Is House Flipping in Washington Profitable?

flipping housesUSA Today recently published an article on the six best states to flip a house and Washington made the list. Last year, the average profit on flipping a house in our state was roughly $90,000 with no signs of a loss of momentum for this year.

Stats on flipping homes in Washington

Nearly 3,000 homes were flipped in Washington last year at almost 50% return on investment. The Puget Sound region also made the list as one of the top nine cities for flipping.

In the city, the average profit on a flip is closer to $100,000 and nearly 500 homes were flipped in 2013 in these 3 cities alone and sold for close to $320,000.

That’s a healthy profit and can be well worth sinking your money into. In addition to being potentially lucrative, flipping a house can be very fulfilling. But it can also be frustrating if you’re new to it, not making as much as you want or don’t have a good eye for what can make a house more appealing to a buyer.

No matter if you’re a new or experienced hand at flipping houses in Washington, you need some tools – both literal and figurative – to make sure you get your money’s worth and don’t risk your investment.

Here’s seven tools to help when you’re flipping homes in Washington:

#6 Houzz.com – One of the most important features of a home you’re trying to flip is curb appeal. If you’re not sure what will appeal and want to crowd source some inspiration, try this website. Houzz offers design inspiration and lets you post pics of your property and seek advice for gratis from a community of design enthusiasts.

#5 Home Renovation Cost Calculator – This won’t give you nitty gritty costs of how much it will revamp a house so you can flip it, but it can give you a rough idea so you know if you can afford to buy and fix up the house. Whatever house you buy to flip will need some repairs and improvements, it’s a fact. This gives you an idea of cost.

#4 BiggerPockets – BiggerPockets is a real estate investing website with a ton of resources you can use for free. There’s also a really cool tool called the Fix & Flip Analysis Reporting Tool that’s available to members. Individual memberships run as cheap as $9 a month up to $29 for a ton of resources and information, but a test run is free.

#3 Comp Sites – You need to be able to easily get comps but the quickest way to get these is using MLS but access to a pro tool like this isn’t cheap. Instead, use several free resources to get ARV (after repair value) and then average it to get close to the MLS value with no out of pocket cost to you. Try out Zillow.com, RealQuestExpress (free trial), Trulia.com and RedFin.com.

#2 Google Maps – Google Maps will let you get a quick bird’s eye and street view of a property you’re considering without getting in your car and wasting your time. Google Maps shows you all sides of a property, nearby eyesores, restaurants and other nearby features that may be detractors or pluses to your ability to sell the property.

flipping a house in washington#1 Corvus Construction – Because the property you’re looking to flip will need some TLC (or maybe a drastic overhaul), you need a high quality contractor in your back pocket to get the work done right, fast and on budget. Corvus can help you with flipping a house in Washington. Of course, we can take care of all the work from front porch to back, basement to rafters but we will also work with you and let you help as much as you want to save money on renovation costs.

Call Corvus Construction today for a free consultation to discuss your project. We can meet you at your property, look it over with you and give you our honest opinion on what it will cost to have it sale ready as soon as possible.