I’ve been talking with a few investors lately who mentioned they’re shifting focus from large rehabs to smaller, quicker flips — especially in markets where holding costs and labor are getting tougher to manage.It seems like more people are choosing cosmetic updates or smaller square footage homes to keep margins healthy and timelines short.Curious if anyone else is noticing this trend in their market:Are you adjusting your project sizes this year?

East Tennessee home sales in August saw a healthy 2.1% increase over July, and a 7.4% increase over August 2024.The median sale price was $376,200 — up 3% from the previous year.Total housing inventory has increased 31.4% from the previous year.Half of the homes sold were under contract in 28 days or less, up from 20 days a year ago.39% of homes sold for the asking price or above, with 18.3% selling for more than the asking price. 7.9% sold for at least $10,000 over asking and 2.7% sold for at least $25,000 over asking price.5.5% of all homes sold in August sold for more than $1 million, a new high mark for the year.The sale-to-list price ratio lowered slightly to 98.6%, still up from 97.6% a year ago.New construction was 11.9% of total home sales.August sales saw a boost over July, outperforming the prior year and bringing the year-to-date total up by nearly 4%.

If you need some resources on that market I can send you some great ones.Your budget is healthy for single family homes in Detroit in solid areas.

However, this also means that your loan amortization is pretty healthy right now as well. 

But the trade-off is that you’re pulling out tax-free cash that you can use to buy another property, that’s how you scale.The key is making sure your rents still cover the new mortgage, taxes, and insurance with a healthy cushion.

Consistent growth of 2%-4%+ is healthy. 

The Midwest has been great for investors making that jump thanks to affordable entry points, strong cash flow, and steady appreciation — it’s a great place to start scaling while keeping returns healthy.

Before jumping right into saving for that next investment, I'd strongly consider building a separate and very healthy "uh-oh" fund just for this duplex.

But more accurately, it is normalizing from an extreme low base during the zero-interest-rate policy era, 2020-2021.And consumer retail sales are still quite healthy, up YoY.And just today, the (often conservative/pessimistic) Atlanta Federal Reserve forecast a 4% GDP growth for Q3 of this year.

(Usually) :-)I understand the reference and don't believe in free food that is not basic and healthy but I also know my kids didn't eat anything I didn't give them to put in their mouths until they had their own money.