Is Flipping Cars For You?

Many think that buying and reselling cars and other items is a simple and quick way of making a few dollars. First, before you walk down this path, you must acknowledge a simple fact: not everyone is cut out to be a (flipper). If you are one of the folks in this majority, do not despair. There are other ways to make money. The purpose here is to help you determine whether or not flipping is for you, and do so with out losing much money. If you are it will give you a beginning nest egg to invest from.

Step one - Pull $1000 out of your savings account. If you don't have $1000 in savings then you should not be flipping! If you are willing to lose, then you should not even be considering flipping, so having the backup dollars is vital.

Step Two - Begin scanning the papers, look around as you take different routes home from work, look at the auction adds for your area, and look on ebay for a CAR! What do you do if you do not know how to tell what is wrong with a car? A reliable auto mechanic can quickly tell you if the car is worth buying. I would not know what to look for. What if the car breaks down and cannot be repaired?" My answer to these types of questions is, if you don't know enough about the basics of a car, then maybe you should look for something else to flip. If on the other hand you are willing to take a little gamble and say you purchase a car for $600, if the car can't be fixed or isn't drivable, then you only lost $600. It's called a gamble, you will find that sometimes you loose and sometimes you win.

On the buying side you will learn that negotiating is how you make a good deal. While in possession of the car you will find out quickly how to negotiate with contractors (mechanics), how to evaluate a mechanics work, how to fix what is necessary vs. what is extra, and how to live with some of your money at risk.

Finally, you will learn quickly how to market a product for sale whether on your own or utilizing an outside sales agent. Through it all you will learn whether or not you are cut out for flipping. If during the process you find you do not like this whole flipping thing. Drive the car, or tow it to the nearest junk yard. If you drive it in, they may give you $100-$200 dollars for a running car. Now you are done with it, you only lost a few hundred bucks, and you can scratch flipping of your list of possible investment options . If you like it, keep repeating the process. Do not take your profit and move up to a more expensive vehicle until you have done about 10. The next step before that would be taking the profit from 3 or 4, and doing multiple cars at once.

On a personal note, I have a close acquaintance who didn't know the first thing about flipping cars but started out slowly and with $500 that he classified as his (Gambling Money). The first purchase he made was a 1981 Honda Civic for which he paid $450. He gave the car a $5.00 wash including spraying off the engine. He then cleaned the car thoroughly inside and out and topped it off with a wax and buffing job. He then placed the car for sale in an online newspaper classified section for $1500 and advertised the automobile as the perfect student car. Within a couple of hours he had received over 15 emails and calls and by the end of the day had negotiated a deal at $1200. One vital thing he learned as he continued to Flip cars is to never get greedy. He never overpaid thinking he just had to have a car on hand to sell. Instead, he carefully searched and waited for the good deal to come along before he would make another purchase.

To this day, he is still flipping care and has added motorcycles, boats etc to the list of possible products to resell. If you are cautious and observant and are willing to be patient, you too can have success flipping and putting some extra dollars in your pocket.