Can you make money if listed on MLS

Billings, MT · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 0 votes

I hear all the time, mainly from people who aren't professional house flippers, that you can't make money flipping a house listed on MLS. All the good flipping homes come from foreclosures, short sales, etc. I've found a few houses listed on MLS.. when running the numbers look pretty good. Does anybody have good or bad experience with MLS?

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Percy N.

Developer · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 904 votes

Of-course. Depends on the market and the deal.

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Percy N.
Developer · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 904 votes
9y
Of-course. Depends on the market and the deal.
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Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
9y
Yes- you can make money if listed on the MLS - as a SELLER.
I put a dog that I haven't liked for 10 years on the MLS in Feb. Under contract for 98% of asking in 2 days for $15k more than I thought it was worth.
Depends on which side of the table you are sitting on @Ryan Rogers
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Christopher Patterson
Investor · Madison, WI · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 6 votes
9y
@Ryan Rogers, everything depends on your local market.
However, given how much of a nation-wide sellers-market we are experiencing I am inclined to agree with @Steve Vaughan and say to be very careful when *buying* a flip off the MLS. Almost everything in the Southern Wisconsin MLS is overpriced and still moving quickly.
At the end of the day, if you're numbers work and you're not afraid of the market taking a downturn while your in the middle of a rehab, then you may be able to find some flippable deals on your local MLS.
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Russell BrazilBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
9y
In DC most flips are going to be purchased off the MLS....go 30 minutes north to Baltimore and veru few flips will be purchased off the MLS.
What is suggest doing is looking at where the flippers in a particular area are acquiring their properties and follow the heard and copy them.
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Elizabeth Wilson
Real Estate Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2016 · 940 posts · 695 votes
9y
@Ryan Rogers - There are deals on both on market and off market properties, but typically once a property goes on the MLS, it has already been filtered through wholesalers and flippers and/or is already priced at market value so there is nothing to flip. We've never flipped an on market property.
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Joshua D.
Investor · Columbus, MT · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
@Ryan Rogers
You most certainly make money off the MLS. We have many times over in the billings area. But to be fair more recently our better deals have come from "off market".
Have you been invited to our loacal billings meetup? We meet there on the first Thursday of every month. Over to have you join us!
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Shawn Coverdell
Investor · Clatskanie, OR · Member since 2014 · 212 posts · 233 votes
9y
You most certainly can. If someone is selling there selling. Regardless of how you stumble onto it, if it's a deal it's a deal.
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Joshua Martin
Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 389 posts · 193 votes
9y
Ryan Rogers Short answer, yes. But less money for sure. The bigger investors I know are buying off market and selling on the MLS to people who demand less margin. 'Wholetailing.' From someone who watches the Milwaukee and Waukesha county hot sheet every day, there are deals, few and far between, and they're under contract in typically one day. It's tough out there. Honestly, probably better driving for dollars. Best of luck, JTM
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Joshua Martin
Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 389 posts · 193 votes
9y
Excuse me. I misunderstood that you were in my market place. I don't know jack about Billings ;)
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Ned CareyPro Member
Moderator
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
9y
@Ryan Rogers Consider the source of the comment. Many "Foreclosures" are bank owned properties and sold via the MLS. Many short sales are sold via the MLS. I bet the vast majority of homes flipped come off the MLS.
That said, some times it is easier to find deals on listed properties than others. As the market has gotten stronger, more people are flipping. New flippers don't know where to look other than the MLS. That means a lot of competition for listed properties.
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Josh C.Pro Member
Property Manager · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
7/10 flips that I did were bought right off the MLS. Same with rentals. Good rehabs and management is more important I think, not some unicorn deal. Good luck!
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David Faulkner
Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
Pretty slim pickings and skinny deals in my market off MLS. Those flippers I know that are succeeding buying off MLS have a few things in common:
1. They act fast ... as in anything remotely resembling a deal that is on the MLS will have multiple offers by noon on the day it was listed.
2. They are all cash buyers, and that cash is usually their own, not from HML so their carry costs are lower.
3. Some, but not all, have their own full time crews, so they can complete jobs faster and cheaper than others, making both their rehab and holding costs lower but they deal in large volumes.
4. Some, but not all, are more developers than flippers, adding bedrooms and bathrooms, to popping the top to add a story, all the way to scraping the whole house and building new from the ground up. They are good at spotting property that is not currently highest and best use for the lot they are on and converting them to highest and best.
In other words to summarize, they all have other methods of adding value beyond just finding a smokin' deal, which by and large you can't find in my market today off of MLS.
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Josh C.Pro Member
Property Manager · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
@David Faulkner
You make some good points. And most of the those boxes apply to me. Regardless, I'm on lots of wholesale list and still by most of my stuff off the MLS. Wholesaler do have some good deals, but most of the ones I see are worse than the MLS.
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Brian Pulaski
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
My market you can make money off the MLS. The strong money makers go under contract for way over asking price within a couple of days. You will also be viewing the house while other investors are there... nature of the beast.
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Keith Jourdan
Property Manager · Metro Detroit, MI · Member since 2008 · 305 posts · 362 votes
9y
Buying 80% of my flips off the MLS. Did 10 flips in 2016. Hoping to do 20 this year.
You have to monitor the MLS very closely and be prepared to go and check out the house the day it comes online. Offer as strong as you can ASAP all cash.
Do anything and everything you can to complete the rehab as quickly as possible. 30-45 days is doable.
It is very competitive here. If you are using conventional financing it will be tough to get a good deal on the MLS, unless you are extremely creative and add square footage/bathrooms etc.
The higher end you can go the better, less competition. The lower end markets( $50-100k) are where all the flippers are and the competition is tough. However I love the lower end sub100k deals, the most return on your money in this range.
Off market is where you will find your big home runs, but marketing is expensive and hit or miss.
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David O
Investor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2012 · 119 posts · 64 votes
9y
Yes. I've bought on MLS for a couple of my rentals.
@Keith Jourdan Nice, are you buying in Detroit proper or suburbs?
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Mark Gallagher
Flipper/Rehabber · Allentown, PA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 701 votes
9y
@Ryan Rogers
Without a doubt you can find properties on the MLS that can be flipped. However, once you gain more experience you will find more places to buy - auction, sheriff sale, etc. I would bet most everyone starts by sourcing properties in the MLS.
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Keith Jourdan
Property Manager · Metro Detroit, MI · Member since 2008 · 305 posts · 362 votes
9y
Originally posted by @David O:

Yes. I've bought on MLS for a couple of my rentals.
@Keith Jourdan Nice, are you buying in Detroit proper or suburbs?
Westside suburbs . Westland /wayne/garden city areas.
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Michael Henry
Real Estate Consultant · Brookfield, WI · Member since 2014 · 873 posts · 350 votes
9y
I think you can find some good deals on MLS; you just need to know how to search for them.
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Scott Schultz
Rental Property Investor · West Bend, WI · Member since 2015 · 931 posts · 598 votes
9y
as a flipper and broker in WI (marketing my 20th flip) the best deals rarely come from MLS in Hot and heating up markets, cuz every Tom Dick and Harry comes out of the woodwork with no idea where else to look, they say, "hey we should flip a house, like on TV" so the easy ones get driven up in price, and your margins driven down. that being said, I have flipped listed properties, (6 i think) and have made ok margins, but the ones that were fantastic were acquired through other means. I stay a member of the MLS just for data, access, and a few other perks. I dont even list my own anymore. It all depends on your market, but if that one property is not selling, and seems too cheap, ask the question why, maybe even ask the neighbors why, just be smart, and know your numbers.
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