The television program, "Flip This House" was very popular for a while. Each episode usually followed a new investor or couple as they bought a fixer upper, renovated it and sold it - hopefully for a profit. That strategy worked well when prices of homes were still rising rapidly.
If you watched the program, though, you saw that the process can be very stressful. There are always unexpected challenges involved in real estate investing, and this is especially true with homes that need a lot of work. But buying, repairing and selling a fixer upper is just one of the ways people flip a house.
Flip Down Tv
Another strategy is the true "flip" in which you never own the home. The idea here is to make a low offer on a home that needs help and, once the offer is accepted, sell the contract. This involves writing the offer in such a way that you have the right to assign it to somebody else. You also have to be sure that the property has a lot of potential, so you can get paid say ,000 or more and still leave plenty of profit for the investor who will actually fix and sell the house.
The advantage of this strategy is that you risk almost no money of your own, unless you can't complete the transaction and you lose your earnest money or "good faith" deposit. Most investors who do this have found ways around even that potential risk. The downside is that like the former plan, this works best when home values are going up rapidly - something we may not see again for a while.
So how do you flip this house now, when times are tough? How do you do it even in the worst of areas, where houses are sitting empty and prices have plummeted? You use a different strategy altogether - one that is especially effective in the poorest neighborhoods.
You may not know this, but there are places where houses are selling for a few thousand dollars. Look around the country and you'll find these pockets of "real estate poverty." Try towns in Kansas or Oklahoma, for example. For the sake of this explanation, we'll look at Detroit, Michigan, where many homes sell for less than a thousand dollars.
You read that right, by the way. As I write this (2009) there are homes listed for as little as . In fact, I just checked and found a duplex for . There were dozens for a few hundred dollars or less. As you might guess, these are in terrible neighborhoods.
This new strategy starts with cheap houses where people still live and rent. The idea is to buy a home for say ,000 cash, and then sell it for ,000 to any renter in the area who has a job. You do nothing to the house at all, selling it strictly "as is." What you provide for the buyer is cheap financing with almost nothing down.
From the renter's perspective, this is an opportunity to buy for less than the cost of rent. Prospective buyers may be paying 0 per month for rent on the same block as your house, and you can sell to them for payments of 0 per month. Of course you will have some defaults, even with payments this low. But if you are risking only a few thousand on each home and quadrupling your investment (not counting interest) on those that work, you can afford to do a few foreclosures - and then immediately resell the house the same way.
According to my research, several investors are using this strategy. As long as you have the cash, and you can sell for a great profit and still finance the deal for the buyer with lower-than-rent payments, it is a workable strategy. Even a home that you buy for ,000 might be sold for ,000 and still be cheaper than rent for the new owner. A quick clean-up might help, but the fact that you can quickly sell the house as-is (and without risking too much) makes this a more attractive plan than the stressful "flip this house" strategy from the television program.
Special Price!!! XO Vision GX2148 9-Inch Wide Screen Overhead Monitor with Built-in DVD Player, USB and SD Card Inputs, and FM Transmitter
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XO Vision GX2148 9-Inch Wide Screen Overhead Monitor with Built-in DVD Player, USB and SD Card Inputs, and FM Transmitter Feature
- 9-inch widescreen monitor with selectable 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
- Play back DVDs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD-RWs, MP3s, CDs, and CD-Rs
- FM modulator allows you to watch movies and broadcast the audio through your car speakers
- Easily accessible USB and SD inputs
- One-year warranty
XO Vision GX2148 9-Inch Wide Screen Overhead Monitor with Built-in DVD Player, USB and SD Card Inputs, and FM Transmitter Overview
XO Vision GX2148 Car DVD Player - 9" LCD GX2148 Car Displays & Video PlayersXO Vision GX2148 9-Inch Wide Screen Overhead Monitor with Built-in DVD Player, USB and SD Card Inputs, and FM Transmitter Specifications
XO Vision's GX2148 is a complete mobile theater providing unrivaled backseat entertainment. This 9-Inch Wide Screen Monitor boasts a built-in DVD Player and FM Modulator, allowing you to watch movies and stream the audio through your car speakers. Enjoy your favorite DVDs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD-RWs, MP3s, CDs, CD-Rs and more. It also has a frame-by-frame slow motion feature, USB and SD Card Slots, Super White Dome Lights, Multi-Language On screen display, and Audio/Video Input and Output. Remote Control is included, as well as a 1 Year Warranty. Unrivaled backseat entertainment. Click to enlarge. |
 Easily accessible USB and SD inputs. |
 Integrated dome lights and night illumination buttons. |
9-Inch TFT-LCD Overhead Monitor With Built-in DVD Player
Enjoy all your favorite media in your vehicle: DVD, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW, and MP3 are all supported. Of course, video's the main attraction, and the GX2148's 9-inch screen features a selectable 16:9/4:3 aspect ratio and supports both NTSC and PAL formats. The DVD features frame-by-frame slow motion, multi-angle viewing, and other useful DVD features.
Clean Looks
With integrated dome lights and night illumination buttons, the GX2148 fits right into your vehicle's interior.
AV Input
Connect video game systems or other devices to enjoy on the GX2148's screen.
USB and SD Card Inputs
Enjoy easily accessible USB and SD inputs. Swap out USB thumb drives and SD cards loaded with your favorite MP3s.
Remote Control
Control the GX2148 with either the included remote, or directly from the panel.
FM Modulator
The Built-In FM Modulator allows you to dial in your existing radio, and listen to your movies or music through your car speakers.
One-Year Warranty
The GX2148 is covered for a year after purchase.
What's in the Box
XO Vision GX2148 9-Inch Wide Screen Overhead Monitor with Built-in DVD Player, Remote Control, User's Manual
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