Seasonal flipping and the challenges

[Kyle Swarts]

Hi guys, so I'm completely green as they would say. I've read a couple books, perused the forums, and have listened to about the first 80 episodes of the BP podcast in the last two to three weeks.

My long term goal is buy and hold rentals. To gain a little capital I am interested in the Rehab and flip aspect of REI. Since I have no experience I'm trying really hard to get knowledgeable in the market, ARV, and writing up a good presentation to private investors or hard money lenders. Also working on finding a good agent/GC so when I hit the ground it's running. I know there will always be unforeseen issues when dealing with real estate, especially on your first few deals. I just want to minimize the risk as much as possible and I think a lot of that is in the due diligence.

I was on the forums two days ago and seen something I hadn't takin into account. Weather. I'm from the midwest and we can have some pretty bad winters and just all around unpredictable weather patterns. This makes me a little uneasy about being brand new to the game and attempting to get started around the time the seasons will be changing.

Should I just talk to real estate agents and contractors to see how the market fluctuates and potential problems with rehabs go?