ReFlipping on Flipping Cars

If driving a car for a few months for free and then getting paid to drive a better car interests you, then this article is for you. When I was only fifteen years old I began looking for a car to buy for when I get my license, but the prices just terrified me. I could not afford any cars that the dealerships were offering me. So I turned to my friends in order to find out how they were able to drive nice cars and not buy any of them from dealers. After finding out their secret, I was on my way to driving nice cars for a cheap price. Their secret was flipping cars, but it turns out that everyone is doing it. After a few clicks on the web, you can read about how people are profiting from flipping cars. After flipping cars for a few years I have learned a lot, and now I found a blog post of someone doing the same thing that I do, but just starting out. I will improve on what they are doing and give some of my pointers.

In the blog post “More money Mondays: Flipping cars”, “E” writes about how she flipped one of her cars for a profit. Finding the car on Cars.com and then checking the private property valve of the car on KellyBlueBook.com, she bought a 98 Land Rover Discovery for only $5,300. The car was already below market value but she brought cash to negotiate a lower price, which she received. Driving the car for only a couple of months, she decides to sell it. Deciding to put the car on Cars.com, which costs an upfront price of $40.00, she then took it to the cleaners in order to be cleaned and detailed. She put the car just below market value because she was in no hurry to sell it, with hopes that she wouldn’t have to lower the price for anyone. “There’s an ass for every seat, and that’s what I’m looking for.” She didn’t necessarily care whether or not the person interested in the car fits in her seat, but more so that they take it off her hands. When selling the car and someone calls to view the car, she meets with them near a bank or a grocery store parking lot because of cameras. Accepting only cash, to lower her risk of getting scammed, she has the buyer cash the checks in their names so that she can have the cash in hand. As soon as she has sold her car she has another vehicle lined up to purchase, to keep her money flowing in a circle.

E’s experience is so similar to what I have done; I bought cars for a lower price than the value of the car, I drove them for a few months and resold the cars for a profit. One big difference between E’s and my experiences is that she buys cars that are fixed and just below the value of the car, I on the other hand, bought cars with some kind of major problem and way below market value. Sometimes the price of the car is half the market value, and there have been occasions where the price is 70% below market value. I can afford to do this because I can fix most of the problems in cars, but if there is a problem that I can’t fix, I take the vehicle to a family trusted repair shop. At the shop they know my family and I, so I get the work done on my car for a really cheap price. For example, last summer I parked my car next to a building that was under construction. It just so happened while I was in the building some bricks fell on my Toyota Avalon and damaged the front end. I took the car to a regular repair shop and they quoted me $5,000 to fix the car, but my repair shop fixed it for me for only $1,200.

For first time car flippers it is a good idea to start small. In this post the buyer only invests $5,300 into the car, which is great for first time car flippers. When I was just starting out, I started with cheaper cars just to see how flipping cars would go. On my first car I only made $500 and that was great for my first car, but when I invested that extra $500 into the next car I made $1,200. Staying with low cost cars is good in the beginning, but as you make more money it is a good idea to buy more expensive cars. Since you can only flip five cars a year in most state, you want to make the most money as possible off of the cars. Buying cheap cars and then reselling them brings in little money, if you were to buy a car that is a little higher in price and resell it the profit is much higher than the profit from a cheap vehicle.

After giving car flipping a try and you are very successful at it, try moving up. What I mean by this is most people buy average priced cars, resell them, take the money that they make, and instead of investing it into the next car they spend it. Invest your money into the next car until you hit your specific limit everyone has a limit which is the highest price they are willing to pay for a car. After hitting that limit you can try flipping real estate, which brings in more money and never depreciates in value, but cars do and that’s why you can’t keep them for too long.