Advice for New Flipper

[Tim Porsche]

Hi All,

I have been thinking about getting into the house flipping business, but admit I am a complete newbie and really know precious little at this time. I've ordered the book from BiggerPockets on house flipping from Amazon, and plan to read over it and learn as much as I can before deciding if this is something I want to pursue or not. Anyway, I have a few questions for those of you who have done house flips in the past, and would super appreciate any responses\information you could give to help me out.

1. For my first house flip I would probably start small, try to get something under $100,000. My question is, would I need (or is it advisable) to have money of my own to put down on the house, or could everything be done through loans? If I have to put down 3-4% that would not be an issue, I'm just trying to get an idea of how much cash money is required to do a flip like this.

2. If you do your homework, research, and preparation properly, in general, what percentage of the time do you a. Make enough money to make it worth your time and effort, b. Make enough money to roughly break even, c. Lose money, either a lot or a little? I know there are always risks involved, and I'm okay with that, I just want to make sure that they are smart risks. I also do own a rental property already, so if I would have a flip that goes bust, you could always rent it out and recoup most of your money over the long term right?

3. Is doing a flip something that can be done part-time on the side, if you already have a full-time job? Or is it something you need to dedicate yourself to full-time?

4. I know this must vary widely, but on average, how much time per week would you need to do a house flip? Assuming you have contractors do most of the work.

5. Admittedly, I'm not the handiest man in the world... When house flipping, do you do a significant part of the rehab work, or do you mostly pay contractors to do the work? I could do general labor things like painting for example, but when it comes to electrical, plumbing, etc...not so much.

6. Are there any particular bits of advice that you would give to someone new to house flipping, or thinking about getting into it? Anything that you wish someone would have told you before you started house flipping?

Any advice is hugely appreciated, thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and for your responses.

-Tim