House flipping for dummies
House flipping is basically where you buy a house, spend money and time fixing it up, and then try to sell it for a profit. House flipping became very profitable and popular from 2004-2007, when the real estate market was doing well. Lately house flipping has taken a fall from grace.
When the real estate market is “hot”, house flipping is pretty easy and very profitable if you know how to do it right. You can buy a house for 200 thousand dollars [but only put in 10-20 thousand dollars of your own money], spend 40 thousand dollars and 6-8 weeks fixing it up, and then sell it for 300 thousand dollars within a few months. That is a profit of 60 thousand dollars. House flipping is very stressful and it is not for everyone but when the real estate market is doing well it is an excellent opportunity for someone to make a nice, tidy profit.
2008 and 2009 were unkind for almost everyone involved in real estate, this includes those who try to flip houses. It appears that the real estate market has bottomed out so house flipping could make a major comeback in the upcoming years.
If you are considering flipping houses you should do as much research as possible. There are dozens of books about house flipping and there are also several different TV shows about house flipping.
The real estate market is still not doing too well so your best bet might be to buy a piece of property now, fix it up and hold on to it for a few years before selling it again. Waiting 2-3 years is not traditional when it comes to house flipping but that is likely your safest and best option.