Home flippers explain the simple key to turning a profit: If you're doing it right, it's a 'pretty boring business'

• Successful home flippers keep the process as simple as possible.
• They avoid unique properties, opting for standard layouts to attract more buyers.
• Success requires understanding buyer needs, rather than thinking about what you want in a home.

If done correctly, flipping a home can turn a tidy profit.

Colorado-based investor Whitney Elkins-Hutten bought her first property — a single-family home in need of some elbow grease — in Fort Collins in 2002. About a year later, after turning it from a "1960s, green shag carpet, psychedelic daisies painted all over the walls to a really beautiful property," she said she sold the property and walked away with a $52,000 check.

In Louisville, Kentucky, business partners Mike Gorius and Kevin Hart have used flipping to get "a quick capital boost," they told BI. They used the capital boost to pay down their personal debt and invest in long-term rental properties.

High school friends and business partners Aria Khosravi and Alan Blue have created a seven-figure business out of flipping. As of 2023, they had done 91 flips in the Denver area.

The commonality between each of these investors, who do business in different regions of the States, is that they keep things simple — so simple that it borders on boring, suggested Hart: "In reality, if you're doing a lot of flips, flipping is a pretty boring business. You're using the same paint colors, you're using similar flooring. Whatever's in style that year, we're like, 'Okay, for the next five houses, this is what we're doing.' We're doing neutral colors, neutral floors, and just making everything fresh and clean so that it appeals to the most amount of people possible."

Here are two strategies each of these successful flippers have used to simplify.

1. Stick with standard, more traditional home layouts

Khosravi and Blue learned to avoid unique properties the hard way. On their second flip, they purchased "a funky property," Blue said. Among other quirky features, "it had this big, weird detached garage with a mother-in-law suite above it."

They ultimately lost money on the sale. Part of the problem was that fewer buyers were interested in such an unusual property.

He and Khosravi have learned that, generally, prospective buyers like "standard layouts," such as a two-bed, two-bath with a kitchen and a dining room. "If you're looking at a house that feels funky when you walk in — maybe the kitchen or bedrooms are super small, or it doesn't make sense where they are in the layout — don't overlook that. Because if you feel kind of strange when you're looking at it, so will the potential buyers."

Sticking with a more standard layout may help you avoid a common but costly mistake: Biting off more than you can chew.

"Don't take on a project that's way bigger than you can handle," said Hart, acknowledging that it's easier said than done, especially if you draw inspiration from HGTV shows that tend to feature full gut renovations.

He and Gorius prefer buying 3-bed, 1-bath, ranch-style homes in Louisville that need cosmetic upgrades — such as new flooring, paint, and light fixtures — rather than major structural updates.

"You don't want to start a huge construction project when you have no experience doing construction," said Hart.

2. Don't make it personal. Think about the buyer and their needs.

An early flipping mistake Elkins-Hutten made was thinking about what she would want to see in a home, rather than what her potential buyers would want.

For example, "if the home is in an area where a lot of families are moving into and it's going to be a starter home, they're going to want better finishes, they're probably going to want a yard with a fence, they're probably going to want good soundproofing from neighbor activity," she said.

Think about the typical buyer in your market and ask, "What do they want? I'm always thinking through, 'Who's the person that's actually going to use this property?'"

Gorius has found success following the same principle.

"Don't pretend that you're the one moving into this house and start putting finishes on there that are overpriced or don't make sense," he said. "Stick with what works, talk to contractors, and walk other people's flips to see what finishes and paint colors and materials they're using, because they're doing that for a reason."

Ultimately, the key to successful flipping also involves reps. Khosravi and Blue advise going into your first flip with conservative projections and assuming that everything won't go exactly to plan.

"Once you've come across every situation at least once, you learn how to deal with those things," said Blue. "We've made a lot of mistakes along the way and they cost money. You pay for your education one way or the other, and we opted to do it in the field. But now that we've been doing it for a long time, we know what to expect and we know what to look for."