This Real Estate Market should make you want to FLIP !

This Real Estate Market should make you want to FLIP

By Karen Soro

The Sharp-Soro Real Estate Team

Henry Turley Realtors

338-4444

Whoa! I have never seen a better time to make some money in the real estate market!

Now, I am not saying that everything is a bargain, nor that everything will reap huge dividends but if you know what you are doing- this is an incredible time for real estate speculation. 

Some places are special. There are some places where people still want to live. There are some places whose prices are going up. And there are occasions when the property is undervalued. By and large, Downtown Memphis is such a place.

Here is what is happening downtown. We all know that the banks, in their infinite wisdom, have lent too much money out to people who can’t afford to pay them back, so they have some properties that are going to be foreclosed. Now, in the Downtown market this is RARE, but it does occasionally happen. They then hire a realtor who is completely unfamiliar with the market to sell the property for them. The realtor comes downtown, (maybe for the first time in their entire life!) takes a look around and because they are used to property values that are much less out in the suburbs they under price it. WhooHooo! Time to pounce!

Now, to my mind, there are two types of foreclosures. There were the mis-steps of the builders who either had really bad timing or, more likely had really bad floor plans. ( you really can’t blame the “economy” for bad planning). Most of these have been sold at auction by now and are no longer on the market- but there are some, and if they are in the “bad floor plan” category - you should probably leave them alone, unless you want to buy them up as rental property. 

What do I mean by a “bad” floor plan? If your front entry door is located in a bedroom- you may have a bad floor plan. If you have to duck your head while walking down the hallway, you may have a bad floor plan, if you have to walk up three flights of stairs to get  to your master suite- you may have a bad floor plan, and hey, if you look out your windows directly into a parking lot or garage-you may just have a really crumby location AND a bad floor plan!!! And as I say, unless you are buying the place to rent out (and there ARE some great cash flow opportunities at the moment) leave these “bad floor plans” alone- No “flipping” on these.

So, what is “Flipping”? Flipping is when you buy something and turn right around and sell it (hopefully for a profit). You may have to invest some money in fixing it up, but more likely, you will just have to “fluff” it up. And yes, you will have to pay capital gains- refer those tax questions to your CPA- but if you do it right it can be VERY lucrative. 

What you are looking for is a nice home in a nice neighborhood , in fair condition that has been under priced. You want to be able to come in with paint and new carpet, perhaps some granite and new appliances but not much more. When you sell it you want to price it slightly below market value and hopefully get a bidding war going on the property- that way you can get in and get out. You don’t want to hold it because holding costs money. 

So where are these opportunities? As I say, they are rare- but they do happen. Occasionally something will come available on Mud Island or in South Bluffs. Sometimes the opportunities lie in the older more settled condo buildings. 

Case and point, Tim and I bought a condo this past January in the River Tower (that’s the old Holiday Inn Rivermont- for you people who remember). It was on the 7th floor looking directly north down the river. It only had about 800 square feet, carpeted floors and formica countertops- but WOW, what a view! Our original intention was to move into it but later we decided it was too small so we “flipped”! It was listed for and we paid $85,000 (hey, thats over $100 per square foot- which to folks who are more accustomed to square footage prices being MUCH lower- must have seemed ridiculously high!). We put in some engineered hardwood floors, granite counter tops, new bathroom tile and a tub- a total cost of about $15,000. And then we “flipped” it for $180,000! How did we get $180,000? We priced it at $169,9000 knowing that was a bargain- and had two people battle over it. I am going to write another blog about the amazing things that happen when you UNDER price your home- rather than getting in a downward spiral pattern after overpricing it- so I will leave it there for the moment.

If you want to get in on this action just let me know. .