LA Times is a little behind on their front page news re flippers

Today's L.A. Times headline (in the SFV print edition) is Professionals moving into house flipping.  The reporting is spot-on -- and about six months behind.  I reported in this blog some time ago that I'd observed that the pro's were buying up many/most foreclosures.  And what the article only briefly touches on is that many of these professionals are losing money now in a big way.  Prices aren't soaring, loans (especially on condo projects) aren't easy to get, and many of the flippers didn't research the properties they bought.  But I'm sure most professional flippers have calculated their risks/rewards.

If you're thinking of buying a distressed property, rehabbing it, and selling it for a profit, trust me: it's not as easy as it sounds (I've thought about it myself), and nowhere as "easy" as it looks on HGtv.  Leave it to the pros.