Finding Your First House Flip – Have Faith and Use Our Formula!

By Christina El Moussa

Whenever we hold a real estate seminar, people always want to know how to get started. After all, finding your first house flip is arguably the most intimidating and difficult challenge you’ll face! You get a glimpse of how we do it when you watch our show, Flip or Flop, but you might not get a real feel for the formula we use and the way we go about finding motivated seller leads, approaching them, and making offers. If you decide to come to a Success Path workshop, you’ll get a more in-depth run-down on how to flip homes, but in the mean time here are some helpful guidelines to get you on the right track.

1. Know the Value of Patience and Stay Positive

Before you even start to look, sit down for a moment and remind yourself that flipping is highly rewarding but that it can take a lot of work and a lot of research. You may not find your first house flip as quickly as you hope, but with a little bit of faith, patience, and positivity, you’ll get there if you follow the formula Tarek and I have devised.

2. Go Driving for Dollars

Once you have your head in the game, take a drive. Look for neighborhoods that have been run down but are on the upswing. For example, take note of places where new amenities, like grocery stores and shopping centers, are going in nearby. Then take a drive through these areas and look for vacant homes.

Make a note of each address that looks vacant, and when you get home go online to the local tax assessor’s website to find out who owns these houses and where they currently live. You’ve just found your first set of motivated seller leads.

3. Reach Out to Motivated Sellers

Next, send postcards to the owners’ new addresses that tell them who you are and how you can help them. This direct mailing approach is a good way to approach sellers without the risk of seeming like you’re harassing them. That said, if you are respectful when you approach a potential seller, you can cold call them and have some success, too, when you discuss your intentions of getting their vacant property off of their hands for them.

4. Keep Researching New Leads

Whatever you do, don’t stop looking for new leads and reaching out to sellers. The leads you found on your first day out driving around different neighborhoods were a good start, but keep in mind that they’re only a start. The more leads you have to go on, the more opportunities you’ll have to find a great flip.

Also, if you have a lot of great leads, you won’t feel pressured to buy the first one that looks at all promising. Rushing into the first purchase is a classic new flipper mistake, and we want to help you avoid those as much as possible!

So, above all else, when hunting for your first house flip, be patient and have a little faith in yourself and your lead generation. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can generate motivated seller leads and start flipping if you stick to this formula and don’t give up!

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