Your Fixer Upper Is Ready for the Flip – What’s Next?!?!?

Real Estate Marketing Checklist:

1. Deep Clean – Construction is a messy business so before doing anything else, schedule a full cleaning, including windows. Don’t jump the gun though, make sure the project is fully completed first.

2. Stage – A real estate marketing study done by RESA (Real Estate Staging Association), where they looked at nearly 170 staged properties valued between $300,000 to $499,000, said that “those homes were sold in 22 days, compared with an average on-market time of 125 days for un-staged properties.” What is time??? MONEY. So, whether it’s a fix and flip personal home or other type investment, this is my second step after deep cleaning.

3. Hire the right Agent/Broker – My mantra is “Buy direct and sell though a professional.” Look for an agent who will give your property FULL exposure. Some of the things you want to look for are: how they use their network, will they create a personalized website for your property and how many outlets will they have the property advertised on.  One of my personal requirements is that they provide me a weekly update as to any real estate marketing they have done for the property.

4. Take Photos – This is a service that should be provided by a good agent. I can’t emphasize enough, the importance of having the right photos.  The NAR (National Association of Realtors) Profile of Home Buyers and Seller Survey found that 51% of people found their home on the internet and 34% used an agent that gave them access to seeing the homes online.  Photos have never been more important when it comes to making the right first impression.

5. Prepare for the Appraiser – This is also something a good agent should do, but I can’t tell you how many agents just look at me blankly when I ask how they will prepare the appraiser for the appraisal. Back in the day, appraisals were just “give-me’s” most of the time if the sales price of the property was within range. Now you have appraisers who don’t know the nuances of the neighborhoods they are appraising and don’t have relationships with the lenders. The lender cannot select the appraiser, and appraisers are much more conservative.  A good agent will make sure they are present at the property when the appraiser is doing their physical inspection. They should provide the appraiser comps that support the purchase price and they should point out to the appraiser the things that add additional value to the property.

Depending on the property, there may be additional steps you need to take to ensure a quick sell for your fix and flip. Remember, the goal is to flip the property quickly so as to maximize profit, but rushing through and not paying attention to detail can backfire.

I will be conducting two sessions at the Thrive Conference. I hope to meet many of you there!

Great Fortune,