Fix and Flip: The Canadian How–To Guide for Buying, Renovating and Selling Property for Fast Profit

A very popular segment of reality TV is how to renovate properties for fun and profit. The fact is it's not much fun if you don't know what you're getting into, and nasty surprises can quickly demolish any return on your hard labour. To be successful at any business, it takes vision and execution. If you're keen to know how the business of fix-and-flips works, you'll want to read this book. Mark Loeffler and Ian Szabo are the perfect pair for teaching fix-and-flip strategies. They are a successful joint venture team with Mark bringing the financing expertise and Ian delivering the contracting expertise. Together they find undervalued and distressed properties with potential and renovate them quickly for fast profits. In Fix & Flip , they show you just how much work flipping really is, strategies to make the process more manageable, and how to earn consistent profits. Step-by-step, you will be taken through their fix-and-flip process from beginning to end. You'll learn: what skills—and how much time—you need to get started; how to build a team: contractor, lender, inspector, lawyer and accountant; how to identify areas and homes that make good potential flips; which areas of the property to focus on for the greatest bang for your buck; how to avoid a money pit: doing it yourself vs. hiring a pro; financing and exit strategies for properties; and much more. Filled with tips, checklists, analysis forms and time and cost-saving techniques, no investor interested in flipping properties, regardless of their experience, should be without this book.

Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 PART 1: THE BASICS 7 Chapter 1: What Is a Fix and Flip? 9 Chapter 2: What Are the Differences between Flipping and Speculating? 15 Chapter 3: How Much Profi t Can I Expect? 25 Chapter 4: How Much Money Do I Need to Get Started? 31 Chapter 5: How Long Does It Take to Put a Property on the Market? 45 Chapter 6: What Skills Do I Need to Bring on Board for Fixing and Flipping? 63 PART 2: THE ESSENTIALS 93 Chapter 7: Set Up Your Team 95 Chapter 8: How to Find the Right Contractor 107 Chapter 9: How to Break Down a Contractor’s Costs versus Materials Costs 133 Chapter 10: How to Set Up a Joint Venture 153 PART 3: SEARCHING FOR PROPERTIES: THE FUNDAMENTALS 163 Chapter 11: Identifying Areas and Homes that Make Good Potential Flips 165 Chapter 12: Types of Homes: The Pros and Cons of Townhouses, Semis, Detached Homes, and Condos 169 Chapter 13: Where to Add Value – And Avoid the Money Pit 177 Chapter 14: Financing Your Fix and Flip 181 Chapter 15: Getting Started in Real Estate, Making Money, and Joint Ventures 205 Chapter 16: Preparing a Property for Sale 225 Appendix: Flip Horror Story 239 About the Authors 245 Index 249

Called "The Versatile Investor" by Canadian Real Estate Magazine , Mark Loeffler is a successful real estate investor and creator of his proprietary and proven rent-to-own system. He is also a partner with Ian Szabo in buying properties that are undervalued and renovating them for re-sale. Mark is the author of Investing in Rent-to-Own Property , a member of the Real Estate Investment Network, and holds workshops to teach investors his rent-to-own system. Ian Szabo has been a project manager and general contractor, and is a renovator and investor in residential real estate. He is also the author of From Renos to Riches . His work has been showcased on programs on HGTV and the W Network, including Take This House & Sell It ; Designer Superstar Challenge ; Rooms that Rock ; My Parents' House ; Real Reno's ; and Home to Stay . His work has also been showcased in House & Home magazine. Ian speaks on renovation at industry trade shows. For more information, visit www.flipschool.ca.