Flipping real estate traditionally is a lucrative way to make money but with extensive renovations this will often require more initial cash or financing to get the deal done. This is why these type of flips are most easily executed with homes that require minimal repairs and primarily just need cosmetic work completed.

However, flipping is about more than quickly fixing up a house and reselling it. Another angle is to flip contracts to other real estate investors that will do all the fix up work and remodeling. This way your risk is even smaller than before. You can certainly make money the first way described but there are also inherent risks you need to understand.

The more risk free option is flipping houses via contracts. This is also sometimes referred to as wholesaling or assigning properties. This is where you tie up a property at a discount (using an agreement) and then flip the contract it to another buyer or investor for a quick profit. The benefits include it is virtually risk free, there is no need for excessive cash or credit or financing, you are not taking ownership so there are no closing or holding costs and you do no repairs or work yourself. This is why when it comes to making quick cash in real estate, this method of flipping houses is one of the best routes to take especially for real estate investing today.

This is why faster, lower risk, more creative real estate investing strategies like flipping or wholesaling houses are better to use for flat and down markets.