Hold my hand....

[George Moehlenhoff]

Hello everyone, first off thank you for all responses ahead of time. The purpose of this post is to define all steps that would need to be taken by a new investor before purchasing a house to flip...

Line up financing..

Select an agent.

Meet with an attorney who is familiar with investing to have contracts drawn up (Independent Contract Agreement etc)

Meet with a CPA to select best incorporation/tax stategy for the investing path you have chosen.

Become ultra familiar with Home Depot, Lowes, etc in terms of the products you intend to use...

Anything else? If I sound like a rookie it's because I am... Again, all responses appreciated!

[Brian Levredge]

Determine at what price range you are looking to flip (should be based off MLS numbers) and what areas homes are selling in. Once you've determined that, go to open houses for similar homes in the area you want to flip in. You will see things you like and dislike in the homes but the point is to get an idea of popular finishes and touches you want to use in your homes. You should be able to come up with a template of sorts that can be applied to all your properties with slight modifications based on the property itself. This will also allow you to control costs better because you'll know what the prices are generally going to be going into a project.

If you have no experience, it's best to find a GC or project manager with experience doing flips to work with, at least in the interim. Construction will either make or break you from both an aesthetic and budgetary standpoint, so it's important to get this right. Be conservative with your numbers and add an extra 10% to the contract for cost over runs (you should factor time delays as well).

Those are the two most important steps in my book that you left off your list. My list (forgive me if I miss something, it's 4am here) would look something like this, but not necessarily in this order:

-Line up financing/money partner
-Identify area to target for flipping
-Identify finishes/touches to use
-Set up entity
-Get Builder's Risk/GL policies in place
-Interview/hire GC
-Interview/hire Realtor
-Get prices from GC for different phases (this can be done on a per sq ft basis). This will help you in budgeting.
-Make offers.

This is a pretty basic list list that I'm sure others can add to. Hope it helps and good luck.