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For many real estate investors, rental properties deliver a dream come true: passive income. Done right, your rental property will produce mailbox money. Your tenants pay rent, you provide maintenance here and there and your property appreciates while you enjoy the financial security of a cash-flowing asset. Even more, you can have pride in knowing you put your money to work for you.

Conventional wisdom says that late spring and early summer is the best time to sell a home or an investment property, but real estate investors and hard money lenders alike know that winter poses its own special opportunities, and that the colder months can be an ideal time to make your move.

Aside from the fact that hard money loans or property investment loans are also available in winter, there are other reasons why the winter months could be prime time to finance a house flip.

A large segment of today’s housing market is being fueled by flippers and real estate investors who seek to turn a hard money loan or investment property loan into a nice, tidy profit.

While it’s not unusual to see someone parlay a rehab loan into a nice five- to six-figure profit, there are definite hazards that come with flipping. Many of these hazards lie not within the investment property, but in the assumptions of the renovator.

When you take out a hard money loan, bridge loan or investment property loan to buy a flip, you do it with one goal in mind: to make a profit.

In the process of your rehab, many factors will conspire to eat into your profits. Weather. Time. Unreliable vendors. The list goes on. But, few things eat away as much of your profits as taxes; the more you make, the more you pay.

The Golden Rules to Hiring a Contractor for Your House Flipping Business

Your contractor can have a profound impact on almost every aspect of your real estate flip: Deadlines. Quality of work. Budget. Return on investment. And whether or not the overall experience is energizing or draining.

Whether you’re funding a flip or using a hard money lender, it’s important to keep your flip on schedule and on budget. Time is money. Not all contractors understand or care about that. Follow these steps and you’ll be able to find good contractors and build lasting relationships with the ones who come through for you.

You’ve found your next real estate flip, secured your hard money loan, and closed on the property. Now it’s time to make a return on your investment.

The secret to successful real estate flipping is knowing which improvements not only attract buyers, but also drive up the value of the home so that you can realize a higher return on your investment.

Here are some of the win-win improvements that make both buyers and investors happy.

“I think I’ll hold out for something better.”

“This is getting frustrating; maybe I can find a better buyer.”

There are times when these conclusions are the best course of action. But when it comes to a real estate flip, there’s a lot to be said for trying to make that first offer work. Once you and a prospect have reached an acceptable initial offer, making an effort to see the deal through is beneficial for a number of reasons:

You don’t have to shake out the couch cushions to get funding for flipping houses.

Flipping a house takes a lot of money beyond the purchase price. The median purchasing price for homes in 2019 is $155,000. Add on rehab costs, appraisals and inspections, holding costs, realtor fees and closing costs… it takes a lot of money to turn a profit on your fix and flip.