Do you have to live in a large MSA to be a successful flipper?

I've been reading lately about some flippers that have been doing very well, but most of them seem to be concentrated in the DMV, Atlanta, or other large MSAs. I live in FL and the largest town within 45 minutes of me has a population of about 100k. I don't know of any investors that are actually "killing it" doing flips here, although some are building a great rental portfolio with properties that cashflow from day one.

Is it almost a requisite that one live in a large metro area in order to make $200K+ per year flipping houses? Is it possible to do it in a much smaller area like mine? I would love to hear from anyone who has actually done it.

Bill (FL)

Stacy Nettinga

Contractor · Mitchell, South Dakota

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Aug 26 '11, 01:06 PM

You echo my thoughts exactly. I live in a town of 15,000. I have been trying to build a rental portfolio for a couple years now, but the flipping business just doesn't seem to work here. Hard to find the deals. Everybody knows somebody. Right now we have one, ONE foreclosure property, and it really needs very little work. So I will keep looking, but as far as making a killing? Probably not. But I still wouldn't want to live anywhere else, so I guess I will take it as it comes.

J Scott

Real Estate Investor · Atlanta, Georgia

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Aug 26 '11, 04:38 PM

While it certainly may help, I don't believe it's necessary. If houses are selling your area, there's likely an opportunity to be successful buying and reselling them.

Personally, my farm area is about 100K people (I'm in Atlanta metro, but several miles outside Atlanta)...I actually prefer the smaller suburbs to the city.

J Scott, Lish Properties, LLC
Telephone: 770-906-6358
Website: http://www.123flip.com
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Rich Weese

Real Estate Investor · sioux falls, South Dakota

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Aug 26 '11, 05:59 PM

My info is a bit old, but I lived in Weslaco, tx 3 years ago, town of about 30K. I did about 40 flips in 18 months and did very well. Ft myers fl the last 2 years was MUCH harder. Did a couple, but not worth the time. Now in SO utah and it looks good again. Town of 50K plus. Utah suffered from the downturn later and will recover a little later- that is why I'm here. Rich
p.s. 100 miles from Vegas, so will do some there in another year or so.

Matt Kearney

Real Estate Investor · Springfield, Massachusetts

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Sep 02 '11, 12:16 PM

I prefer to invest in the large metropolitan areas.

I started out working in the smaller towns but business was really hit or miss. I moved my focus to one large city and it's suburbs and was able to maintain a consistent dealflow and do some volume.

To me it's all about the numbers.... the more people, the more houses there are, the more oppurtunity for distressed situations.

D.L. Berry

Real Estate Investor · Waynesboro, Virginia

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Sep 02 '11, 12:34 PM

William, I live in a town of 20,000. My entire county (900 sq. miles+) has approximately 100,000 population. I'm on tract for 20 flips and a handful of wholesales this year. All this, at a time when our local Realtors are bemoaning the state of the market. Typically, in areas of smaller populations you'll need all the tools in the toolbox, but it's out there...

Sean H.

Landlord · Pennsylvania

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Sep 02 '11, 02:41 PM

I feel like the opportunities are there in smaller towns as long as homes are selling, but in order to maintain a steady volume, there needs to be a larger population base. Or it could mean you have to work that much harder to find deals.

Rob Gillespie

Wholesaler · Valley City, Ohio

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Sep 02 '11, 02:55 PM

William,
I live in the middle of a 150 acres of corn and I have been making a great living from flipping houses for the last 15 years! My best deal was within 2 miles of my home and I made right around 100k on it without doing much of anything!

I am not trying to impress you, but impress upon you, that you can do this business anywhere!

If you click on my status link, there is a video showing where my office is, it is in another corn field, LOL!

Keep the faith man! You can make it!! :mrgreen:

Rob Gillespie, Rob The House Guy, LLC
E-Mail: rob@robthehouseguy.com
Telephone: 330-800-9043
Website: http://AskTheHouseGuy.com
Rob@RobTheHouseGuy.com 330 800 9043 AskTheHouseGuy.com RobTheHouseGuy.com