Real Estate Flipping

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Author:
Dr.Phil Speer

If you already own your home, you will probably make money in real estate without ever buying another property.

The home you are currently buying with a mortgage is probably one of the most valuable appreciating assets you will ever own.

You are making money by living in your own home, even if you never buy any additional property. This, within itself, makes you a successful real estate investor.

I have been fascinated with real estate investing for many years, but it all began with a startling discovery 35 years ago.

In 1970 I had bought a little house for my family in the Green Hills area of Nashville. It wasn't much, but it was adequate and it was home.

In 1978, we decided to sell.

We sold that little house for $67,000.

That's when the light bulb went off in my head.

I was shocked with a discovery that led me to fall in love with real estate investing.

I suddenly realized that we had made $40,000 profit in 8 years JUST LIVING IN THAT HOUSE!

We had not painted it. We didn't add any rooms. We built no patio.

We just lived in it!!!

We had made $5000 a year simply living in that house.

I began to think to myself: what if I had two similar houses that generated $10,000 a year profit? Or, five houses that generated $25,000 a year profit? I began to fantasize the possibilities. This awareness launched my real estate investing career.

Soon I was buying millions of dollars in real estate.

But the real challenge was buying real estate without any capital. I had just experienced a serious business failure, and had no cash reserves and no credit. I learned how to buy a house with only a $10 bill. I never walked into a bank to ask for a loan, and I never applied for a mortgage. But conquering the challenge led to buying $10 million in real estate in only four years.

That whopping $40,000 profit that went into my pocket from simply living in that house I sold in 1978 was just the tip of the iceberg.

I still live in the Green Hills area of Nashville. I pass that same house every day that we owned in the 1970s. It recently went on the market again, and it quickly sold.

This time that same house sold for $200,000.

I don't know what's been done to improve the interior, if anything, but no exterior changes have been made to that house. It's still about 2000 sq.ft. The lot is the same size. But the value has increased significantly.

Discovering this concept has made real estate investing very exciting to me.

Phil Speer, Ph.D., started his real estate investing career 25 years ago. With no credit and using only a $10 bill, he purchased $1 million in properties his first year, and accumulated $10 million in properties within 4 years. http://www.CashinHouses.com/

He was featured in a Wall St.Journal editorial as most successful investor in the Nothing Down Real Estate Movement. He won a Caribbean cruise as top investor of the year. In his hometown of Nashville, he has been a businessman and Human Resources Consultant for 30 years. He is an author, speaker and seminar director. Anyone can profit in real estate investing, even without cash or credit. http://www.CashinHouses.com/ Subscription is free to his Fix-up Ezine. He and other contributing authors provide free articles and resources on real estate investing at his online "Academy of Advanced Real Estate Investing Techniques" at http://www.AAREIT.com/

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Real Estate Flipping... Six Real Estate Investing Principles There are real estate investing "tricks" and techniques that you may know, or want to know. There are new ways of doing things that are worth learning. Knowing about the latest types of financing is another way can also help. Before all of these, however, you need to learn some basic principles. Here are six of them. 1. Build relationships. 2. Understand the numbers. 3. Reduce risk. 4. Be prepared. 5. Set goals. 6. Learn, and apply what you learn. Real Estate Investing Principles 1. Real estate investing is about relationships. People are your most valuable resource, and the more of them you know, the more likely you are to find good properties to buy, or buyers for your properties. ask people for their names, and if your memory is poor, take notes. Know the right people too, including a real estate agent who gets many listings of the type you are interested in. Wouldn't it be nice if you were the one he called first? 2. Know and understand the relevant numbers. When you look at a rental property, for example, you should be thinking about the income, the expenses, and the capitalization rate, or "cap rate." Imagine how certain changes would allow you to raise the income, and what that would do to the value. A "feeling" about a property, without understanding the numbers, gets many investors into trouble. 3. Look for and use methods to reduce risk. Have inspection, financing, and other contingency clauses in the offer, so you'll get your deposit back when a deal falls through. Consider your exit strategy before you buy, and have a "plan B." Value real estate using comparables or cap rates, not "hunches." Buy through your corporation or LLC. 4. Be prepared for real estate investing. Have business cards, pen and paper on you at all times. You never...