About every thirty days or so, I get a call from someone from somewhere, asking me to find them property in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, which can be had for cheap, repaired for next to nothing and resold for big profits.
GREAT! Real estate has always been, still remains and will likely always be, the single best way to build wealth in America (doesn't matter if you are an individual with limited funds or a corp.
with Google bucks).
However, the realities of "turning properties" (this is how REALTORS say, 'flips') are often quite different than what makes for compelling reading or for an interesting Saturday morning diversion.
Truth is, most of what I read or see in the "media" either makes me laugh-out-loud or really chaps my hide (and after 35 years as a designer, don't even get me started on the "design" related articles and programs).
This doesn't mean stop reading the newspapers and quit watching the tube.
You can still gain some valuable insights there, just consider the source and don't regard entertainment as totally accurate.
Learning through experience is fundamental.
Experience indicates that speed trumps profit for any given property, that is; real estate priced 5% below market value sells faster (duh!).
The math is simple too; 95% of any amount, multiplied by 2 (or more) is better than 100% or even 115% of that same amount (market value).
The best way to learn fast is to do fast; and to do fast, you have to start fast; and to start fast, you have got to have: 1) Money; I know! I hear and read the same ads that you do, all the time "...
invest in real estate for little or no money"..
..
Do not kid yourself, it takes money! How much, depends on the scope of your projects and your comfort levels.
If you have $30-50K to spare and some intestinal fortitude, you can be ankle deep in drywall dust in a week or less.
If not, it will takel...
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r 2) Time; this is a full-time/multi-tasking enterprise, even if you never pick-up a hammer or a saw.
Also, you will not be making $100K or more on every, if any of your projects.
More than likely you will pocket less than $20K per property in the end (if you do everything right) and it could take 6 months or more, from purchase to sale for each.
You will be finding, buying, fixing and marketing multiple projects at once.
You will need to stagger your projects phases so that; one is in finding, one is in buying, one is in fixing and one is in marketing to optimize your available resources at any given point in time 3) Help; you can be one or perhaps two (if you are multi-functional and excel at both) of the following, but not all of them.
Property locater, REALTOR, mortgage broker, loan officer, inspector, appraiser, surveyor, designer, contractor, sub-contractor, supplier, property stager or investor.
You will have need of them all, at one time or another.
Find them, use them and treat them well...
and often.