Flip That House
September 15th, 2006 | by mbhunter |Since we downsized our cable TV package we miss some of the good channels like The Learning Channel. While on travel I watched a few episodes of Flip That House, a show that follows real estate investors through their real estate flips.
Real life of course differs from TV, but the flips range from fantastically successful to outright losses. The professionals do very well because they know how to buy, they know how to manage contractors, they work well together as a team, they know what to fix and what to leave alone, and they know how to sell. The amateurs or first-time flippers pull out and replace things that are perfectly good, don’t plan nearly as much, argue amongst themselves, and underestimate what things will cost and when things will finish.
If anything, the flips that go south are instructive and should be a warning to would-be real estate investors that you have to know what you’re doing, especially in a falling market. A good show to check out if you have any inkling of getting into real estate investing.
9 Responses to “Flip That House”
By Chuck on Sep 15, 2006 | Reply
The one thing I hate about that show and Property Ladder is that 90% of the homes are in Cali during the housing boom, so even when the people make huge mistakes and don’t do a good job they still end up making $50k+ just from the appreciation of the property. I think I’ve seen maybe 2 episodes out of 75 or so where the people lost money.
By Matt on Sep 15, 2006 | Reply
Never knew a show like this existed. Thanks for the link.
By mbhunter on Sep 15, 2006 | Reply
Chuck, I agree. It probably was easier to make money in the flips when the shows were taped than it is now.
By BA Hannah on Sep 16, 2006 | Reply
Listing price doesn’t mean selling price! I hate watching a show that doesn’t show the real world. Add the selling price or I’ll have to stop watching! It’s really frustrating!
By prlinkbiz on Sep 17, 2006 | Reply
I have a good friend who loves all those flipping shows. She is a very successful real estate investor, who uses all market stratgies, but loves rehabbing. Learn how to do it, and you can make money in any market. Better to learn from other people’s mistakes! lol
By Tyroneman on Sep 23, 2006 | Reply
Another thing about the house flipping is the realtor fees to sell your house. Realtors are not gonna sell your house for free. They get a good percentage of the selling price. The shows never show how the realtor fees affect the profit.
By Aliani on Sep 25, 2006 | Reply
That’s usually because the realtor fee’s are typically an investment expense and is 100% deductible at the end of the year.
By Tyroneman on Oct 7, 2006 | Reply
You still have to pay the fees though. Any money that they put into the house is deductible. If they put $5,000 into drywall materials, they can deduct that. It’s still a big cost, and they do not include it in their tallys.
By Susie on Nov 12, 2006 | Reply
If you look on the multiple listings sites, you can sometimes find that some of these houses are still on the market long after they are on the show. I saw one last night, and the house still has not sold and it is listed on a mls site at a much lower price. This is has to be at least a year after the episode aired.