Novice house flippers are often eager to pull the trigger on their first rehab investment. However, the real work of rehabbing doesn’t start when the property is purchased. The real work begins months before that with intensive research about the best places to buy and the property types that local buyers are looking for. Research is the name of the game, and house flippers who are most successful in the California marketplace are those who know what their buyers want.
Location First
Your real estate rehabbing research begins with location. You may want to limit yourself to homes that are within your own neighborhood. This is a common approach, and it definitely has its perks. However, if you have the means and ambition to look beyond your own backyard, you may find that there are neighborhoods on the other side of the state that are more ideally suited for rehab investing. Look for areas that are rising in popularity and where home prices are on the rise. Areas that have a fair number of foreclosed properties but growing interest from buyers are ideal. Cities that currently offer great opportunities for house flipping include San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, and Oakland.
Who is Buying?
Once you’ve decided where you would like to buy, the next step is figuring out who exactly is buying homes in this area and what those buyers are looking for. Standard features that homebuyers look for include good school districts, proximity to amenities, and proximity to jobs. Yet, these standards aren’t true of every area, and you may find in your research that your local homebuyers have other specific interests in mind.
What Features do Buyers Want?
According to a new report out of the National Association of Home Builders, some of the most important features to buyers of single family homes across the country this year include convenience, livability, and energy efficiency. Do the buyers in your area care deeply about double-pane windows? Or are they more interested in a walk-in closet in the master bedroom? Do they want double sinks in the master bath, or is an island in the kitchen more important? What’s true of one neighborhood may not be true of another, so do thorough research to see what’s currently available and what homebuyers are tending toward most strongly.
Get a head start on your research and on your investment by contacting ZINC Financial today at (559) 326-2509. With ZINC Financial as your residential rehab financing partner, we can work with you to identify opportune investments in your desired locations and provide you with the financing you’ll need in order to be successful.
