These past two years have been challenging – with competition from iBuyers, lack of inventory, rising labor and materials costs – your profit depends on making good decisions from the outset. Kyle Handy believes a house flipper is not just a real estate investor, but a problem solver – someone providing a needed service. In his article, “This is How to Profitably Find Houses to Flip in 2022“, he outlines his favorite strategies for finding the right house to flip.

Nontraditional Methods

Facebook and Craig’s List
Use these platforms not only to list your property and advertise that you are a home buyer but also to look for homes to buy by motivated sellers.

Zillow, Trulia, and other IBuyers platforms.
Maybe now Zillow is getting out of the game of competing with its clients, you can find FSBO listings. Kyle warns to look carefully at a property under market value or that has been listed for too long. This indicates something is not right about that property – price, condition, location.

Google or Facebook
Use targeted advertising to identify people who have searched for info regarding bankruptcy or foreclosure. These are called qualified leads. Make sure your website landing page inspires confidence and answers pressing and relevant questions upfront.

Content Marketing and SEO
By using targeted search words like “sell my house,” “your market city,” “bankruptcy,” “foreclosure,” “repair value” etc, you can identify people who might lean toward selling their house.

Property Auction Sites
This is a great way to find properties already foreclosed on and being auctioned off. Usually, the banks are anxious to offload the property. The downside could be the condition, because, you know, people….

Traditional Methods

Driving for dollars
Identify a neighborhood that is not saddled with too many rentals and has good schools and markets nearby.  The trick is to find a home that is more or less sound but needs some cosmetic work to bring it up to par with the rest of the market. Ideally, your first flip won’t need anything major like new plumbing or electrical work, foundation work, or any other big, expensive fix that’s necessary but mostly invisible. It’s much better if you can put your money where buyers’ eyes will be in terms of updates.

Networking
Aside from other real estate professionals, Kyle recommends networking with estate sales professionals, estate auctions, and senior living communities.

The Courts
Most successful flippers have one or more sources for finding underpriced homes. Divorce court or probate court, which manages unsettled debts when someone dies, can be two good sources for flippers to find those homes. Foreclosed homes might also be a good option for you as a flipper.

Direct Mail
Physical mailers like postcards are a good way to expand your network and brand but should not be the only touchpoint but an arm of your overall marketing campaign. See above!

“You will have the best luck in the real estate market by focusing on people who are already aggressively looking to sell. These people don’t need to be sold on the process. They’ve already made the decision. And with technology, you can get these people to find you online without a lot of work.” – KH

Read the full article here.