People Who Had Foreclosures During Housing Bubble
A LOT of people went through foreclosures when the housing bubble popped in 2008.
Some of these people are able to qualify for a mortgage again now.
Fannie Mae
If people that went through foreclosures can show documentation to show that some extenuating circumstance lead to them losing their home, Fannie Mae will let them apply for another mortgage just three years after the foreclosure.
Outside of that, Fannie Mae makes people wait seven years.
FHA
But if a lender doesn’t sell their loans to Fannie Mae, people may not have to wait at all to apply for another mortgage.
For example, with FHA, people can apply for another mortgage within 3 years of their primary mortgage going into foreclosure.
But just like with Fannie Mae, if they can prove that “extenuating circumstances” lead to them losing their home, they might be able to get a mortgage even sooner than three years.
So in a nutshell, there are quite a few people in the marketplace that went through foreclosures that can qualify for mortgages again.
Combine that with super low interest rates that are in the marketplace right now, and you can see that there’s a lot of opportunity out here for flipping properties right now.
First-Time Home Buyers
Traditionally, first-time home buyers make up about 30-to-40 percent of all of the homes that are bought in this county.
That number has dipped a few percentages recently, but they’re still a big enough segment for you to target.
They Want What You Have
Another good thing about first-time home buyers, is that they tend to shy away from homes that need improvements done to them.
That’s good news for you; the home you’ll have available will be newly renovated.
You Might Want to Stay Close to Home
One thing I like about living in metro Detroit is that we have so many different cities within close proximity to us.
So if one city isn’t ideal for flipping, we have ten or more other options.
Drive the Target Area… Literally.
If you’re not already familiar with the area you want to operate in, you want to physically drive the neighborhoods.
It’s crucial that you get a feel for what areas to avoid, and what areas are desirable.
You don’t want to waste time and gas going to physically drive by each and every house lead.
Google Maps
To save time and gas, we rely on our knowledge of the area and Google Maps to qualify (or disqualify) leads quickly.
You can go to the Google search box, enter the address of the property, and it’ll give you a fairly recent “Street View” of the property.
If you don’t like the area, move on to the next lead.
OK, I got a little off-topic, sorry about that.
Let’s get back to addressing your question on flipping in this economy.