The Complete Guide to Flipping Properties

Rating:
Summary: Flipping is a State of Mind not a State of Being
Review: Go through my catalog of book reviews and this will seem wildly out of place. However, my wife really really wants to buy a house. So I've picked up a good pile of books on purchasing a home, renovating a home and ... yes ... flipping a home.

My father was in the development business when I was growing up, so I've had the opportunity to be with houses from breaking ground to opening. I think I have a good eye for potential and love the creativity of improving a space.

So, my wife really wants a show house. It's a long story, but she really does. Given that we both own our own businesses and that those businesses are pretty young, I didn't feel comfortable adding a lot to our debt load.

So I convinced her to look at some less "show housey" houses. Let's just say that it didn't go over really well.

But I come from two families of creative thinkers and I thought, "What if we treated the first house or two like investments, rather than like homes?"

One puts a lot of emotional stock in their home ... but they can be more pragmatic about an investment. The concept took a while to get through to my wife, but now she is fully on-board.
Then I started reading ... I'm reading about six books at the same time. This is the first to be finished.

Steve Berges has written a concise entry-level book on flipping properties. He gets into some of the valuation of flipping. His methodologies are simplistic and geared towards the numbers only. I don't think he fully appreciates that artistic eye that it takes to see a house that has potential versus one that merely can be fixed up.

There's a bit of rah-rah in this, which I'm finding in a lot of these real-estate books. The end chapter is mostly rah-rah in fact. But this book is very helpful in getting the interested reader focused on the subject at hand.

Indeed, none of the books I've seen thus far will give you all the answers you want. But they will help you focus.

Rating:
Summary: Flipping is a State of Mind not a State of Being
Review: Go through my catalog of book reviews and this will seem wildly out of place. However, my wife really really wants to buy a house. So I've picked up a good pile of books on purchasing a home, renovating a home and ... yes ... flipping a home.

My father was in the development business when I was growing up, so I've had the opportunity to be with houses from breaking ground to opening. I think I have a good eye for potential and love the creativity of improving a space.

So, my wife really wants a show house. It's a long story, but she really does. Given that we both own our own businesses and that those businesses are pretty young, I didn't feel comfortable adding a lot to our debt load.

So I convinced her to look at some less "show housey" houses. Let's just say that it didn't go over really well.

But I come from two families of creative thinkers and I thought, "What if we treated the first house or two like investments, rather than like homes?"

One puts a lot of emotional stock in their home ... but they can be more pragmatic about an investment. The concept took a while to get through to my wife, but now she is fully on-board.
Then I started reading ... I'm reading about six books at the same time. This is the first to be finished.

Steve Berges has written a concise entry-level book on flipping properties. He gets into some of the valuation of flipping. His methodologies are simplistic and geared towards the numbers only. I don't think he fully appreciates that artistic eye that it takes to see a house that has potential versus one that merely can be fixed up.

There's a bit of rah-rah in this, which I'm finding in a lot of these real-estate books. The end chapter is mostly rah-rah in fact. But this book is very helpful in getting the interested reader focused on the subject at hand.

Indeed, none of the books I've seen thus far will give you all the answers you want. But they will help you focus.

Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: Good information on the subject especially for a newbie. It offers some new ideas for the seasoned prof but don't expect too much. May be lacking on intense analysis but I reccomend it for all.

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as his first book
Review: His book on flipping properties is not nearly as good as his "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings."

I really liked his first book, and when I saw this one on the bookshelf, I picked it up without hesitation. To my dismay, this book doesn't do its job getting a REI newbie off the starting blocks, and it definitely doesn't give any additional information to the flippers who have been in the business for a while.

My advice is to skim through this one while you are at the bookstore, and then put it back on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as his first book
Review: His book on flipping properties is not nearly as good as his "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings."

I really liked his first book, and when I saw this one on the bookshelf, I picked it up without hesitation. To my dismay, this book doesn't do its job getting a REI newbie off the starting blocks, and it definitely doesn't give any additional information to the flippers who have been in the business for a while.

My advice is to skim through this one while you are at the bookstore, and then put it back on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Very misleading title, unoriginal content
Review: I bought William Bronchick's Flipping Properties book, so I thought I'd buy this one too see if it had any additional tips. On the topic of flipping, it had very little. The first thing I noticed is that Berges uses exactly the same 3 phrases to describe flippers as Bronchick did - Scout, Dealer & Retailer. I am thinking to myself, "isn't this some kind of plaigarism?"

Second, the book does not cover anything about the new FHA "anti-flipping" rules. It does not even discuss the legal vs. illegal flipping debate.

Third, the book has two full chapters on personal development and motivational material. If I wanted that, I would have bought a Tony Robbins book!

Fourth, the only legal forms the appendix contains are property inspection checklist and a TX board of realtors form. That's about 16 pages of blank "standard" broker forms that aren't even filled out by example.

All in all, a few good tips, but certainly far from the "COMPLETE" guide to flipping properties. If you're looking for something to supplement Bronchick's book, look elsewhere!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Realistic approach to flipping.
Review: I just finished reading this book and I must say the author Steve Berges has done it again! I read his book about buying and selling apartment buildings which was very well written, so I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't disappointed as Berges really delivers on the topic of flipping. Not only does he describe in detail the underlying theory about the different types of flipping, but he supports it with actual examples.

My three favorite chapters were Chs 3, 6, and 11. In Ch 3, Berges describes what he refers to as "the value play strategy" which basically has to do with creating value in investment properties and turning them for a profit. Ch 6 was an excellent chapter focusing on several examples which used detailed financial analysis to help really understand how to value properties. Most of all, he explains how to know when to buy a property or when to pass on it. The last chapter of the book, Ch 11, was not so much about real estate as it was about how to succeed in life, regardless of your chosen career path. Well done and inspiring.

I really like this book because it leaves you feeling good about yourself and about your ability to accomplish your goals. In my opinion, the book is a must read for anyone interested in learning about flipping properties.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Realistic approach to flipping.
Review: I just finished reading this book and I must say the author Steve Berges has done it again! I read his book about buying and selling apartment buildings which was very well written, so I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't disappointed as Berges really delivers on the topic of flipping. Not only does he describe in detail the underlying theory about the different types of flipping, but he supports it with actual examples.

My three favorite chapters were Chs 3, 6, and 11. In Ch 3, Berges describes what he refers to as "the value play strategy" which basically has to do with creating value in investment properties and turning them for a profit. Ch 6 was an excellent chapter focusing on several examples which used detailed financial analysis to help really understand how to value properties. Most of all, he explains how to know when to buy a property or when to pass on it. The last chapter of the book, Ch 11, was not so much about real estate as it was about how to succeed in life, regardless of your chosen career path. Well done and inspiring.

I really like this book because it leaves you feeling good about yourself and about your ability to accomplish your goals. In my opinion, the book is a must read for anyone interested in learning about flipping properties.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Book by Berges!
Review: I read Berges' book The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartments about a year ago or so and liked it so well I couldn't wait for him to come out with another book. His book on Flipping is every bit as good as the book on apartments. Berges provides a comprehensive and complete approach to anyone interested in buying and selling houses. He wrote about a similar topic, which he referred to as "the value play" in his apartment book. In the flipping properties book, Berges applies the value play strategy, which is to buy, add value, and sell, all in a very short period of time. The idea is to get in, get out, and make money!

Although Berges covers one of the same topics Bronchick does, he does it in a different way which gives the reader another perspective. Authors write about similar topics all the time. There's nothing wrong with this. Berges also covered several topics that Bronchick did not. No harm there either. It's pretty clear to me that judging by their writing styles and backgrounds, Berges likes the finance end of real estate while Bronchick prefers the legal end. Maybe the two should consider teaming up!

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Book by Berges!
Review: I read Berges' book The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartments about a year ago or so and liked it so well I couldn't wait for him to come out with another book. His book on Flipping is every bit as good as the book on apartments. Berges provides a comprehensive and complete approach to anyone interested in buying and selling houses. He wrote about a similar topic, which he referred to as "the value play" in his apartment book. In the flipping properties book, Berges applies the value play strategy, which is to buy, add value, and sell, all in a very short period of time. The idea is to get in, get out, and make money!

Although Berges covers one of the same topics Bronchick does, he does it in a different way which gives the reader another perspective. Authors write about similar topics all the time. There's nothing wrong with this. Berges also covered several topics that Bronchick did not. No harm there either. It's pretty clear to me that judging by their writing styles and backgrounds, Berges likes the finance end of real estate while Bronchick prefers the legal end. Maybe the two should consider teaming up!