Thread: Nineteen and want to flip a house (No credit, yet)

I am 19 years old. I would like to flip a house, only problem. I have no credit, meaning I probably can't get a loan and I can't even get a credit card so
all the repairs would have to be out of pocket. Which is another problem, I've only been working since Oct 2011, and i will add I don't many hours per week.
So I don't have much in the bank, i try to save it all but i need to eat.

I am really handy. So I could most likely do some if not all (non major) repairs/upgrades, like replace flooring,
lights, ect.


What advice would you guys give me? What liabilties are there with flipping and selling? My neighbor is a RE agent so I could probably get a list of
cheap houses from her.

Don't have any experience in this field really, but I'd say the two problems I see...you need money to even start considering this and there is likely to be legal responsibility with any work done on the house, which means if there were any issues after flipping the house, assuming you can get someone to buy in the current market, the legal aspects would fall back to you.

if you have no money, and want to invest... what happens if you cant sell/rent the house?

then not only are you negative, but stuck with a house

BTW, i have 3 construction friends who do this on the side, and make 6 figures doing it, but they have the money to waste, and the skills to do it

yeah i don't want to be stuck with a house i can't pay for.

I never thought that i could rent it out. Still leaves me with finding start up money.
I wouldn't mess with Electrical, Gas or Water because of the liability, I would have to hire someone which would cost money.

So unfortunately, Its all just a dream for now

Do you have a parent that is willing to cosign a loan for you?

might be your best option. You gotta start somewhere GL

Originally Posted by SBasham

yeah i don't want to be stuck with a house i can't pay for.

I never thought that i could rent it out. Still leaves me with finding start up money.
I wouldn't mess with Electrical, Gas or Water because of the liability, I would have to hire someone which would cost money.

So unfortunately, Its all just a dream for now

the three friends are a union electrician, a union plumber, and a union sheetrocker.

they only buy houses that are destroyed/gutted, as the labor is all free

Yeah they might co sign.

But like what MrMikey said, if I'm stuck with the house and can't make the payment. 1. My credit score gets messed up. 2. My parents would be on the hook for the payment and they wouldn't like that

My father does construction, which is were I learned how to fix things, so if I make a battle plan and its good he may be willing to help me when he doesn't have work.

This is not a good economy to be trying to flip houses. They are likely to sit. And everyone wants a deal, so after you fix up a dump, people still want it at the original dump price. I know real estate agents and their clients with this problem right now.

The people who start in your position and become successful generally view it as temporary housing, not an investment. Find something you can live in while you fix it. Get a roommate (like a college kid who doesn't mind living in a dump under construction) to offset some of the costs. This way it's not a money pit, it's a residence which has the potential to make you money, but at least is a roof over your head. Once it's nice, either sell it or rent it out and move on to another project. You'll have better luck renting (people have to live) than selling (there's tons of inventory on the market and houses are not selling). Also, this is a cash market. Banks don't want to lend, especially on an investment property. This makes it hard on you and the person you're hoping to buy it after you refurb it.

Exactly ^^^^