Who here has been making a killing in the housing market?
 

I have been out of that business for several years now...but have an old school friend who has been in that business for more than thirty years. He and his son both were already multi millionaires in property holdings...but since the housing market fell in value...they have been making millions more by buying foreclosed houses...making whatever repairs that may be needed and flipping them. I am surprised that they are flipping them so easily but since January they have bought fourteen of them and have flipped all but three for net profits of $60,000 to approaching $200,000 per house.

the government and all the people who got property cheap along time ago

Hmm...I wasn't aware that they are members of the board...but none the less how is the government making money off of the current housing market?

You can get some cheap foreclosure houses but you need to know it will sell, and be able to do the work or at least manage the project yourself. If you are hiring you need good crews or people.

Finally you have to inspect the shit out of any potential property when evaluating it for a flip.

Some people can do all of this well, but it is not for everyone.

Well...of course your statements in your post are a given...but in my friends case he has 30 plus years of experience in buying...fixing and selling. I was surprised to learn from him that he is having little problem...with the current situation as it is...in flipping them. I did the same thing as he for more than 20 years but in a slightly different way than he does it...as he is a General Contractor as is his son...and I was not.

Great time to buy, I buy flippers all the time. Even if you don't flip them and find good renters. They will double for sure in the next 7 - 10 years. Great time to buy.

still plenty of govt financing with 3% down- my buddy is doing the same thing and financing his buyers through FHA...trick is to have the cash to buy the props for .20-.30/$1 and having the cash to rehab them (if needed) cause its the investor/ 2nd home loans that are impossible to get...

They make nice cash by putting in work. :thumbsup

It's hard to flip a house to a market that isn't willing to buy, hence their "good deals".

Most likely they are feeding you bullshit but someday they will be millionaires as long as they can hold on to it.

Yeah...apparently. My friend has around 80 home and business rentals and has multiple unimproved properties in multiple states. He is not acquiring any more properties for rental purposes and either buys fixer uppers or foreclosures to sell. He used to also build houses from the ground up...but now only does that on occasion for a friend. His son will still build from the ground up and just recently cleared his waiting list. They of course have a crew...but still will dirty their hands from time to time.

The foreclosures we bought bring in great rental income for how much they cost... When we sell them in a few years we should make a killing :)

No bullshit involved at all. My friend is one of my best friends from school days up to and including the present and we have been in very close contact for more than forty years.

right on! Keep on going! problem with most investors now a days is that their credit hit the toilet. If you still have the ability to buy cheeeeeap and flip to first time home buyers, all the power to you (or him in this instance)!!! :) :thumbsup

I haven't bought real estate in a long time, but now is a great time to invest.

If he has around 80 homes, whether he just bought them or not. I'm sure he knows what he is doing and will make millions off them if he were to sell them down the road. Or just pass it down to the next generation.

Flippers could make money depending on the place they operate, as a mortgage broker tho shit hit the fan big time, there is a ton of regulations now and the ohh soo yummy subprime market was locked with a gazillion rules from banks to "temporarily prevent" a housing bubble-burst like the one we are still going through ... so yeah, buyers/flippers could make money as the market slowly bounces back.......

I got out of the business several years ago and was lucky enough to have...virtually...a single buyer that bought all of my properties. My disability grew worse and I lost all enthusiasm I ever had and do not do much of anything anymore. My remaining dog and I do a little fishing and camping from time to time...and I dabble in building sites. Pretty boring life really.

Well...it is a combination of homes and business rentals...which he has acquired over the years...but several years ago he quit acquiring properties for rental purposes. BTW he does not owe on any of his properties. I think he will just pass them down...as he currently spends and travels as he pleases and really does not have a need to sell out.

Once in a lifetime opportunity in real estate. Those with cash and some brains are going to make a killing.

Sounds like a smart Guy.

market is great and sucks fucking balls.
i want more houses. i do not even have a desire to flip them. i want to make them into affordable dwellings as the city so damn much desires. there are foreclosures everywhere in the city. we have the skills to do just about any repairs and if not we know enough subs to get any projects done.

banks just do not wish to deal. if you do not have cash in hand it seems, and talking 30-40% or more per house forget about it. sure banks want to sell them but same damn banks do not want to finance them.

it is like a once in a lifetime housing grab and the rules are fixed primarily to those with tons of cash already. the smaller investors are for the most part left on the sidelines with 401k money at a 3rd of its value. so for those without the cash the best hopes is to buy long on stocks assuming you have age on your side.

I bought and flipped a house about 7 years ago and it was a nightmare. As others here have said you really have to know what you are doing. I went in on it with three other freinds. The problem was getting them all to take it seriously and work on it when it needed to be done. It took about three times as long as we thought it would to rehab it, but it did sell pretty quickly. In the end we made a few dollars and I learned a lot, but I don't know that it is something I would want to do again, at least not with partners. It is a lot harder than it looks.

My hat is off to your friends. They must put in a lot of hours.

I believe that your friends are making great money on houses they're buying right now. However, if they've been a full-time real estate investor for a long time, then they now owns homes that hthey bought in 05 and 06 that are worth half of what they were when they initially purchased them. So, while they're making $60000+ per property, I would assume a lot of that money is going toward losses on props they bought a couple of years ago.

The BEST situation someone can be in at this exact moment is that they had never bought a property in the last 5 years and are just now jumping into it. Those people have the world of real estate profits at their fingertips.

He does not have money going towards any losses...all of his rentals...homes/businesses are paid for...all he does is collect money from them. As far as any purchases he may have made in '05-'06...they would have been fixer uppers/foreclosures that he acquired at a reasonably low price and he would have already flipped them or have them rented. Either way when you own a property whose value may have decreased...the only way to lose money on the deal is to sell it...because if you retain it...the value will eventually go back up.

I never lost any money when I was in that business...though I did barely break even a couple of times.