I've heard stories about people buying and holding for a year, and then selling as towns close in on it for a profit.

Flipping has basically two different meanings....You could get a house at an auction, own the house, fix up the property and then sell for a profit....orFind a house that is well below market value, get it under contract, and sell the contract to another investor for a small profit...2-5k.You are referring to the first approach...it's much easier to say rehabbing becuase everyone wil know exactly what you mean.

Splitting $200 or so net profit per month between 5 people doesn't sound great to me.

Just because you can rent for $1200 per month and your mortgage is $1000 - doesn't me you have $200 profit per month.

Does anyone know if the 25% profit is reported as in a 1099 form?

Sheppie - if you have answers and a plan for everything that can possible go wrong in your project and you can handle those obstacles -then I say move forward.However, I will suggest that you start off small in your investment size.Example: Purchase a home that you can afford to make the monthly payments in the event the home does not sell as quickly as you would like it to.Also, don't try to get rich over night...ifyour profit is about $20 -30K...consider yourself a success story instead of trying to make $70-100K your first time around.

Even with record room rates, owning your piece of the condo-hotel business in the United States might not be so profitable, experts are saying.

She works as a property manager for a large apartment complex and is often called upon by investors to go check out potential purchases and determine profitability.

I have read 6 preforeclosure real estate books, but some of the most important macro questions don't seem to be addressed in them.Investors are ultimately looking for a deal that has equity and you can flip with at least a 20%+ profit margin (unless you are doing a short sale).Question #1: If that's the situation, why wouldn't the home owner just sell their house and do the same thing?

I was just wondering if wholesaling is profitable?