You see a lot of articles and books about how to make money “real estate flipping.” Perhaps you’re heard radio or television news reports about the illegalities of flipping real estate. Maybe you’ve seen the late-night infomercials promising you easy overnight fortunes.

What’s the truth about making money flipping real estate?

First, real estate flipping isn’t illegal. Because some dishonest real estate investors conspired with deceitful mortgage brokers and property appraisers, their stories made “good news” for newscasters who love to grab attention with “Investors Scam Banks and Bilk Buyers out of Millions!” sound bites. True, some investors defraud mortgage lenders and/or desperate home buyers. Cheating investors hyped up property values, helped home buyers tell untruths on mortgage applications, and conned banks and buyers.

On the other hand, ethical real estate investors make a lot of money real estate flipping. There are many ways to make money flipping real estate:

1. You can help home sellers in foreclosure save their credit by arranging a sale of the property and never even take title. In other words, buy the property and double-escrow the property to a home buyer who wants to live in the home.

2. Find a seller under stress with a bargain property, secure a sales contract, and sell your contract for roughly $500 to $5,000 to a seasoned real estate investor without financing or taking title.

3. Buy a fixer for a bargain price, fix up the property, and sell for full market price.

You can make money flipping real estate without being dishonest or unethical. But first, you need to:

1. Get your credit in order to finance quickly.

2. Study your location so you know what properties sell for.

3. Learn how to negotiate with sellers under stress.

4. Find a good closing agent.

5. Learn how to fix houses or find good professional help.

6. Learn how to sell your property or find a great selling agent.

Before you jump into flipping real estate, do your homework. Copy other successful real estate investors who make money flipping the honest way.

Copyright © Jeanette J. Fisher

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There’s little doubt that the U.S. real estate market is undergoing a profound transformation. After several years of freewheeling lending practices and unsurpassed increases in home valuations, the real estate market is undergoing a major correction. Home values are dropping in many areas around the country, and some homeowners are facing an impending uptick in their adjustable rate mortgage payments, placing them in an untenable position.

In short, it’s a volatile market. Lenders are tightening the criteria for mortgages, and subprime lending is gone. Most homeowners who are holding subprime mortgages are facing foreclosures, while others are trying to sell their homes before they find themselves in a negative equity situation. As a result, real estate professionals, investors, and home sellers are scrambling to gain an edge in a competitive marketplace.

Real Estate Marketing

Long gone are the days when traditional methods of real estate marketing are sufficient to move properties. A sign on the lawn, a Multiple Listing Service listing, and an open house still have their place, but they comprise only one facet of an effective real estate marketing campaign.

Just as in most other areas of business, the Internet is playing a crucial role in real estate. Online listings of homes for rent, homes for sale, and foreclosures draw an increasing number of buyers and investors. Photographs and video are increasingly being used to whet the appetites of potential buyers. Still, online listings and multimedia presentations are relatively passive forms of marketing in this competitive era. Those who are on the cutting edge are utilizing the Internet to their best advantage, and taking strategies from the playbooks of those in other fields.

Email Marketing as a “Push” Strategy

If drawing potential real estate buyers to an online listing is a “pull” strategy, then real estate email marketing is a “push” strategy – one that makes sense in today’s marketplace. After all, retailers and e-tailers use email marketing to their best advantage. Email inboxes are stuffed with large and small business emails alike. It makes sense that real estate email marketing can also be effective, in that it delivers information about agents, developers, sellers, and their respective properties directly into the hands of interested potential buyers.

Email Marketing is Easier than it Seems

At first blush, real estate email marketing may seem out of reach for many people. After all, their expertise is in real estate and they may not be very tech savvy. On the contrary, there are online real estate services that make email marketing a cakewalk for virtually anyone.

When looking for an online email marketing service, choose one that can help you create emails, manage your contact lists, and obtain tracking reports. Essentially, you should be able to send your first email marketing piece in less than an hour. The best services have “wizards” that allow you to, for example, put together email newsletters using a Web interface and on a single screen. Templates and click-and-drag functionality allow you to easily arrange text, upload photos, and instantly see what your recipients will see when they receive your email.

Once you’ve sent your emails or newsletters, the service should enable you to track the results, telling you how many emails you sent, how many bounced back, how many people opened the email, how many clicked on the links, and how many forwarded it on to others.

There’s little doubt that real estate email marketing is a cutting edge tool that helps push your message into the inboxes of potential buyers. And in today’s competitive environment, it’s an advantage you can’t afford to be without.

The popularity of real estate auctions are growing in the USA. Commercial and residential property are available to upper and middle class people. No longer is being wealthy a prerequisite of having the ability to bid on property.

Why are real estate auctions so popular? This is something you should investigate before you commit to your first auction. Some believe that both buyer and seller are benefiting from such auctions. It is a fact, the popularity a real estate auction will drive up the sales price.

As the seller, you can determine the selling date of your home. This means, if you are currently sitting in a home valued at $235,000 and the opportunity arises for you to get your hands on a newer home because of a builder’s buy-out sale, you can place your home in a real estate auction and know it will sell. It won’t be long before you are packing up the kids, the dog, and moving into your new home.

When real estate property values are down, the easiest way to unload a home is with a real estate auction. You can work a real estate auction as an independent auction company who obtains its own properties to sell or a partner with a real estate broker who provides you with properties to sell. The benefit of being an independent is a full commission.

Some states require that you have a realtor’s license. If you attend an auction, I would recommend following the guidelines of that state. You will more and likely invest some capital into marketing your services to home sellers or real estate firms. The most work you’ll do is what has to be accomplished through advertising.

Working a real estate auction is really a comfortable way of selling properties. There is not protocol to attending, except for the real estate license, and it is up to you how much money you can make.

In the United States, most properties are sold through professional real estate agents. However, many list their homes or properties for sale by owner. Most do this because they have complete freedom over the sale. They can choose how much they want to sell the property for, to who, and when. With the current state of the real estate market, many selling their homes are doing so to avoid foreclosure. They simply cannot afford the property anymore. A sale prevents foreclosure.

If you are looking to buy your first home for cheap or make a profit through renting or reselling, you should target these types of homes. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy. Most home sellers will not Advertise upfront that they are selling their home to avoid foreclosure. First, you need to schedule a meeting. Ask to for a showing of the property. Start a conversation. Be friendly. In no time at all, you may have the full story behind the sale. It may be due to relocation, but it may also be due to foreclosure. If this is mentioned, ask out of curiosity for the mortgage lender’s name. Be discrete about it. “Who is your mortgage lender? They really aren’t willing to work with you?”

If you like the property in question, inquire more about the selling price. Is it inline with the home’s appraised value? It should be. In fact, it should be less. A homeowner who is selling their home to avoid foreclosure should be willing to take just about anything. Their main goal should be to pay off their mortgage. This mean you should get a good deal. If not, try bargaining first. If the outstanding mortgage is a relatively low or affordable figure, offer that as your asking price. As a good deed, offer to throw in an extra thousand or so for the cost of relocation or first and last months rent. If you are met with a refusal, you may just move on. But, you do have another option.

As previously stated, you want to get the name of the mortgage lender. Although a little deceitful, it can result in a low-cost home or property for you. What you do is approach the lender. Speak to a loan officer. State you tried to buy the home, but the sellers were asking too much. Emphasize your interest in the home, but state your unwillingness to pay an unfair value. See what the mortgage lender can do for you. In fact, suggest a short sale. Only do this if the borrow and current home seller outright stated that their home will be foreclosed on.

A foreclosure short sale is an agreement between the mortgage lender and the homeowner. They agree to sell the home for less than the outstanding mortgage on the home. Borrowers accept this to avoid foreclosure. The home sells and they don’t have a foreclosure listed on their credit report and bankruptcy is avoided. Mortgage lenders agree to short sales because they want their money, even if less than what is owed. It also saves them from long and costly foreclosure proceedings, where many borrowers and occupants become difficult and unruly.

If you approach a financial lender acquiring about a short sale, it will not happening right away. Remember, the borrower is still trying to sell their home independently. With the poor state of the real estate market, many homebuyers are unable to secure needed financing. This means that many homes sit on the real estate market for months. It may take a month or more or threats from a mortgage lender about foreclosure before the borrower agrees to a short sale. But, if you approached the mortgage lender and already made an offer, you should be the first person they contact!

Convincing a mortgage lender to agree to a short sale on a property you do not own is risky. You risk insulting the mortgage lender and the homeowner, but if you want to profit from soon-to-be foreclosed properties, you must take risks.