Kraynak Joseph - Flipping Houses For Dummies

Flipping Houses For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017934019

ISBN 978-1-119-36307-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-36311-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-36310-1 (ebk)

1. Table of Contents

Maybe you know somebody who buys and sells houses and makes as much money on a single transaction as you make in a year. Or perhaps you caught an episode of one of those house flipping TV shows that demonstrate just how easy it is to buy a house for $250,000, fix it up for another $75,000, and sell it for a half million bucks in a matter of days. Now, you want in on the action. You want your slice of that capitalistic cannoli.

But where do you start? You cant imagine where youd be able to get your mitts on the cash youd need to finance a flip. You have no idea where to start looking for undervalued properties, and even if you could find a suitable house to flip, your expertise in the field of home repairs is limited to plunging the toilet. Surely youre not qualified to invest in the complicated world of real estate.

Well, its time to stop all the negative self-talk and start reading Flipping Houses For Dummies. I started out with $900 that my grandmother gave me in the early 1970s. From the ripe old age of 19 to the present day, Ive flipped one house after another and earned millions of dollars along the way. It wasnt easy. Some of my flips flopped. I didnt profit from every transaction. I did, however, have a plan in place and the sticktoitism (pronounced stick-to-it-ism) to successfully execute it. By following through, I was able to succeed, and so can you. (By the way, sticktoitism describes the determination and dogged perseverance required to build wealth in real estate. I could use stick-to-itiveness, which actually appears in the dictionary, but I like my word better.)

Unlike other books, TV shows, and late-night-TV gurus, this book doesnt promise an easy, risk-free way to score quick cash by flipping houses. Instead, it takes an honest look at the practice of flipping houses.

In this book, I reveal what Ive learned in more than 40 years of flipping houses and working with buyers, sellers, and other real estate investors and professionals. I show you how to do everything from building a team and securing the cash you need to finance your venture to finding undervalued homes and negotiating the price and terms that improve your chances of selling at a profit. I guide you through making renovation decisions that promise to deliver the most bang for your buck, and I show you how to spruce up a home to draw in more potential buyers.

I dont want to see you get in over your head or blow your entire life savings on a failed real estate investment, so throughout this book I provide plenty of time- and money-saving tips, cautions to help you avoid catastrophe, and pointers to keep your projects within budget and on schedule. I steer you clear of risky, unethical, and illegal ventures and encourage you to wade out slowly and remain well within your comfort zone. After you successfully flip a few easy properties, you quickly become aware of when youre ready to take on bigger projects, and by that time, you no longer need my advice.

My goal is to help you decide whether house flipping is for you, and, if it is, I provide you with the knowledge and insight you need to succeed. Flipping houses can be one of the most rewarding and profitable ways to invest your time and money. This book shows you how to do it right, minimize risks, and maximize your potential profit.

Although I encourage you to read every single word of this book from start to finish, youre welcome to skip around to acquire your knowledge on a need-to-know basis and to completely skip the sidebars (in shaded boxes). Although the sidebars may be too fascinating to ignore, theyre not essential.

One brief note: Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just tap the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

If youre reading this book, I assume youre a homeowner. I wouldnt buy a car from a car salesman who didnt drive, and I wouldnt buy a house from someone who rents an apartment. When you own your own place, you pick up some street smarts about the value of a home, its emotional effect on people, its value as an investment, and the work required to properly maintain it. If youre not a homeowner, sell this book and put the proceeds toward a down payment on a house. Come back in a couple of years. Ill be waiting for you.