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House-Flipping Hot Spots

home flipping

home flippingHouse-flipping can be a lucrative endeavor. According to a WalletHub report [1] released Tuesday, flippers made average gross profits of about $68,000 in 2017.

But not all markets afford equal flipping opportunities. Midwestern cities and markets in states bordering Canada, for example, offer better flip-for-profit conditions than markets on either coast.

Overall, the best market for flippers [2], per the report, is Sioux Falls, South Dakota, followed by Nampa and Boise, Idaho. These cities ranked best in return on remodeling and renovation costs, which, coupled with high quality-of-life scores, give flippers the best odds of selling a property for a decent profit.

However, in terms of pure profit percentages, the Rust Belt can be quite good to flippers as well. According to WalletHub, Pittsburgh, despite having one of the lowest percentages of homes flipped, has the highest average gross return on investment at 145.45 percent. That's 24.5 times higher than in Montgomery, Alabama, which had the lowest gross ROI at just under 6 percent.

Alabama does offer some advantages to would-be flippers, however. At $50,000, Mobile has the lowest metro median purchase price for buyers in the country. That price is 14.6 times lower than in San Jose, where the median purchase price is $730,000. Montgomery is the second-most-affordable buy-in, followed by Cleveland; Columbus, Georgia; and Memphis.

Meanwhile, Little Rock, has the lowest average full-home remodeling costs, coming in at just shy of $76,000. That's five times lower than in Atlanta, where average full-home renovations run almost $376,000.

Memphis, which landed in the middle of the study's 172 markets, has the highest share of home flips, according to WalletHub. The city's 12.76 percent share is almost times higher than in Albuquerque, where flipped properties are a genuine rarity. Just 1.35 percent of homes in that city are flipped. Flipping is also rarest in Bridgeport and New Haven, which each ranked near the bottom in terms of quality of live and remodeling costs, according to the report.