TEN MAXIMS FOR FIXING & FLIPPING PROPERTIES

1.         K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple & Speedy – Your profitability depends upon staying on task and getting the renovation done quickly. Don’t be Stupid!

2.         EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED – Add a fudge factor into your plan; 10% contingency in the budget and 20% more time to complete and sell the house.  When hit with a challenge, be decisive and solve it quickly. Believe; where there is a will, there’s a way.

3.         FORGET “CURB APPEAL” IT’S NOW “ONLINE ALLURE” – All parts of the house and the property need to be renovated so they look good to people searching the web.  People no longer select a house based upon a drive-by or from a sole picture of the front of the home on the MLS.  Demand that your Realtor use a professional company to do both wide-angle photos and virtual tours (many title companies are now paying for this).  If you’ve done your restoration right, they should be able to easily take 25 different pictures of the house, rooms and yard.

4.         THERE IS A REASON THEY ARE CALLED PROS – You might be able to do it almost as good as a professional, but they do it every day, Faster & Better (Your effort could better be focused elsewhere; Your profit could be diminished by the increased holding time while you screw around).

5.         YOU DON’T GET WHAT YOU EXPECT, YOU GET WHAT YOU INSPECT – At the start of each day check the last day’s work and set the expectations for the day.

6.         PLAN THE WORK & WORK THE PLAN – From the day your offer is accepted, begin planning.  The day you close, start the work. Hold to your budget and expect all to hold to their agreed schedules.

7.         QUALITY, SPEED & COST; PICK THE FIRST TWO – Better to have a quality job done on time than picking the lowest bid subcontractor.  A low price normally means that common sense components of the projects are left out of the bid and working other people’s projects are built in – Find Subs whose reputation is to finish on schedule and on original budget.

8.         CREATIVITY CAN MAKE UP FOR COST – The renovation should project a high quality but be moderate cost.  In the front end, bring in a designer (they are not that expensive) to help you establish more unique colors, layout and artistic choices that will make the home stand out.  For the same cost you can get renovation materials better than Home Depot generic.

9.         SATISFIERS SELL THE HOUSE; NO DISSATISFIES CLOSES THE DEAL – The design and unique qualities of the house will attract the Buyer but a good Buyer’s Inspector can kill the deal; If you cut corners on the house renovation, the Buyers are likely to discover it and they will either walk or demand the upgrades that should have been done from the beginning.

10.       THERE IS NO “I” IN TEAM WORK – Do you want the people working on the house’s renovation to be: Incomplete, Incompetent, Indefinite, Indifferent, Incompatible, and Imprecise?  Your success depends upon building a good team.  It will take time to build a group of subcontractors, associates and workers you know you can trust.  Once you do, think about bonuses for those who get the job done correctly, on-time and cooperate with others so they can do the same.  Rather than a penalty in their contract for failure to meet quality and timeline criteria, reward them for getting it right!