The Predator: Foreclosure Flipping Infomercials

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The Predator: Foreclosure Flipping Infomercials

March 29, 2007 at 9:17 pm | In Buying a House, Flip That House, Flip this House, Foreclosures, House Flipping, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Marketplace, Selling a House | 6 Comments

The Prey: Uninformed Average Joe or Jane trying to get rich quick.

The Bait: Attractive people and numbers too good to be true.

The Catch: It’s just not that easy.

We’ve all seen them, those real estate informercials with the older professional looking guy and the good looking man & woman asking stupid obviously scripted questions about buying and selling houses. The professional provides example after example of houses that were bought low and sold high. “Is it really that easy.” “Yes Bob, it really is that easy”…yada yada yada. Well I say its time we stop letting these vultures prey on ignorant, minimum wage, sleepless, people with promises of riches. PAY ATTENTION & PASS IT ON: REAL ESTATE INVESTING IS NOT EASY. It takes a lot of research and understanding of the market and the buying and selling process. Only if you are willing to invest your time into learning about foreclosures, and other types of real estate, should you attempt the business of foreclosure flipping. Many foreclosed properties are sold at courthouses on a weekly basis, but there is a reason you don’t see any average joe bidding on the homes. Typically you will see professional investors at these auctions because it requires a lot of experience to know what to bid. You’ll almost never get to check out the inside of the foreclosed home before the auction, so you will not know what condition it truly is in. You also need to research whether the previous owner has any debt, because it is possible that by buying a house at auction you could incurr this debt. If you are planning on living in the home while you fix it up to sell, be careful what you buy. The foreclosures can be next to uninhabitable before they receive repairs. Also, be prepaired to pay at least 10% of the bid the day of the auction, as well as financing a mortgage within 30 days. Most banks will not help you when foreclosed property is involved.

There is a whole lot that you need to think about before dialing that 800 number. Most of which is not even mentioned above. You do not want to find yourself in an even worse financial situation. With all this said of course I still encourage any business entrepreneur to chase that ultimate flip. Just, BE CAREFUL, and fully research everything you are getting yourself into. Good luck!

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Cheers

Marko Fando

Comment by markofando — October 2, 2007 #
Hello
I really enjoy reading this blog. I agree with you, there is no reason not to be a business enterepreneur, but you have to be real careful out there. what me and my husband do is we hired a http://www.homeinspectionspecialist.com to inspect all the properties for us before we buy them, so we know what the cost will be not only for upgrading to flip but also maintain. i look forward to all the updates.

Jessica Cohen

Comment by Jessica Cohen — January 22, 2008 #
Would you like to build your own wealth in the current real estate market? Attend the American Entrepreneur Seminar in one of our convenient Washington, DC metro area locations, and be trained by Armando Montelongo, star of A&E’s hottest show “Flip this House.” You will be taught several strategies, including: 1) How to create your own high-profit flipping machine in today’s market. 2) Discover how to become rich from the 2008 foreclosure opportunity. 3) Learn strategies that generate 16-34% return approved by the government. 4) How to buy and profit from bank-owned properties with little or no money out-of-pocket. 5) How to put an extra $7,000 to $12,000 in your pocket in just 30-90 days. 6) How to profit in and identify real estate markets hitting rock bottom Seminars in the Washington, DC area May 28-31. Visit http://buildingwealthforme.com/ for more information.

Comment by American Entrepreneur Seminar — May 21, 2008 #
I agree with you, flipping is not easy. The TV shows are all fake and those guys are making their money off selling bogus courses, not flipping. There’s no get rich quick program worth buying. You can learn everything you need at the library. Check out my site, I am a San Antonio real estate investor and there’s tons of before and after pictures of my projects as well as helpful tips and online resources. http://www.tomtarrant.com

Tom Tarrant

Comment by Tom Tarrant — May 26, 2008 #
Even though those infomercials seem like scams there are definately tons of people make significant money buying selling foreclosures.

Check out our Foreclosed Home Buying Guides to learn more.

Comment by Foreclose Home Investing — June 3, 2008 #
You can definitely make money flipping houses, but it definitely isn’t as easy as they make it look on TV. There’s a lot that a novice investor could easily overlook so it’s only smart to work with a professional that knows what they’re doing.

Of course you won’t make as much on your first few deals while you learn the ropes, but the money you’ll save on mistakes will more than make up for it.

Comment by Sharon Salisbury — October 14, 2008 #