The Home Frosting team of staging professionals has worked with many home flippers. When done right, home flipping can be a great opportunity to make a great return on your investment.

Here’s a couple successful home flipping projects we’ve worked on in the Tampa Bay market.
Home flippers Nicole and Sean Carlascio of Coldwell Banker sold this home and got top dollar with Home Frosting’s home staging help.

Before

Better Home Flipping with staging

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home flipper and Realtor Mike Dickey of Exit Prime Realty sold this home fast with Home Frosting’s home staging help.

Home flipper success with staging

Home staging makes a difference in home flipping

 4 Mistakes you never want to make.

New House Flipper Mistake #1:
Not Assembling Your Team. You might be a superstar, but flipping a property is a team sport. At the very least you’ll need a real estate agent to help you sell the finished product, a real estate attorney to protect you and ensure the transactions go smoothly, and of course a source of funding to allow you to leverage your capital. As we mentioned before, if your flip includes any rehabilitation to the property your team will also need a trusted general contractor who can do the work on time and on budget. Many real estate investors also benefit from having a trusted CPA on their team to advise them on the complex accounting sometimes involved in these deals, as well as an insurance agent that can guide them through the world of liability protection.

New House Flipper Mistake #2: Not Vetting The General Contractor
Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong during the course of a property flip. After over 700 deals, what we’ve found is that the majority of issues new investors have during their first flip are the result of contractor issues. Delays, underestimation of costs, and generally unprofessional behavior are the most common source of headaches for new flippers. In order to counter this, we ask our borrowers to thoroughly vet their contractor and follow some best practices for selecting the right one to do the job.

  • Local real estate investor associations are a great place to find referrals for companies that others in your situation have already vetted.
  • Always see their work for yourself by physically visiting at least two of their projects in your area.
  • Get bids from a few contractors. This will not only give you a better opportunity to find the right fit, but give you a better idea of what your proposed scope of work should actually cost. Make sure to ask for an itemized scope of work.

New House Flipper Mistake #3: Not Staging The Home
Yes, hiring a professional service to stage your home increases your out of pocket expenses by around $1500 to $1800. However, like everything else about your deal – staging the home is an investment. On the surface, potential home buyers can more easily relate to a professionally staged home because it is not only clean, but decorated in a way that allows the buyer to imagine themselves living there.

The National Association Of Realtors polled their members and found that an incredible 96% of Realtors believe that staging has a positive impact on a potential buyer’s perception of the home. Additionally, studies prove that staged homes sell up to 2.5 times quicker than non-stages homes and for about 17% more. When you consider the costs saved from flipping the property quicker plus the higher sale price thanks to the improved perception of the property, home staging is an easy decision.

New House Flipper Mistake #4: Holding On Too Long
You probably do great work, and the value you’ve added to the property is incredible. However, this sense of pride and accomplishment new investors have regarding their first finished flip can sometimes cause unrealistic expectations for how much money they’ll sell it for. The truth is, the quicker you flip the property the better off you’ll be. Holding on to the property in hopes of a higher offer leads to an increase in soft costs; everything from interest expenses to taxes and utilities that will ultimately eat into the deal’s profit. Additionally, the quicker you flip the property the quicker you’re able to re-invest your money into the next deal.

Four Profit Killing Mistakes Infographic

Four Profit Killing Mistakes
Four Profit Killing Mistakes created by Asset Based Lending