Where to find a house to flip

[Louis Schmidt]

Hi there,

I am getting into the real estate investing game, specifically house flipping. i am finding that my biggest problem is actually finding a house to flip. Any house that hits the MLS seems to be a horrible deal. people are trying to push the market with houses that are out of style by 25 years. Even if you can negotiate these sellers down it is not to a point where you could still be profitable on a flip. Does anyone have any insight on getting started in flipping and how to go about finding homes to flip? Any help and insight would be appreciated. Thank you.

Lou

[Account Closed]

Hi,

I have flipped many houses. NONE of them were from the MLS. IMO that is not a great place to find deals priced where you can flip them. Here are some strategies that have been around fora long time, but are still effective.

I have had luck just driving neighborhoods.  I suggest lower income neighborhoods.  A high end neighborhood will not typically have distressed properties.

It will become very obvious which ones are distressed compared to others in the neighborhood.  Examples would be:

• Most houses have lawns taken care of and one has a lot of weeds /higher grass
• Newspapers piled up in driveway
• It is boarded up - hard to find in some areas

Start building a network of bird dogs:

Have cards with your contact info as well as that you buy distressed houses and pay for referrals where you complete the transaction.

• Mail man/lady
• UPS / Fedex drivers
• people you see in neighborhood

You are looking for a distressed property with a distressed owner...especially an out ofthe area owner.

There are many services where you an look up owner of record info.

Joseph is right on with suggesting going to local real estate groups.  Check Meetup.com.  You will always have buyers and sellers at those meetings

I hope this helps...good luck with your search!