Flipping A House: Real Estate Strategy

When working within the realm of real estate, flipping houses is one of the most lucrative projects one can undertake. The premise of this idea is buying a home in need of repair, renovating it, and selling it at its newly appraised value. In high school, I worked alongside my mother to renovate a home in our small town of Trinidad, Colorado. The invaluable lessons I learned throughout this business venture gave me insights into the inner workings of house flipping. What I gained from this experience will lead to better decision making if I choose to take on another project. With a $150,000 budget, the most important aspects to focus on in a renovation would include updating appliances, applying fresh paint, installing proper flooring, and revamping the exterior. Assuming that the home being foreclosed on costs $110,000, I would allocate $20,000 of my budget for renovation expenses. This leaves a $20,000 buffer to be used as an emergency fund.

First and foremost, it’s essential that the appliances are addressed. Appliances are the “age spots” of a house. As a result of planned obsolescence, products such as refrigerators and dishwashers are meant to be replaced every ten to fifteen years. This leads to the innovation of new ideas during product manufacturing. For example, when manufacturers released stainless steel refrigerators, the once-popular white models with the convenient ice distributer quickly became outdated. This illustrates a simple rule: investing in new appliances is one of the quickest ways to make a home feel as though the builders recently made the finishing touches and packed up their tools. They instantly modernize the house. This is the reason new appliances weigh so heavily in a buyer’s decision ...

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...ional. In addition, some of the money will be needed to hire a home inspector before the house is put on the market. The cost of this service varies but it can be paid for with the money from the emergency fund if the home inspector has to make multiple trips to iron out problem areas within the house.

Upon renovating the quaint little house on the hill with my mom, my own feelings toward the house changed dramatically. Before the project took off, I hesitated to step foot inside the building. The odor and dim lighting made it difficult to envision a successful result, but once we finished I was tempted to move in myself. This is the goal. Taking on this second project, I’d do my best to make the house one I’d love to live in while not allowing myself to implement my personal style preferences. The result is a home both move-in ready and open for visitors.