How To Flip Real Estate Without Having To Renovate

With all the television shows about “flipping” properties, you may have a certain idea of what it means to flip a property. You’ve probably watched an eager real estate investor buy a home that needs some repairs, hurry up and make repairs and renovations, and then sell it for a huge profit.  Of course, the repairs and renovation usually never go as planned, so adjustments are made. However, usually, the show ends on a positive note with the investor making out alright.

Sometimes flips do end up like this, which is really great. But there are also other ways to flip real estate that many people don’t know about.  In fact, there are ways to flip properties where you don’t have to lift a finger to make repairs or renovations. And, you still get to make great returns on your investment.

The following are some potential flip avenues that allow you to diversify your real estate investment portfolio and make great money!

Short Sales

A short sale is when the lending bank will agree to sell a home for less than what the seller owes on it.  This type of scenario usually happens when a seller is behind on payments and is looking like they may be headed into foreclosure. A short sale would occur before the home would fall into foreclosure, with the bank ready and willing to allow a buyer to come in with an offer that is lower than the market value.

Short sales and foreclosures are both great avenues for investors to buy low and sell high, essentially “flipping” the home, perhaps without even having to make repairs or renovations. The fact that the banks want to off-load the home at a lower price and take a hit themselves makes this an attractive deal for investors. Just remember to always do your due diligence before making an offer.

I cover my specific strategy for this (Paying off Junior Liens) at my live training and in my online training modules.

Wholesale

If you’re a seasoned investor that keeps track of what the market is doing, and you’ve got a knack for negotiation and sales, then wholesaling real estate may be right up your alley. This entails you, as a real estate investing expert, doing the research to find great investment deals and then bringing these deals to potential investors.

Some investors are able to buy a home that needs some repairs (a fixer-upper) quite low and then resells it at a price to an eager investor, making money right off the top. They don’t have to do the repairs; they just have to know what an investor would be willing to pay for the investment and know the market pretty well. They’ve also got to be able to estimate and crunch numbers well. Wholesaling gives investors the opportunity to get to know other investors and work together in a win-win situation for both.

Subject-To Strategy

You can also purchase a home ‘subject-to’ the existing financing, having the deed signed over to you, and then sell the home with a lease-option for a price that guarantees you make a nice profit.  You may have to do some repairs, but you may not.  If you target homes in a particular neighborhood, your chance of repairs or renovation decrease.  This is my favorite way to “flip” real estate, as it allows me to offer my services to help distressed sellers out and provides me excellent returns on my investment.

Flipping homes can become an art and can be quite fulfilling and lucrative. If you’d like to learn more about the ‘subject-to’ strategy, be sure to check out my book, How To Invest In Real Estate Without Banks.