Flipping Houses In Washington

How To Flip Houses In Washington

November 23, 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.

The state of Washington is home to some of the richest people in the world, including Bill Gates of Microsoft, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Howard Schults of Starbucks. More importantly, the median household income ($70,116) is higher than most states in the US, which helps to stabilize the property market in the Evergreen state. 

 

As a fix and flip investor, it may be in your best interests to install top notch security systems, given that many cities in Washington score poorly on common safety rating measurements. You will also need ready access to capital, given that homes in Washington are significantly more expensive than most parts of the US. 

Now let’s take a more detailed look at how to flip house in Washington.

Washington House Flipping Stats

Median Purchase Price

$220,100

Median Resale Price

$325,660

Average Revenue

$105,570

Price Per Square Foot

$237

Washington Population Size

7,614,893

Median Household Income

$70,116

High School Graduation

91,1%

Travel Time To Work

27.6 Mins

Best Cities for Flipping Houses In Washington

  1. Seattle
  2. Spokane
  3. Tacoma
  4. Vancouver
  5. Bellevue

Safest Areas In Washington

  1. Sammamish- Safety Score: 86.07
  2. Kirkland – Safety Score: 82.00
  3. Pasco – Safety Score: 79.16
  4. Shoreline – Safety Score: 78.82
  5. Richland – Safety Score: 77.83

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 Washington

  • Find a property in Washington that is undervalued
  • Source funding from a reputable hard money lender in Washington
  • 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 Washington

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 Washington.

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 Washington, 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.

Washington Housing Market Analysis

House Flippers Are Selecting Mid To Lower End Houses: The median home value in Washington ($465,386) is considerably more than the median resale value for house flips ($325,660). This indicates that house flippers are focusing on relatively affordable areas, where it might be more common to find run down properties. 

This is important, because the condition of the house has a large impact on the after-repair value. The worse the condition of the property, the more value you can add during the renovation process.  When figuring out how much to pay for a fix and flip property,  the 70 percent rule is a good rule of thumb to use. 

The Revenue Per Flip Is Very High: The average revenue per flip in the US is just over $60,000. In Washington, the revenue per flip jumps up to $105,570. This is good news for property investors. If you focus on properties that have the potential to be transformed, your efforts may be handsomely rewarded when the property is resold. 

Home Values Appreciated By 12.5%:  According to Zillow, home values in Washington appreciated by 12.5% over the last year. Moreover, house prices in Washington have been steadily increasing since 2012, although they did flatten out somewhat between 2018 and 2020.

For the foreseeable future, it’s reasonably safe to assume that Washington house prices will continue to rise. This is mainly because historically low interest rates have kept the demand and appetite for properties very high. In fact, you could go so far as to say the biggest problem at the moment is inventory. There are more buyers than sellers. This makes it difficult to land a deal, and it tends to drive prices upward.

Homes In Washington Are Very Expensive: The median home value in Washington is $465,386. This is $199,164 more than the median home value in the United States, which is approximately $266,222. 

The high cost of homes in Washington makes the market less accessible than other states. You will need more capital to purchase your target property, which usually means a bigger deposit and a higher-than-average credit score. This could be an obstacle for inexperienced flippers that have limited funding options. 

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 Washington, 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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