Many of the people I work with are looking for great investment properties. The have heard of fixing and flipping and think, after watching a half hour show where a crew of no charge workers fix up an entire house for less than 2,000.00), that I should be able to find them a STEAL of a deal. You know...like the ones they feature on the seminars about tax sales and government auctions at two in the morning. Something, let's say, about 60k below market that they can low ball.

I always encourage my fix and flip people to look at several, if not all, good flip candidate properties and then when it comes to the offering stage...I sit down with them and show them what the bank foreclosed at. I show them how much commission is being paid on the buy and sell side and the estimated closing costs.

By the end of a usual session, they are seeing that the bank may ALREADY be listing at about a 20-30k loss and that perhaps they shouldn't low ball 60k in this market. (Especially since most homes sell at somewhere between 95-97% of the list price in our market). However, ultimately, I will offer whatever my client asks. Sometimes it just takes a couple of ignored offers for them to decide that they'd like to move into line with reality.

I can show great recent examples of cases where clients have made as much as 50k on a flip...AFTER COSTS. This helps people to see that you don't have to get a house for "pennies on the dollar" to make it a good investment. You can purchase an investment property, (financed or for cash), that is a good investment FOR YOU, if you set reasonable goals and take small steps to attain them.

So...happy house hunting from Lania and everyone here at Rocky Mountain Realty Company. KEEP ON FLIPPING!