LIST IT or FLIP IT
Happy Sunday!
I just came from my gym where they had that TV show, “LOVE IT or LIST IT” on like 3 or 4 televisions. It must be very popular, because it seems like it’s running 24/7 on multiple channels.
The storyline is always the same.
1. Homeowners have trained contractors / real estate professionals come to their home, evaluate it and provide price of what it will likely sell for “as is.”
2. Next, the homeowners are given a new price they could likely sell their home for if they have the contractors fix up and stage the home for them.
3. Of course, the homeowners on the show always pick to have their home fixed up.
4. In the end, the homeowners see their home looking awesome, and have to decide if they are going to LIST IT to get the top price, or LOVE IT and stay in the home now that it has been fixed up.
Of course, this is reality TV, and much of what happens is staged in a way to create an interesting storyline, as opposed to real life scenarios.
But there is an important lesson for homeowners in this show.
Most homeowners, when they go to list their home for sale, sell it “as is,” and miss out on tens of thousands of dollars in profits.
When I say “as is” I am not referring to owners who say they are not going to do home inspection repairs, I’m referring to homeowners who just hire a real estate agent, and list their home as it is today.
When I first started buying and selling homes 15 years ago, I did so purely as an investor and I loved to find homeowners selling their homes “as is.”
I gained experience and market knowledge so that I could I quickly identify homes that, with inexpensive improvements and strategic staging, could resell for tens of thousands of dollars more.
In other words, these homes could be flipped, because the seller left a bunch of profit on the table.
In my first couple of years of being a licensed realtor, I worked almost entirely with investors. They liked to hire me because I thought like them, understood their goals and concerns, and was good at hunting out opportunities.
Fast forward to today. I still help others flip homes, but now my focus is helping homeowners FLIP their own home.
In other words, I help homeowners sell their home for tens of thousands of dollars more if they follow our advice and make some strategic (and often simple) improvements to their home.
I have contractor and interior design relationships, just like they do on those HGTV shows, and we can do amazing work for far less than what most people pay for such improvements.
If homeowners don’t have the funds to make the necessary improvements, we even have ways the homeowners can avoid spending money until the home closes.
The results speak for themselves.
You’ve seen the TV shows.
The last home we did this with, we were able to raise the sale price an additional $50,000, with an investment of $7,800. That was a solid flip for that homeowner.
This also works in ALL price ranges.
But every day, without fail, I see homeowners LIST their home “as is”, instead of “flipping” their home.
I constantly see homeowners having to “lowering their list price” when they could have sold for tens of thousands more weeks earlier if they had just made some strategic improvements before they listed it.
It’s hard to watch. So much so that I won’t list a house anymore unless I have a conversation with the homeowner about whether or not they prefer to “LIST IT or FLIP IT.”
Depending on their budget and timeline, my team, which includes contractors and interior designers, helps them come up with a plan to get the most bang for their buck.
This is what professional home flippers do, and it’s same thing I help homeowners do.
It’s just like the television show, but without all the fake drama, and sometimes the improvements needed are very minor in comparison.
If you would like my team to evaluate your home and learn what you could flip it for, just reach out to me. I’m happy to come over.
It’s best to have those conversations sooner rather than later, because it can take some time to get your home ready to flip. Those TV shows that get everything done in a weekend are fantasy. It’s not realistic.
It’s your call, but my advice for you and others is to think more like an investor when it comes to selling your home.
You can List it.
Or, you can Flip it.
Cheers,
– Mike T.
P.S. If you are NOT looking to sell, but want to make some significant improvements to your current home, I know lenders that specialize in remodel loans which might be a great way for you to cover the costs of your project. (That is how I put in a new kitchen in my home few years ago.) Just reach out if you need some recommendations.
Mike Turner
Co-Founder: Impact Club Boise
Host: Idaho Speakeasy
Collaborator: Value Drive Approach
Founder: Front Street Brokers
Author: Agent Entrepreneurs
Voice: 208-340-8399