Friday, August 2, 2013

House Flipping - Cost Saving House Flipping Tips - Real Estate and Property Flipping

Tip 1 - Find a good contractor. Sound easy enough, but finding a good contractor can make or break your budget when flipping house. Things that can go wrong if you hire a bad contractor for your property are they over charge you, bad workmanship, and time delay. People ask me what is the best way to find a good contractor to do work on your property and I say word of mouth. I found one of my contractors from a recommendation from a lady from work, and all I had to do was ask. Remember that a bad contractor will drain your time and profit from your house flip, so chose carefully. If you do get a bad contractor and they are not working out the only thing to do is FIRE them and fire them quickly.

Tip 2 - Line up all your contractors or subcontractors. The order that I recommend is first get an inspection of the property to make sure it is not a money pit. If there is foundation issue get it fixed first. If you have to fix your foundation later in the flip you will have to repair sheetrock, trim, tile and so on. Next, send in the electrician so the house does not burn down. Also, sometimes they have to remove sheetrock to run the lines and you don't want to do double work. Then get your contractor in there to do the cosmetics such as paint, trim work, hanging light fixtures, installing sinks and so on. Last thing you want to do if you have carpet is install carpet. The last thing you want to do when flipping a house with wood floors is install baseboards.

Tip 3 - Buy all your materials at the start of the project will save you a hundred trips to Home Depot. Buy your paint, trim, doors, sheetrock, light fixtures, sinks, cabinets, and everything else that you can think of. When I flip a house I give my contractor a 200.00 gift card to Home Depot to buy all the miscellaneous items that I did not think of. This saves me time and money by me not have to go to store every time my contractor needs something, and in the house flipping game time is money.

Tip 4 - Find a good Real Estate agent. You need a real estate agent that is great at negotiating. An agent that looks out for your best interest, and not just trying to make a commission. You need to interview agents and find the right agent for the job. That is willing to go to hundreds of houses when you are looking for those diamonds in the rough properties, and they are willing to do open houses when you're selling your properties. Also, see if you can get them to reduce their commission do to you are going to be the next Donald Trump of real estate and bring them a lot of business. One half or one full percent of a commission can save you thousands.

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