Real-estate investors who built wealth doing flips share 3 strategies that boosted the value of their properties

Dana Bull is a real estate agent, investor, and consultant.

Courtesy of Dana Bull

• Real-estate investors share tips for successful house flipping and boosting property value.
• Dana Bull and Whitney Elkins-Hutten emphasize understanding buyer needs and market demands.
• Focus on kitchens and bathrooms, avoid over-customization, and use neutral paint colors.

A lot goes into a successful flip, starting with the property you choose to buy.

Once you've made the purchase and it's time to renovate, you'll want to spend your money on certain areas and cut back on others.

But don't take our word for it. Real-estate investors Dana Bull and Whitney Elkins-Hutten, who both consider themselves financially independent, have experience flipping properties.

Bull bought her first property, a condo in Salem, Massachusetts, for $200,000 in 2012. Two and a half years later, after putting about $10,000 worth of work into the property, she turned a tidy profit.

"I made about $50,000," she told Business Insider.

Elkins-Hutten also hit a home run on her first deal: She bought and renovated a fixer-upper in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2002, listed it about a year later, and pocketed $52,000 on the sale, she said. While her second flip was "not as good," she admitted, she continued flipping until she had the capital to start buying long-term rentals, which ultimately is what got her to financial independence.

The two real-estate veterans shared the strategies they used while flipping that helped boost the value of their properties.

First, think about the person who's going to buy the home

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?"

Boulder-based real estate investor Whitney Elkins-Hutten and her daughter.

Courtesy of Whitney Elkins-Hutten

Bull added that the materials and products you choose should correlate with the price point of your home: "If you put a Frigidaire in a million-dollar property, that may not sit well with people. On the flip side, "if you put a Viking stove in a lower price-point property, that's overkill."

Generally, you want to avoid customized features.

"Be careful with anything that is super custom to you, your taste, or your lifestyle, like a really unique wallpaper," said Bull. "Go for it if you're OK knowing that it may not help your bottom line. You just need to pause and ask yourself, 'If I do this upgrade, am I going to get enough value and enjoyment out of it?' Because you might not see the return on investment when you go to sell."

Focus on the kitchen and bathrooms — and don't overthink the landscaping

Once you've set a budget for your renovation, prioritize the kitchen and bathrooms.

"Kitchens, primarily, and baths sell houses. That's where you're generally going to get the most ROI," said Bull, adding that you don't need a massive budget to make a difference. "You might not have $30,000 to redo your whole kitchen, but maybe you have $10,000, and you can reglaze your kitchen cabinets so that they're white or add some molding to them or put on new knobs, all of which will add value."

Elkins-Hutten agrees that you should spend time and money "making sure the kitchen is organized for flow and for storage," she said. "That doesn't necessarily mean you have to rip out walls and stuff like that, but making sure you have nice, clean countertops and nice, shaker cabinets — something very simple, light colors."

She wouldn't spend a big portion of her budget on the landscaping.

"I would never over-landscape a property," said Elkins-Hutten. "Because what you think is beautiful for landscaping, I guarantee the next person is going to rip out and do something else, so just make it clean: clean lines, clean garden, clean paint on the sides of the house."

New paint can go a long way

According to Bull, "having the right paint is one of the top ways to improve value."

A general rule of thumb is to stick with neutral colors that make a space feel bright and airy, but you don't have to guess when it comes to selecting the right color for your space. One of her favorite hacks is to spend a couple hundred dollars on a consultation with a decorator or designer.

"You can pay somebody $150 to help you pick out paint colors," said Bull, who recommends going to your local paint store and asking if they have a designer or color consultant who can help you select paint for your home specifically. It's the "best money you can spend."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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