1 Expect the unexpected. Leave room in your profit margin for unexpected expenses. You never know what might come up in a renovation/flip and if you don’t give yourself breathing room your expected profit may not be what you were expecting.

2 Keep a master spreadsheet. Expenses have a way of creeping up on you. A master spreadsheet lets you keep track of everything in a way that’s easy to reference. It’s handy to look back on for future projects to compare flip costs. Even the process of writing things down has been proven in helping you remember them.

3 Don’t fall into an over improving hole. It’s easy to overdo a flip project. Your dollars that go into a project should be used wisely and to make the maxim profit possible. Focusing on lighting and painting (inside and outside) is going to be the greatest use of your dollar. When it comes to room renovation, kitchens and bathrooms give you the biggest bang for your renovation buck.

4 Estimates, Estimates, Estimates. Asking for quotes before you do anything to a property is a good way to keep costs down. Asking for multiple quotes will allow you to learn about pricing in the area and get expectations of various costs for your flip.

5 Educate yourself. The real estate market can be a complicated messy thing. You can’t learn everything you need to know from friends, jargon, and fb groups (even though ours is pretty great *note to the person publishing this on the site insert hyperlink to group here) With Tax Auction Investors we help you with every step of the process. We believe in our process so much that we regularly split buying properties with our students!