Posted by Terry (Houston) on June 25, 2001 at 23:21:34:
There is some very good info on the search engines here on flipping. Also try the How To articles.
Kaiser has a super course on working abandoned properties and Bronchick has a great course on Flipping.
ood luck
Terry
Best way for newbie to find properties to flip - Posted by michelle
Posted by michelle on June 25, 2001 at 23:06:31:
Hello Everyone…I’ve beens studying and lurking here for a long time and have decided that “flipping” is the strategy I am most interested in pursuing. Here’s my question, as a “newbie” what would you recommend as the best way of finding properties to flip? I know that many feel that forclosures and sheriff’s sales are risky for the inexperienced. What about pursuing abandoned properties? I guess I’m wondering what would be the best avenue to pursue to find my first property given my inexperience? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. 
P.S. This is a fantastic site and it is truly remarkable how willing everyone is to help those just getting started. Thanks a bunch in advance.
Re: Best way for newbie to find properties to flip - Posted by Lor
Posted by Lor on June 26, 2001 at 22:53:17:
Since you are worried about buying a risky property, I’ll try to explain a method I used to purchase a traditional 3 bdr/2 ba house in a blue collar subdivision. First, find a subdivision where the houses are all fairly similar and call a few realtors to get an idea what the recent sales prices have been. Make sure that sales prices have been recently going up and not down. Spend an afternoon driving each street and write down the addresses of any houses that look unkept - poor lawns and paint. There is a good chance that some of these are rentals (sorry about the stereotyping). Try to gather a list of about 30 properties. Take this list to the tax assessors office in your local county courthouse where you can find out the owner’s name and address of each property. If the owner’s address is different from the property address, then most likely this is a rental property. Hand write a letter to the owner explaining that you are interested in purchasing a home in this subdivision and ask if they would be interested in selling. At this point the deal can be negotiated in any number of ways. You need to be tenacious - you might need to locate 30 properties a day and write 30 letters a day for a week or month to get a response. Good luck.
Re: Best way for newbie to find properties to flip - Posted by ReggieSan
Posted by ReggieSan on June 26, 2001 at 11:11:16:
Steve Cook also has a step-by-step course on Flipping/Wholesaling for a reasonable $$$. You can get this from this site.
Steve Cook works with realtors a lot which is what I’m trying to do as well. I am a newbie also. His book has a lot of good info specially for newbies.
There is also a Chat Room Transcript archived on this site w/ Steve Cook Q&A which I thought was also very helpful. It’s under Money Making Ideas.