Justin Colby is no stranger to building wealth in real estate by wholesaling and flipping. The creator and host of The Science of Flipping, the No. 1 real estate podcast on the subject, says both strategies can bring you to a whole new level in your finances—even if you are just a novice.
Colby, who began investing in 2007 and has since flipped and wholesaled more than 300 properties, said wholesaling is perhaps the best strategy for the beginner in real estate.
“Wholesaling specifically is great because you don’t need your own loans, nor do you need your own credit,” he said. “That is really great for a lot of people like ourselves who started without any money.”
After flipping the contract of a property to a buyer, and collecting your assignment fees, that money will start to add up, Colby said. The natural evolution of your real estate strategy might just be flipping.
“Flipping is the ability to make your bigger pops. For example, we might wholesale a deal for $10,000, but we might look at a flip that can make us $60,000,” he said. “Flipping is less volume and bigger paycheck, but wholesaling can be more volume and more consistent paycheck.”
Yet while flipping properties can be the quick way to $250,000 or more a year in real estate on a part-time basis, Colby cautions not to get seduced by the seemingly quick and easy gains seen on TV.
“It is not as easy as TV tends to make it look like,” he said. “This isn’t seeing a house on the street, making an offer on a house that looks abandoned, and you make your first $10,000 or $100,000 deal. You have to actually put in work, and get the systems in place so your business will take off.”
With tenacity and fortitude, Colby said anyone with the motivation to do real estate can—and will—succeed. After years of trying and failing himself before getting it right, the key is to get back up when you fall.
“Just don’t be afraid to fail in any part of your life, especially in this business,” he said. “Whether it is a real estate investor, a parent, a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, if you are saying the right things, and have the right things in your heart, you will always be making progress.”
Get a free copy of Justin Colby’s best-selling book, The Science of Flipping—a $13 value—free on his website, http://thescienceofflipping.com.