Tips For Fix and Flips

[Christian Rodriguez]

Hey guys! I'm a 23 y/o investor in Tampa Florida and I'm looking for my first flip. I'm excited about getting started and I just wanted to know if there was anything you wish you would have known before you started flipping houses. Any general tips are also welcome.. 😁 Thanks!

[Gilbert Dominguez]

One of the biggest mistakes I have seen less experienced investors do when choosing their first one or two flips is thinking they can save a lot of money by doing a lot of the repair or upgrading working on their own compared with paying a licensed contractor to do the work and mainly because a person doing the work themselves are not as experienced at doing good quality work and frequently will take a lot, a lot, a lot longer to get the work done and if you are financing your deal they you will end up paying a lot more in finance interest and still maybe end up with marginal instead of good quality work and you are only delaying the date for flipping , reselling, or being able to get a property rented. This of course may not be in every case but if you not experience it will most probably turn out not really being in your own interest to attempt to do a lot of the work yourself or by using cheap unskilled labor. 

Many first time flipper really fail to understand that, " time is money". 

You also have to have experience in dealing with contractors and construction contracts and what are good quality finishes as well as local municipal requirements for quality. Dealing with lead paint is one particular thing I have seen first time flipper totally miss and see them taking short cuts that eventually come back to bite them. Foundation and underground plumbing is another area of concern. If you do not know the difference between a 20 year roof and a 50 year roof for God's sake leave that work to experienced contractors that can offer you a quality guarantee. HVAC is another one. When  I worked as a licensed electrical contractor on more than one occasion I was called out by a first time flipper who almost succeeded in burning their whole structure down, and only  by chance did not succeed in getting someone killed. 

Even the lowest priced house still needs to offer any future resident safety and this area can lead to various very undesirable legal liabilities for the owner/seller. There is a lot more to becoming a successful flipper that goes far beyond simply throwing on a new coat of paint and making a house look pretty. 

I have know of flippers having gone through many years building a real estate investment carrier and even make it all the way to retirement. One day while in retirement they were all out fishing but waiting for them at the shore were police with a warrant for their arrest for negligence, do not become on of these kinds of flippers. Know that flipping and offering houses to the public comes with responsibilities and many potential liabilities.