood and sure enough I found the police officers, but I also found one street with beautiful water views. I kid you not, the difference of just one street in this neighborhood was immense. Because of the water views and proximity to a small beach, the home values on this one particular street were astoundingly higher than the surrounding real estate.
Finding this one street was like finding a diamond in the rough. I ended locating a good house to flip on this street, rehabbing it and selling it for a nice profit.
I guarantee that I never would have spotted the opportunity had I not physically drove out and visited my targeted geographic location.
Lesson Learned for 2013 - Start with internet research, and then go out and physically comb through your targeted geographic area.
Find a Good House to Flip by Looking in the Right Locations
Your first flip of 2013 could be purchased from a real estate agent, wholesaler, at auction, from a short sale specialist, bank foreclosure, another investor or directly from a homeowner. The list just goes on and on.
Here are a few of my top strategies for finding good houses to flip:
Attend Real Estate Investment Association meetings (REIA)
These meetings are a must in my opinion. I have met many people at REIA meetings throughout the years that have directly led to profitable house flip deals. The next person you meet at one of these meetings could turn into a house flip partner, a source of lucrative house flip deals or even a life-long friend. Wondering how to find investors to flip houses with? Check out a REIA meeting.
You just never know unless you go.
My recommendation to you would be to make consistently attending these meetings a #1 priority for 2013. Results will only be achieved through consistent attendance.
Establish a Relationship with a Wholesaler
Wholesalers can be a very good source of profitable house flip deals. A wholesaler purchases a home and then sells it to house flippers and other real estate investors. Not every deal that a wholesaler approaches me with is a good deal, so you must still run your own numbers on the property. Nevertheless establishing a relationship with a trustworthy wholesaler can really help when it comes to locating good houses to flip.
Read the Newspaper
Holy cow, did I just recommend reading the newspaper? Yes, I certainly did!
Believe it or not there are still people advertising to sell their houses in newspapers. Incredible I know!
Establish a Relationship with an Attorney
To be a successful real estate investor and consistently find good houses to flip you must have a good network. Now nobody starts off with a great network so don't be discouraged if you do not yet have an extensive network of your own. Remember, 2013 is about starting and everyone must start somewhere.
Same goes for developing a relationship with an attorney or multiple attorneys. You are going to have to get out there and attend the same networking events that attorneys are attending-if you want to meet one. I would highly recommend doing so because attorneys can play a pivotal role in finding good opportunities.
Bankruptcy and probate attorneys in particular can be good people to develop a relationship with. Unfortunately in life people often deal with difficult circumstances, such as liquidating assets after a family member passes on. In these situations you will often find a motivated seller who wants to sell a property very quickly.
Network First - House Flip Second
Basically, how to find houses to flip boils down to networking. You really need to just get out there during 2013 and meet the people who are going to help you advance your business.
Network, network, network and just treat people right in general. It's amazing how following this simple philosophy will, over time, create a reliable stream of good house flip deals.
I wish you the best this New Year! Go get 'em, and be sure to keep us posted here at HFS with how things are going!
See you at the top,
Mike
