How to Start Flipping Houses Before You Get Out of College

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How to Start Flipping Houses Before You Get Out of College

January 27, 2016

By Tarek El Moussa

Everybody knows that college students are almost always broke. Then, when you get out of college, whether or not you’ve found a job, you’re expected to start paying off your loans starting just a few months after graduation. Unfortunately, while a lot of colleges and universities teach some pretty great skills, most of them don’t teach financial success for college students. Plus, it can be really hard to make extra money in college when you don’t have time for a full-time job outside of your classes. So what can you do?

Christina and I were just talking about this the other day. It’s really never too soon to start flipping houses, and college may actually be the perfect time to get into real estate investing. Why? If you set yourself up right, your house flipping work won’t take you any more time than a part-time job, and you’ll make a lot more money while you learn some pretty amazing skills for your future career.

Wholesaling for College Students

First of all, if you’re really in a time bind, you might be a little intimidated by the idea of committing to flipping houses and getting into rehabs. If that’s the case, you can dip your toes into the real estate investing world and make extra money in college by wholesaling flip properties. When you do this, you’ll learn all you need to know about filling your lead funnel and following up on great deals. Then you’ll put just a little bit of money (usually available through a private investor or hard money lender) into buying the contracts on promising flip houses, and you’ll sell those contracts to house flippers for a profit.

Working for a House Flipper

Some people will tell you that wholesaling has its own separate (but similar) skill set, so you might be a little hesitant to go that route, too. In that case, you may want to start researching the real estate investors and house flippers in your area. Find out if any of them offer internships or if they’re looking for someone to do some bird dogging for them (finding leads on flip properties for a commission).

If you get a part-time job or internship with a house flipper, or even if you just work on a commission basis finding leads, you’ll learn a lot about the business, and you’ll have a headstart when you get out of college and start making your own deals and flipping your own houses.

Take the Plunge

There really isn’t anything stopping you from starting your own flipping business right now, while you’re still in college. Take a look at your class and study schedule, and bracket out your free time. This is time you can use to look for leads, follow up on them, find financing, and make offers. It’s also time that you can spend looking for contractors and realtors so that you can build your house flipping team.

Honestly, house flipping doesn’t have to be a full-time job, especially when you’re just looking for ways to make extra money in college. Plus, it’s a lot more likely to teach financial success for college students than any part-time job waiting tables or stocking inventory. Whether you decide to take the plunge and start your own flipping business now or you want to start more slowly with an internship or by wholesaling, you’ll learn a lot about the business, and you’ll be ready to take on real estate investing on a whole new level when you graduate.

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Tarek El Moussa

Tarek and Christina El Moussa have over a decade of professional real estate experience and have been featured in national print publications, online media outlets, and a popular real estate TV show. Tarek is known for his determination to get the job done and doing it right.