Need Advice on cash flow

[Martin Nowak]

I have a property I’m in interested purchasing for an investment property. The price is 68K.

It will likely require improvements of $20,000. My hope is pay for with a HELOC line of credit. The improvements I would put on a credit card - then my goal after I completed the improvements have it refinanced for the new market value. After the refinancing pay back my HELOC and the credit card. Does this seem like a smart idea or is there a smarter way?

[John Teachout]

Why use the credit card instead of the HELOC?

HELOC rates are low right now and probably will be for a few years. Determine your short, medium and long range plans regarding funding the property and have viable contingencies in mind. @Mike McCarthy provided good info. Nail down your repair costs.

A mistake a lot of flippers make is to try to get too high of a price out of a property. Holding costs eat their lunch and when they finally sell it for a lower price, the damage has already been done. So don't be overly optimistic. ie, hit a single, don't swing for the fence.

I'm assuming you're planning on holding the property. If you do that, it actually has less risk as the timeliness of getting in and getting out isn't so critical (don't over improve it).