Someone asked me recently, what's one thing that I wish I knew 20 years ago when I started investing in real estate investing.
20 years ago. That’s way back y’all. But I have an answer.
I wish I had known how to fix and flip.
Fix and flip is the strategy of purchasing a property, renovating it, then selling it at a profit.
You can typically buy a property at a discount because of its condition.
It might have lapsed into disrepair due to abandonment or perhaps the current owner couldn’t pay for the upkeep.
Sometimes the property needs only some aesthetic updating but, more frequently, it requires major renovations.
In some cases, it might not be legal to occupy the house until you can prove you’ve made certain repairs.
After you fix up the property, the next step is to sell it as quickly as possible and at as much of a profit as possible.
I didn't start fixing and flipping until about eight years after buying my first property. When I started investing in 2000, I was just looking to own a building. For every bill that I had, I was looking for that cash flow. I was just building my portfolio.
I was only making $1200 every two weeks as a Police Officer, so I needed the cash flow at the time.
And then, once I learned how to fix and flip, it became a real game changer. I started making $1000, $60,000, $100,000, all at one time from one property.
If I had started fixing and flipping when I started investing, I would have reached my first million a lot sooner y’all.
And now, you know what I wish I knew.
You got no excuses.
Jemal