Tag Archives: house flipping

Highlands Observers See Rise in U.S. House Flipping Activity

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When you think about it, it was to be expected: the pace of house flipping activity in communities all over the country almost had to quicken. The market made it all but inevitable—in places where prices are on the rise while inventories remain tight, the conditions are right.

A “house flip” in Highlands is what you call any Highlands house that’s sold within a year of being purchased. House flipping happens when something unforeseen occurs that prompts a buyer to change residences more quickly than anticipated, or (much more often) when the purchase is made in the first place because the buyer sees an opportunity to make a profit.

House flipping became all the rage for a while during the housing bubble of the mid-2000s, hitting a peak in 2005. Half a dozen TV series were launched that popularized the adventures of itinerant flippers, tracing their footsteps as they acquired, fixed up, then sold properties for enticingly large premiums. The best of them depicted not simply the money to be made, but also the hard work (and occasional disappointment) that accompanied the house flipping phenomenon.

Then came the bursting of the ‘bubble’ and the consequential drop in enthusiasm for house flipping. RealtyTrac, the authority on U.S. housing data, also keeps tabs on the flipping statistics. This month they reported a new trend in action: an increase in the share of homes and condos flipped in 2015: 179,778, which is more than 1 in 20, and “the first annual increase in the share of homes flipped following four consecutive years of decreases.”

That total means that the total number of investors who completed at least one flip in 2015 was at the highest level since 2007. According to RealtyTrac, the homes flipped last year yielded a national average gross profit of $55,000: “the highest for flips nationally since 2005.” Moreover, they found that the return on investment was more than 45% (up from 35% in 2005).

For us locally, the question is what that might signify for Highlands real estate. On the one hand, there are those observers who tend to take the view that whenever house flipping takes off in earnest, it indicates that a real estate market is becoming overheated—that prices are rising too quickly. That is definitely something Highlands could do without. But a slightly more convincing reading was put forward earlier this month by commentator Diana Olick on CNBC. She found that, unlike many of the earlier house flipping participants, “data indicate that flippers in 2015 continued to operate within relatively conservative margins.” That means that they typically bought homes that were not wildly underpriced, then sold them at price points close to their estimated market values. They were also not usually buying with the perilously small financial cushions that typified earlier flippers. That had also been a hallmark in the mid-2000s, when the ready availability of cheap credit encouraged the practice. That’s no longer the case.

All in all, it seems as if the national house flipping trend is not at all reminiscent of previous overheated (and over-hyped) conditions. Instead, Highlands’s real estate market looks to be more welcoming to anyone who recognizes the sustained value of the house they are looking to buy or sell. I take a great deal of pride in helping them make it happen!

Flipping Sapphire Real Estate vs. Buy-and-Hold

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3-25-flipWhen you own the Sapphire home your family lives in, you are by definition a real estate investor: it comes with the turf. Your investment is essentially a passive one. Until the day you decide to sell and move on, any improvement in its value is secondary to how well it serves to shelter your family.

How you think about your investment—and how you proceed to manage it—is altogether different when you buy a Sapphire home purely as a financial venture. For one thing, you face an immediate strategic decision: will you be flipping for a quick short-term profit, or aim for the long term through a buy-and-hold strategy? You have to weigh some pros and cons in order to make the right decision.

Flipping

Pro: Capital is Freed

A flipping strategy minimizes the amount of time your investment capital is committed, freeing it for other uses. Should you identify another potentially lucrative investment, you will be able to take advantage of it.

Con: Unexpected Challenges

While flipping for short-term profit has definite ‘hands-on’ appeal, first-time investors can be surprised by unexpected complications. Properties that appear to be undervalued (and ripe for a quick flip!) may require costly fixes. Overspending on renovations quickly eats into profits, but underspending can lead to a lengthier holding time. Experienced Sapphire flipping veterans have learned to successfully gauge a property’s true turnaround value.

Additional Consideration: Taxes

Sapphire flipping has tax implications that impact the bottom line. Profits from a property owned more than a year are generally taxed at the ordinary income tax rate, while a property held for less than a year may be taxed at the capital gains rate. Local and state tariffs need to be considered as well—this is where input from a qualified professional is important.

Buy-and-Hold

Pro: Passive Investment

If management is outsourced to a professional property manager, the buy-and-hold strategy will require less personal attention than flipping does. Preparing a property for a flip often involves considerable time commitment and adept contractor schedule-juggling.

Con: Management Costs

The passive investment advantage holds true if outside management is contemplated— with commensurate expense. If you enjoy the challenge of successfully managing a property, this negative doesn’t apply.

Pro: Fewer Properties Need To Be Identified

Ultimately, successfully executing a flipping strategy means scrutinizing a huge number of properties over the course of time. In contrast, a buy-and-hold strategy necessitates finding only a few great bargains.

Pursued intelligently, both buy-and-hold and quick flip strategies have proved profitable for many investors.

Both call for finding solid value in Sapphire properties—which is where giving me a call comes in!

Nightline says Reality TV House Flipping isn’t Realistic

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1-14-houseflipABC’s Nightline recently aired an interesting segment about house flipping, which included a magic number that’s probably never been seen before. Sapphire house flippers would have been glued to their TVs if they’d stayed up late enough to catch Nightline, because if authentically magical, it’s a good number to know.

The segment was part of a series called “Realty Check.” This one was about new strategies in the “ever-competitive world of flipping.” The show started with some background about how expensive house flipping can be if it’s done in a hurry and on the cheap. Just slapping a coat of paint on the walls can result in an investment that languishes on the market, often until the asking price is reduced to an unprofitable level. The narrator stated that in the past, house flipping was often approached with the idea that the sooner a renovation could be completed, the better: “Get in, get out, move on.” We were shown how TV series like Flip It to Win It, Flipping Vegas, Rehab Addict, and Flip or Flop turned rehab projects into races against the clock: exciting drama for TV, maybe, but not necessarily a profitable real estate investment strategy in today’s market.

Nightline interviewed one new house flipping Phenom with 28 successful house flips to her credit. She says that “I call reality TV unrealistic.” She considers that the goal should be to produce a quality result—a house that’s “the best in the neighborhood.” That may take months rather than weeks, particularly if you want to avoid blowing your budget. Time, plus meticulous attention to detail, good taste—and a magic number.

It’s the magic number that has to interest anyone contemplating some Sapphire house flipping of their own. It comes from an expert: RealtyTrac’s VP Daren Blomquist, who posited that the data reveal that “the more you put into a property, the more return you get.” Even if it takes half a year. But the amount you should budget only “Up until this magic number which is 23%.”

The magic number? It’s 23%. The goal is to make the final product the best in the neighborhood, so that a buyer coming into the neighborhood sees it as “their first choice.”

That’s a pretty tall order around here. Sapphire has some fairly steep competition for best in the neighborhood. And six months between buying a property and being able to put it back on the market could seem like an awfully leisurely use of investment capital.

Without judging whether it’s truly magic or not, there is that 23% number. What was never explained was whether the magic number was meant to be 23% of the asking price, 23% of the purchased price, 23% of purchase plus rehab costs…or 23% of something else. Still—it’s nice to know there is a magic number.

If you have been thinking of undertaking some house flipping in Sapphire, or even readying your own property for the market as-is (23% of $0 is $0); the New Year should be a great time to get going. Give me a call!