A Flipper’s Retirement – An Oxymoronic Phrase
Over the years I’ve benefitted by flipping various kinds of real estate. In fact, the…
Over the years I’ve benefitted by flipping various kinds of real estate. In fact, the…
I get a lot of emails and phone calls from newbie wholesalers who are looking…
We completed a successful flip in a high end blue collar area and it went…
When I was active as a Realtor working primarily with investors in Philadelphia, most of…
Knowing what to pay for a home is critical in the rehabbing game. I’ve come up with my own method for determining my purchase price for a property. While I don’t think my method will work for everybody, maybe it will give you a good place to start or perhaps, some new ideas.
There are a lot of different variables that you’ll have to take into account on any specific deal; I’m interested to know from other rehabbers how their math looks.
Step 1: Know the value of the property. – That is the resale, after repairs value of the home. Make sure you view actual recent comparable sales. Once I feel confident I know what a property is worth I deduct 26% from that price. 20% is what I like to shoot for in a profit. With the market firming up here lately I’ve been cutting that margin to 16% on real good deals. On bigger deals or on deals that feel a little more risky I stay firm with the 20%. I wouldn’t go much lower than 16%.
Historically homes sell on average for something around 8% less than asking price. If you’re only pricing in a 10% profit then you might end up just doing a practice flip. A practice flip is a deal where you don’t make any money. Essentially you donate all of your time and effort for free to the end home buyer. The other 6% is the number I put in for closing costs when I sell the home. I’m a licensed Realtor so I list the home myself, which will save me a little. So in my case, 4% goes to Realtor fees and the other 2% is what I budget for other closing costs. You can choose to try to sell the home yourself and save the Realtor commission. If you are not a Realtor and you plan on hiring a Realtor then you probably will need to budget 6% for the Realtor fees plus another 2-3% for closing costs. I always anticipate having to pay some of my buyers closing costs.