Flipping Houses In Illinois

How To Flip Houses In Illinois

November 22, 2023

Produced by:
Richard Stevens

Richard Stevens is an active real estate investor with over 8 years of industry experience. He specializes in researching topics that appeal to real estate investors and building calculators that can help property investors understand the expected costs and returns when executing real estate deals.

Illinois has become increasingly popular with real estate investors in recent years. With more than 12 million people and a particularly healthy real estate market, The Prairie State is filled with attractive suburbs that are well suited to property flippers. 

When describing the cost of homes in Chicago specifically, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings (director of University of Illinois’ Real Economics Applications Laboratory) described them as ‘the best bargain in North America’. Unlike the West and East Coast, homes in Chicago are still affordable for working class and middle class Americans. 

Now let’s take a more detailed look at how to flip houses in Illinois.

Illinois House Flipping Stats

Median Purchase Price

$84,380

Median Resale Price

$131,070

Average Revenue

$46,690

Price Per Square Foot

$148

Illinois Population Size

12,671,821

Median Household Income

$63,575

High School Graduation

88,9%

Travel Time To Work

29 Mins

Best Cities for Flipping Houses In Illinois

  1. Chicago
  2. Aurora
  3. Naperville
  4. Joliet
  5. Rockford

Safest Areas In Illinois

  1. Wheaton – Safety Score: 90.43
  2. Palatine – Safety Score: 90.17
  3. Hoffman Estates – Safety Score: 90.16
  4. Arlington Heights – Safety Score: 89.96
  5. Mount Prospect – Safety Score: 89.49

Please note – All the statistics in this article are based on 2020 data. You can view the data sources at the bottom of the article.

The Basics Of Flipping Houses In Illinois

  • Find a property in Illinois that is undervalued
  • Source funding from a reputable lender
  • Buy the property for a price that makes it possible to generate profit when it is resold
  • Complete renovations that will increase the after repair value
  • Find buyers for the property and sell it for a healthy profit margin

How To Find Houses To Flip In Illinois

1. Use FlipScout By New Silver

FlipScout is a free tool that helps you find most profitable real estate investments using data and intelligence. Find a property to flip or rent out anywhere in the country.

2. Leverage The Power of Wholesalers

Finding a good wholesaler can be very rewarding for a property flipper. Wholesalers tend to have access to all the most relevant property databases, and they often have unique personal networks. By using a wholesaler, you effectively gain inside access to their knowledge of properties in Illinois.

3. Attend Bank Auctions

Bank auctions often present opportunities to purchase properties below their market value. This is mainly because banks hold these auctions in order to sell the properties as fast as possible. If you attend bank auctions with a clearly defined strategy, you can potentially walk away with a new property that fits in perfectly with your investment portfolio.

4. Use Direct Mail To Find Off-Market Properties

Although it is considered an old school technique, direct mail can still yield positive results for house flippers. Direct mail has been shown to have a higher response rate than email, and numerous studies have shown that people actually enjoy checking their mailboxes. More importantly, you might be surprised by how many people have considered selling their homes. Your letter could be the trigger that they have been waiting for.

5. Sign Up To The Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

Even though MLS listings can be competitive, it is still a good avenue for finding properties to flip. The MLS is literally a database created by real estate agents, and it is filled with property details and statistics that can help aid your research process. There is a fee involved, but one deal is all you need to comfortably cover the costs.

6. Find Foreclosures

When properties fall into foreclosure, the primary goal of the loan originator is to recoup any potential losses. This is good news for house flippers, because properties in foreclosure often sell for less than their market value. If you are able to locate foreclosure opportunities in Illinois, there’s a good chance you will be able to purchase a property for less than its market value. This is why foreclosure can serve as a great platform for a potential flip.

Illinois Housing Market Analysis

House Flippers Are Selecting Mid-To-Lower End Houses: There is a significant gap between the median home value in Illinois ($218,271) and the median resale price for house flips in Illinois ($131,070). This suggests that investors are generally focusing on the mid-to-lower end of the market where it may be more common to find poorly maintained properties.

It’s also worth pointing out that property flippers in Illinois are generating approximately $46,690 in revenue per flip. This is substantially less than other states in the US, where it is common to generate more than $60,000 per flip.

Home Values Have Appreciated By 5.8%: According to Zillow, home values in Illinois appreciated by 9.5% over the last year. Moreover, property prices have been steadily increasing since late 2012.

Despite taking a small dip when covid-19 first arrived in the US, the Illinois real estate market has responded well since then. Historically low interest rates have increased demand for homes, while the supply of houses hasn’t increased proportionally. This is a recipe for continued home appreciation, at least in the short term.

Choose Areas With Good Schools And Plenty of Job Opportunities: Suburbs surrounding good schools tend to hold their value, even during trying economic times. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to review the education facilities of the area that you are thinking about investing in.

In addition to good schools, employment opportunities can also influence the economic stability of an area, and by extension, the stability of the housing market. On this point, Glencoe, Winnekta and Western Springs are just some of the many areas in Illinois with very strong employment statistics. The city of Chicago is also the economic hub of Illinois, and will likely attract home buyers and renters for many years to come. 

Homes In Illinois Are Cheaper Than The National Average: The average home value in Illinois is $218,271. This is considerably less than the average home value in the United States, which is approximately $266,222. 

The lower cost of homes in Illinois is good news for first time flippers, because it reduces the amount of capital needed for a down payment and the total loan amount needed to purchase the property. In other words, the barrier to entry in Illinois is quite low, and this bodes well for beginners. 

Apply For An Investment Property Loan

If you’re ready to start your house flipping journey, New Silver Lending can provide the capital you need to fund your first flip. We offer ultra fast hard money loans with competitive interest rates and quick closing times. The entire application can be completed in less than 10 minutes.

Next Steps

If you’re committed to flipping houses in Illinois, the next step is to invest time and energy into finding the best possible property. We have outlined a number of methods in this post, and all of them can potentially bear fruit. 

Once you have identified a property, using a reputable Hard Money lender like New Silver can help accelerate the house flipping process. Our company is built on speed, efficiency and user-friendly technology. The online application can be completed in less than 10 minutes, and we offer instant proof of funds letters to all of our clients.

Property Flipping Resources

Hard Money Loan Calculator: Analyze the costs of your next flip in detail with our hard money calculator.

ARV Calculator: Workout the After Repair Value of the property that you are hoping to flip.

Resources Used In This Post

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