Just bought our first flip....gulp! Now what?

[Peter Hanaway]

Hi everyone, 

We are new here; have been reading and learning but still feel pretty fresh. In a moment of "now or never" we (well, our agent) got our first FC house at auction yesterday. Probably we jumped in too soon but we do realize this will be a steep learning curve and we expect we'll make plenty of mistakes, and we have to start the process sometime. We have a million questions! Here are a few (thank you so much to all who will read and/or respond--so very helpful.)

* It is believed to be owner-occupied (saw a light on at night) but no one came to the door and no car in driveway on 2 visits so far. We were planning on making contact in person, to find out her plans if possible before we start an eviction process. It's a human who just lost her house after all. Any advice for how to be both compassionate and businesslike?

* (Almost embarrassed to ask this--but going ahead anyway) Should we get it inspected? If that turns up something major, do we then have to take care of that? 

*What guidelines do folks use for figuring out what to fix and what to leave? 

I'm sure we'll be on here asking more very soon. In the meantime, thanks for reading!

[Becca Summers]

Once you talk to the person living in the home see if cash for keys would work. It's faster and when your flipping the timeline is very important.

Yes get an inspection to find out what fixes you need to do. Once you know about anything major you must fix it or disclose it to potential buyers. 

I would find out what the ARV is and what similar flips in the area are doing for finishes. This will give you a good idea of what you need to do for your budget.