The Ultimate 24-Point House Flip Checklist So You Don't Screw Up Your Profit

Hey there. I hope you're having an awesome day and thank you so much for spending some time with me. On this quick tip episode, I'm giving you my exact 24 step checklist that I use to go through when I'm sizing up a potential house to flip. It is my, should I flip this freaking house or not? Checklist. alright, stay tuned.

You're listening to the flip houses like a girl podcast where we educate, empower, and celebrate everyday women who are facing their fears, juggling family and business, embracing their awesomeness and wholeheartedly chasing their dream of flipping houses. Each episode delivers honest to goodness tools, tips and strategies you can implement today to get closer to your first or next successful house flip. Here's your spiky-haired breakfast taco loving host house flipping coach, Debbie DeBerry.

alright, check it out. So we are talking all about my 24 point should I flip this freaking house checklist? Okay, so this is exactly the thought process and the checklist and the exercise that I go through when I am looking at a potential house to flip. Okay? The first thing we're doing on your way to the property, you need to be checking things out. What are the streets like? Are there potholes? Are they, are there tons of speed bumps? Like just what are the streets like? Also, what are the houses like leading up to the House that you are checking out as a potential flip? Are the houses well kept? Are they all super trashed? Are they boarded up? The way you feel when you're approaching the property is the way your potential buyers will feel. And do you remember my number one secret to being wildly successful at flipping houses? It is give buyers what they want, where they want it. That's it. That is so simple. So you're going to want to investigate any route that a potential buyer might take to arrive at that property. Okay? So in order to check off this first item, you need to investigate all routes that lead to the house. Okay, awesome. alright. Number two, when you pull up, you're looking at curb appeal. Well, I'm looking at curb appeal. That's the second thing I do. I check it out and I'm like, okay, awesome. What are some quick and easy things that I can do to help this house really pop? Okay. The third thing, when I get out of the vehicle, I am listening. I am thinking, I ask myself, what do I hear? Do I hear trains? Do I hear airplanes? Do I hear sirens? Because I'm right down the road from a firehouse . What do I hear? Do I hear constant highway noise? All of those things may know . All of those things are highly likely to reduce or shrink your buyer pool. Okay? And again, we want to appeal to the masses because we are trying to minimize our risk everywhere we can. So we're choosing the right house to flip. Okay? alright. So the third thing was what do I hear now before thing? I walk inside and I'm immediately looking at how can I improve the floor plan? Which walls can I take down? Which rooms can I make bigger? Which rooms can I bring in more light to which rooms can I make feel more open, more spacious? What things can I do to the floor plan to make it more functional than it is. The fifth thing I do, and this kind of goes hand in hand with the previous one, but it also includes some other stuff. So the fifth thing I do is I look at where can I easily add value? Man, I'm the queen of this. I love to be super sneaky in capture value in ways that most people aren't thinking about doing it. Most people look at a house and you know think, okay I'm going to fix it up. I'm going to do some cosmetic stuff and I'm going to sell it. I am always trying to improve the house, not just with upgrades. I'm trying to improve the functionality and I'm trying to improve the footprint. So for example, a lot of the houses that I flip have laundry hookups that are in the garage. It happens to be though in a location that's really easy to capture as additional square footage. So if I can add some walls and add another HVAC duct line, then I've got a heated and cooled interior space and I've added maybe a hundred square feet to the square footage. Okay. But that's an easy win. Plus I'm in central Texas, I don't want to do laundry in the garage when it feels like 140 degrees in there. Okay. So by bringing the laundry room inside, I'm giving the buyer a better experience with the house. Okay. alright. So the sixth thing that I look at is the foundation. I have a little baggy of marbles in my truck and I've always done this since I've actually, since I got into real estate 16 years ago, I carry little marbles. So anytime I go into a house, I take a marble with me and I put it on the floor and I see if it rolls. So I want to know is the foundation off, is it level , and how in level is it? Now if I can't feel it as much, but the marble picks it up, then it's probably within tolerable limits. Now. That said, I can pretty much feel any foundation that's often super sensitive to it, so I don't necessarily have to use the marble anymore, but I still have a little bag in marbles and my son likes to do it, so that's fun . alright, so you want to feel it right? You want to see what does it feel like when I walk across it throughout the house. You're also looking at the walls. Are there diagonal cracks, diagonal stress cracks especially around windows and doorframes because that is a telltale sign that you've got some foundation issues going on. The seventh thing that I look at and consider is the condition of the interior walls. Okay. Again, since I've already just been looking for diagonal cracks to give me a clue as to whether there is some foundation stuff going on, I'm looking at do I need to patch any holes? What is the existing texture on the walls? Is it this like the starburst? Is it orange peel? What is it? Is it minimal? What is the existing texture? So I'm investigating the condition of the walls. alright. The eighth thing that I am looking at is I'm looking at the age and the condition of the windows. For the most part, I am replacing all windows in my projects for a few reasons. The main one being that it is so much easier for us to do it when we are renovating these houses, they end up put that on the future homeowner because we've already got walls opened up. We've already, you know, we're already about to paint the interior. We're already doing the work, so I am going to replace the windows and I'm not going to put that on the buyer 95% at a time. Now if the windows are in good shape, then I won't replace them. But for the most part, the windows on the houses that I do are, you know, circa 60s or 70s and single pane and just not great. Not efficient at all. So I'm replacing them. Okay. The next thing that I'm looking at, which also plays into where I can easily add and how I can improve the floor plan. I'm looking at the kitchen, what can I do to make this kitchen? Wow. People, kitchens and bathrooms sell , right? What can I do to get that wow factor in this kitchen? And then that leads to number 10 and that's the bathrooms. What can I do in the bathrooms to do the same thing? And then I'm looking at the bedroom sizes. So the 11 thing on my list, I'm looking at bedroom sizes and potentially, you know, can I improve the floor plan? Is it a four two right now, a four bedroom, two bathroom, and with a smaller master. But I could capture the space of an adjacent bedroom and make it a three too . But make it even more valuable than it would be as a four too because it's a bigger master. These are things I'm constantly thinking about when I'm looking at houses. And you've got to get in the practice of this. Don't just look at things on the surface, really think it through and think, how can I make this the best freaking house possible? What can I do? How can I overdeliver to my future buyer? So now we're going to get into more of the systems and the structural things, so number 13 I'm going to check out the water heater. I'm going to look and see how old is it, what size is it? Am I going to have to replace that? And then number 13 I'm looking at the HVAC system, so I'm looking at the outside ac unit and the interior furnace. That might be different where you live. This is specific to my market, so wherever your furnace is or wherever your air conditioner is, inspect those. Okay. alright. The 14th thing on my list is I'm looking at the electrical panel. I need to know if I'm going to have to upgrade it. Is it a 200 amp system or not? Because if it's not, then I'm going to upgrade it to be a 200 amp system. Number 15 I'm looking at the plumbing drain lines and supply lines as much as I can at this point. Now I don't have an inspector with me yet, right? I'm just investigating the house, but a clue that I might have to replace drain lines, especially in my market is if I'm doing extensive foundation work, if I'm having to bring a foundation, you know, five inches up on one side to make it more level, then you better believe you're likely going to have cracked drain pipes and you're going to replace all of the drain lines. And that adds easily 10 15 grand to a project. So if my, if I already know that I need foundation work and it's a considerable amount, I'm already assuming that I'm replacing drain lines. Okay . Number 16 I'm looking at the roof. What's the condition of the roof? Am I going to need to replace it? And then the gutters. So number 17 is the gutters and then I'm still outside. Now I'm looking at the siding . So number 18 I'm looking at the condition of the siding . What is the material and what is the condition? Is it asbestos and is it chipping, is it in bad shape? Is this going to require an abatement or is it brick exterior? And are there cracks, diagonal cracks along the route lines or along the bricks? What is the condition of the existing siding? Does it need to be replaced or can it just be repaired? Number 19 I'm looking at the condition of any decks or Patios. How are the boards? How are the railings? Number 20 I'm looking at patio covers, so do I have a flat ish roof patio with a different kind of roof then the main house and if so, what's the condition of that? Too many times I've had to just rip them all off and start over, which is fine. I just need to know to account for that. Right. All repairs are fine. There is nothing off limits for me. I just want to make sure that I am accounting for it and frankly I actually love and prefer the bigger projects. Why? Because there are fewer surprises. If I'm accounting for replacing everything and starting from scratch, it's really hard to be surprised, so that's just my preference. Okay. Number 21 I'm inspecting any outbuildings and checking if I'm going to have to do any repairs to them or if they are fine, maybe I'll just need to paint them and they'll be excellent. Or if they're old metal ones, they usually just need to be ripped out because they're all rusty anyway. Number 22 I'm checking out the landscaping, what's the existing landscaping like and can I easily improve it? Can I clean it up? Are there overgrown brushes or shrubs? What can I do easily with the landscaping? And then number 23 kind of plays into that trees. What are the tree limbs doing? Because trimming up trees can add up quickly. And I just want to know again, what am I getting myself into? And then the last thing that I look at is the driveway. Is it in good condition or am I gonna have to rip out this concrete and start all over? alright, so that's my 24.0 my gosh, should I flip this Rican house checklist? You are free to take that, put it all to your use or take bits and pieces of it. Either way. You have some really great actionable items that you can do and you can use intake for your own. alright? So then next time you go investigate a property, do so with these 24 items in mind, I hope you feel more informed now and empowered to go take some action. Okay. Now, if you are enjoying this podcast, will you do me a huge favor? Will you subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it, and also leave a rating and review because it really helps us reach more like minded women like you. And remember my ultimate goal with this podcast. If I can instill in just one more woman out there that she absolutely can flip houses successfully and have the business and life of her dreams, that is my ultimate goal. Why? Because the ripple effect of that is that she has a kid or a grandkid or a niece or nephew that's watching a woman take control and do big things. alright? Go out there, flip houses like a girl, and we'll see you on the next episode. Bye.