tonrob

Yes - this is one of the dangers of moving somewhere new to begin this.

Aside from basics like painting and minor landscaping we'd almost certainly use contractors as we have little skill in most of the required areas.

meauxna

Well, as a little exercise, you could do a flip with pencil & paper. Research a property in your own area and fill in the numbers...

When we found out the real cost of a new roof (work we really did NOT want to do ourselves) and some of the other things that we'd have to hire out.. well, that is when the job started to look like too much.

Anyway, do the work on paper and see how much things start costing. Don't forget your sales costs at the end and your tax on profits (or simply on the gain, depending), and see what you could work out for net profits. That's the part that really bugs me about the TV shows, they make it look like you walk out with a check for 200 grand, when it's nothing like that.

btw, I've had my eye on Arizona for bargains, but people there just keep building further and further out into the desert. One neat thing about my market is that everything is kept very close in, so inner city housing is very desirable and old homes have great resale value.

NC Penguin

I'm not a realtor but I live in the Triangle and now is *not* the time to be buying a house for flipping purposes. There's oodles of homes that have been for sale for months including a neighbor's, at catty corners to me. It's been on the market for nearly a year now. Admittedly, it's on a corner and it needed visible repairs (look up at the chimney and there was a hole that certainly needed fixing). Oh, did I mention the seller's a realtor?

goldcrown

To each her own, but if my DH said we were returning to the UK (or anywhere in the world, frankly) today, I'd be packed in an hour, including the three kids' stuff. Been here nearly a year and once I came out of grief-stricken shock after leaving England, the reality of this geographic area sets in.

I hate the Triangle. 'Lovely long summers'? How about so hot the playground equipment has warnings, no one is outside in the day, frequent ozone 'orange' day warnings for children playing outdoors, running the AC ($$$) for months on end.

Three droughts in the last decade is not my cuppa either, and if one enjoys green, then Raleigh and surrounding areas are not for you. Brown, dry, boring, completely hyped.

It's not inexpensive here, either, has higher sales tax than Massachusetts and with the U.S. inflation at a 17 year high (mostly reflected in food and petrol), you're not going to get a great deal here in terms of cost of living.

Less snow for certain, but also a blip of an autumn, which is my fave time of year.

House prices have not fallen much in the triangle, due to massive growth. You're not going to find the deal of a lifetime here. Further, if you buy in the next two years and growth slows to this area (b/c wannabe transplants can't sell up North), then you're stuck. Further, U.S. buyers overwhelmingly say they want new builds (which there is no shortage here) so the idea of flipping is even more risky here.

How about Montenegro?

tonrob

So that's my bonfire well and truly peed on...

goldcrown

Just my two pence, of course.

But really, look at the lack of city planning in the Triangle, how ridiculously burdened the infrastructure is (b/c there wasn't planning for this level of growth) and do you really want to buy into that? My kid's is overcrowded by at least 300 students and in Wake county that is NOT unusual.

Roads need significant repair. The aforementioned droughts combined with huge demands on water (due to influx of transplants) make for a perilous situation. Residents consistently vote against increased taxes toward infrastructure repair and maintenance, just where do they think the money will come for schools, roads, hospitals, pipelines for water??

What really boggles the mind is $1mil properties (hell, even half mil properties) within ten miles of the largest site of concentrated nuclear waste in the entire country. Reading through materials from my child's school on Potassium Iodine tabs, radius of distribution, emergency plans....no thanks. Nuclear power is one thing, but the largest site of concentrated nuclear waste with a dodgy safety record?

I saw Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones promoting Montenegro recently...it's all the rage.

meauxna

awww...

I was thinking about NC & this thread last night. NC has certainly been on the grow, and continues to be a place that people are moving *to* (as opposed to say, Detroit). But there's that local market knowledge thing.. is it really true that people want new construction, and how would that affect your plan. Or, is there a way you can make something of that, by altering your plan.

Don't give up yet.

tonrob

Thanks for your kind encouragement. To chuck a further spanner in the works Mrs Tonrob is now sniffing after a job in Vegas...

Right now I don't care - I just want out of where I am as I really need a change.

NC Penguin

When I'd lived in NC as long as you have now, I had many negative feelings about the place but I think you'll find that you're still re-adjusting to a different environment. Anyway, Wake County is more ****ed up than the other two major counties in the Triangle. I don't have the horrible traffic of Raleigh and Cary plus the year-round schools that Wake have now. I'm glad I live in Durham County.

I think your comment about the cost living compared to MA is off base. I'm sure it's cheaper to live in the Triangle than most of MA, even if the sales tax is higher in NC.

Bill_S

To paraphrase an old joke:

A house flipper won 50 million dollars in the lottery. His friends asked him what he was going to do next. He replied "I reckon I'll keep flipping houses until the money runs out".

Another reason to avoid this career path. In a new area you won't know which contractors to use. You'll need reliable work (to pass code inspections) done in a timely fashion at a low price. With sufficient DIY skills you can tell if a contractor is BSing you about what is needed or how long it should take. If you're a beginner you'll have to take their word for it. The local house rehabbers/flippers will know who the good guys are, and they aren't going to tell you.

I understand the feeling of wanting a change, but I too think you should explore something else.

goldcrown

But many have bought in Durham County only to meet the same issues coming down the pike, so to speak. Reassignment for some DCounty schools, water issues, and continued new builds despite a local desire not to burden existing resources and take away natural space.

It will be throughout the triangle. Maybe Carrboro, Pittsboro,etc will continue an oasis in Chatham County but the rest of the areas surrounding Raleigh are going to be dealing with the same issues.

These towns and cities will not continue to be in the Top Ten Best Places in the next decade, unless the boards of Sam's Club, Wal*Mart, Target, are voting.

When people see Cary,for example, as best place for families, or Apex as this or that, they often don't do much more research than that, which is a shame.

Course, all depends on where one is coming from. If I were arriving from say, Compton, CA, perhaps I'd love the identical strip malls and 'I Don't Care How You Did It Up North' bumperstickers. Or the entitlement issues many seem to have either because they 1. have money to move here and buy a McMansion or like my neighbors, 'it was better before all these people moved here' locals.

While I appreciate empathy regarding 'negative attitudes', most of what I posted regarding Raleigh and the Triangle is fact (such as resource and infrastructure crisis). Uncontrolled growth, the majority of which is from *out of state* developers and the resulting reduction in quality of life isn't something I will be cultivating a positive attitude toward, though I do realise some will call that 'negative'.

meauxna

Another one of the fastest growing cities.. someone with two brain cells to rub together can find a clever way to make something out of that. <g>
No income tax there, is that right?

lisag8070

It just goes to show you the difference between Wake County and Guilford County, we've been very happy here and in all my experiences of all the different states I've lived in on the East Coast, this place is by far the best with regards to school, weather, house prices and general living costs..

Tarkak9

Its been said many times but I too would advise against general flipping; its not for the faint hearted and its very easy to lose your shirt and devastate your life.

People charge ahead of themselves and many never think "resale" as in ease of selling a property as well as the potential gain. Do the homework and study your market carefully. Like anything its a calculated risk.

Bank owned and short sales are worthy of number crunching and if you are thinking of rental properties but like BrtG suggests - multifamily dwellings is probably well worth reviewing. One step down the road from there is whether or not those sort of properties are worth or capable of doing a conversion on them ie apartments to condos. One of the biggest thing to be aware of are meth labs. I have come across bank owned methlabs on a few occasions.

There are many areas of the country right now undergoing a huge haircut... its alarming. I think the hardest hit areas are ones where alot of investor speculation occurred. just my $0.10 worth.