Overseas Investors Flipping in the US – How Do You Stay Competitive?

[Avishay Stav]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are overseas investors flipping properties in the US (Jacksonville market). We’re highly committed, structured, and already completed a successful deal together — so we’re not new or theoretical.

That said, we’re running into very real disadvantages compared to local investors, and I’d love to hear from others who’ve dealt with this and found ways to level up.

Here’s our current reality:

• We’re not physically in the US, so we can’t personally oversee renovations or react instantly on-site
• We don’t qualify for conventional financing and rely on hard money lenders (around $13K all-in per deal, including interest + origination)
• We’re not present in REIA meetups or local investor communities, where wholesalers, contractors, and key operators naturally connect
• Because we’re remote, we can’t confidently “self-manage” or optimize rehab costs the way a local investor can

Because of this, we feel we need larger spreads to justify a flip. For us, a deal only really makes sense at $30K+ net profit, which typically means a $140K+ gap between purchase price and ARV.

These deals do exist in our market — we see them close — but the difference between seeing them and securing them is often that extra $10K–$15K advantage a local investor has:

• Cheaper money
• Faster decisions
• Lower rehab risk
• Stronger local relationships

On the plus side:

• We’re extremely disciplined
• We use automations, daily deal flow, and data-driven underwriting
• We work this business every single day

But objectively, we’re less competitive than someone living in Jacksonville who breathes the market daily.

My questions to the community:

1. For overseas flippers — what systems or strategies helped you close the competitiveness gap?
2. Is our required spread (≈$140K between buy and ARV for a $30K flip) reasonable given hard money + remote execution?
3. Are there specific ways you’ve built strong local networks without being physically present (virtual REIAs, local partners, boots-on-the-ground roles, etc.)?
4. At what point did you decide to pivot (e.g. JV with locals, focus on wholetailing, rentals, or fewer but bigger deals)?

Appreciate any real-world insights — especially from investors who’ve actually flipped remotely.

Thanks in advance.

[Stuart Udis]

I don't see how you can rely on a 140K spread between purchase price and ARV to back into a target 30K profit when property condition and renovation scope are almost guaranteed to fluctuate.

Trying to flip a house in a distant market while relying entirely on third party vendors in hopes of making 30K seems extremely risky to me. There are too many variables outside your control. The two business models I generally hate ae remote investing are low margin flips and lower cost rentals. In both cases the risk rarely justifies the upside. 

My advice is to focus on higher margin opportunities and more importantly ones that can better absorb the realities of operating entirely through third party vendors. Not sure what your financial means are and whether that's possible on your own or whether you need to be an equity partner and participate in larger transactions.