Can I flip a house without selling to an investor?
Yes! You can flip a house to an average home buyer. It’s called "retailing." In fact, because of the price range that I operate in, I retail all of my properties. Your money moves a little slower, but the profit margins and reduced man-hours are much more rewarding. Here are a few tips for flipping your house to a retail buyer:
Make Your House the Best Deal
As an investor, you can offer buyers a better deal than other sellers. I usually start the bidding at 5% below the appraised value. You might lose a little profit, but news of a good deal spreads fast. Both agents and potential buyers will talk about your house and spread the news. As a result, it will show more often and sell faster.
Depending on the situation, you might also offer special terms. By advertising owner financing, for example, you might attract buyers that are otherwise incapable of buying a house, making them much more likely to strike a deal with you at a good price. You might even escrow a few months of payments, enticing them into a "no money" deal.
Make It a Home, Not a Real Estate Investment
You also have to realize that a good deal is typically a secondary concern for retail homebuyers. Where investors are consumed with buying the best investment, average homebuyers think about whether they can turn the house into a home. So, if you want to flip houses to them, you need to think of the house as a home, not a real estate investment.
Here are a few tips for making the transformation:
- Hire a cleaning crew to make it sparkle
- Install air fresheners
- Begin repairing it immediately
- Spruce up the landscaping
- Upgrade the kitchens and bathrooms
Use a Real Estate Agent to Sell It
Selling to a retail buyer takes more time than selling to an investor. In all likelihood, you’ll have to show the property dozens of times before you find a buyer. To cut down on the amount of time you spend, I highly recommend finding a a hard-working real estate agent and listing the house with them. You’ll save a lot of time.
Also, I’m not sure of the exact percentage, but the vast majority of houses in the United States are sold through real estate agents. If you don’t use one, you’ll miss out on a huge pool of buyers. Unless you use a flat fee MLS listing, there’s no other way to get your property into the MLS. Also, many of the most productive buyer’s agents boycott flat fee MLS listings, so you’re only alternative is to use a normal agent, if you want all of the benefits.