Flip Your Own Home in 5 Steps

How to flip your home in Jacksonville.

Curious about what it takes to flip your home? Whether you plan to sell it for a profit or create an even more relaxing space than before, you can successfully flip your home if you follow these five simple steps. If you need any further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to Lisa Duke Realty, LLC and our team of and real estate and house flipper professionals.

Step 1 – Market Research

Determining which city, neighborhood, and property type that you can afford to flip will be your first step. If you are considering flipping your own home, first think about whether or not you will have the budget to do so. Research the real estate market in your area to determine how much your current home is selling for, as is, and if you can afford the necessary renovations to improve its value. Plus, you should know upfront that having cash for the renovations will save you money in the long run versus using a lender, so ensuring that you have all or most of the necessary “flipping” costs upfront will be important. 

Another thing to consider is how your home will look once it’s remodeled against the other homes in your neighborhood. Generally, many real estate investors refer to neighborhoods in a class ranking system, from A to D, with A being the wealthiest and D being the poorest neighborhoods. Essentially, it will not be a good investment to put a bunch of money into a D-Class neighborhood home, since it may deter higher-paying buyers from living in such a neighborhood — even if the home itself is very nice.

Step 2 – Set Your Budget + Create a Plan

While you don’t need to have everything figured out, it will be very important to establish a basic budget and business plan to flip your house. Consider which major renovations you will want to get done and the average cost for completing those. Research local contractors that will be able to help you with home improvement projects. Set your general budget and create a plan — especially one that’s project-by-project or week-by-week, to help establish a timeline for you and your future contractors to follow.

Another good tip is to ensure you have your finances lined up before you need them. Instead of being in a place where you understand the budget and have a contractor lined up without having the necessary funds, you’ll want to have everything ready once the time comes. Before making any offers to contractors, which we’ll cover in the next step, be sure that you actually have most, if not all, of that budget in your savings already — or a trustworthy lender lined up.

Step 3 – Network with Contractors

This step may seem straightforward but networking with contractors will be very important to having a successful flip. As we mentioned above, be sure to have most, if not all, of the expected budget or a lender lined up before reaching out to contractors (this will be part of your market research from step one). This way, you’ll already know how much this specific project will cost and all you’ll have to do now is compare different contractors’ rates. 

Additionally, ensure to give yourself enough time to network with potential contractors before settling on one. By building your network, you may be able to find out that one contractor doing one project may also be a great fit for another project, and furthermore, they may be able to offer you a discount for hiring them twice! You never know until you network, so be sure to get your name out there in the world of contractors.

Step 4 – Renovations

If you’re planning on selling your home, know that the clock is ticking and each month your renovations aren’t complete will cost you money. On the other hand, if you’re planning on keeping your home, your motivation to get renovations done fast would be to have a completely finished home to relax in. Therefore, in order to get the most out of your money and the flip in general, you’ll want to work on the renovations as quickly as possible, which is why we wanted to make sure you were already networking with contractors before this step. 

In order for a fast, smooth flip, be sure that you’ve already discussed project timelines and pricing with the contractors you’ve hired so that everything goes smoothly. Additionally, during steps one and two, you’ll want to ensure that you’ve thought about every renovation and project that you’re hoping to complete and if those projects are within your budget. If you’ve followed our steps so far and kept those few points we just mentioned in mind, then flipping your own home will be a quick and smooth process.

Step 5 – Relax… or Sell!

Once all of the renovations are wrapped up, all you have to do is relax in your like-new home or sell it for a profit! After following all of the other four steps in this post, you will have a successfully flipped home that you can either enjoy for yourself or sell for a new owner. 

What’s more, this guide will also work on homes that are purchased with the intention to flip, so be sure to check out the available properties in Jacksonville and see if there are any contenders for a flip.

Real Estate Flipping in Jacksonville

In just five steps, you can flip your own home — set a budget, create a plan, network with contractors, and perform renovations, and you’ll have a successfully flipped home in no time. By following these steps, your home will increase in value and be more comfortable to live in, so you can flip your own house whether you still plan on living in it or making a profit by selling it — either way, Lisa Duke Realty, LLC is here to help! If you need any assistance with understanding the Jacksonville real estate market and determining if flipping your home is right for you, feel free to contact us.