Wholesale/Flipping In Seattle Washington Area

Hello everyone, I'm very new to investing. I want to find properties that are low priced, that will appraise high, fix it up, or add rooms etc.. then flip back to market. Here's a potential deal I've got going now:
A realtor showed me a house that has been on the market for 8 months now. Original asking was 299k, it is now 239k. It's only about 850 sq ft. 3bd, 1 ba, 2 car garage, lot size is .26ac. Its in a really nice area on the east side of Washington. comps in area are about 259k. I am planning to offer 225k and get a loan for 250k upgrade it then flip it. I guess my question is..based on the deals I've been reading about in here...is this even worth it??? I plan to sell for 265k-275k.. Is it even possible??? Thank you to all who reply.

Comments(3)

  • Birddog116th March, 2004

    if the comp is 259, and your asking 269-275, you may be holding on to that for a while.
    As an investor, you want to sell properties slightly below market value, to get rid of them quickly, and get your money to move on to the next deal. I'd hate to see you be holding on to that one for a while.
    Ask the realtor what she things it will go for after repairs. They as usually obligated to give a market analysis on properties.
    [addsig]

  • JeffAdams16th March, 2004

    You have a lot of options here:
    #1- You could purchase the property
    for $225,000 and possibly "wholesale"
    it to another investor for $230,000
    making a quick $5k profit. Contrary to what a lot of people on this site believe, wholesaling is when you purchase a property and sell it to another investor without doing any work to the property for a fee, making a quick profit.

    #2-You could purchase it yourself for
    $225,000 and fix it up and sell it for
    $260-$270k by owner and make a profit.
    It is not hard to get 10% more on a house that has been rehabbed with new carpet, paint etc... Especially if you are
    going to assist with the down payment etc.. Investors in my area sell everything at or 10% over market value making the realtors push their properties by offerring 6% commission to the selling agent.

    #3- You could buy it with an ARM mortgage, do a lease option for $70-$80k and enjoy a positive monthly cash flow.

    My point here is you have many options and yes it does work. You really need to educate yourself in real-estate and take advantage of the opportunities out there.

    My advice to you would be to purchase the property, fix it up and sell it by owner for the big payday. Then do it all over again and start employing some of the other methods mentioned above.

    Best Riches,
    Jeffrey Adam

    _________________
    "The only place success comes before work
    is in the dictionary."[ Edited by JeffreyAdam on Date 03/16/2004 ]

  • alvinpapa17th March, 2004

    Thanks for all the great feedback! Greatly appreciated.

    With regards to your #2, I know exactly what you mean, I was born and raised in California and just moved here 1 year ago. Sold my townhome in the valley for double of what I paid for it!!! -bought it brand new in 2000! 2br 2ba. Which created a snowball effect in our complex and everyone began to sell! The guy who bought it from me in early 2003 flipped it in in december 2003 and walked away with 50k. It's just crazy there right now! Everything is overpriced, it seems. But this area is starting to follow the "California Trend"

    Anyway, all the advise you can share would be greatly appreciated!

    Thank You,
    Alvin Papa

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