According to Realtor.com, 59,000 homes were flipped in the United States from April to June. Flipping a house is defined as buying one with the intention of selling it at a profit, usually after repairs. One challenge is that the profit is at risk between the buying and the selling. However, that risk almost certainly has fallen some because of the huge real estate boom in America.
Home values have skyrocketed in some cities by percentages well into the double digits. One reason for that is exceptionally low interest rates. Another is that people have moved from expensive coastal cities like New York and San Francisco to inland cities with more reasonable real estate prices and what is often considered a better quality of life. These relocations have been made easier because millions of people can now work from home.
Realtor.com has issued a research paper titled “With Profits Flopping, These Are the Best (and Worst) Places for Home Flippers.”
However, the home-flipping business may not be as profitable as it seems at first, at least in some places. Charles Tassell, a real estate investor and chief operating officer of the National Real Estate Investors Association, commented, “There is opportunity, but you’ve really got to be smart in where you purchase and know that market. Finding the right spot is the hard part right now.”
Real estate prices have always been tied to location. Flipping is no exception.
Two things stand out in the report. One is that some very rapidly growing cities tend to produce the best profits for flipping. Another is that more and more flippers want “turnkey” houses that do not require large sums to repair. Homes that do not need any improvement tend not to bring the profit margins like those that do.
The most profitable city for flipping homes is Columbia, South Carolina. The median list price in September was $275,000. The median profit on flipped homes is $61,667, a remarkable 22% of the home price.
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