Flipping a House with a Target Market in Mind

Why and How

Flipping a house can be a lucrative real estate and financial gain, but if the wrong target market is identified, the updates done while working on a flip property can result in off-the-mark results and lesser gains. Therefore, this section is about choosing the right target market for a house flip so that the appropriate appeal is communicated when staging a home for sale.

Why
It’s important to choose a market to go after when flipping a house because a target focuses your goal-setting and helps you to identify the prize.   It also has bearing on the strategic renovation decisions you make as well as your budget.

For example, say you are making over an upscale apartment in an emerging high-end area of town. If you don’t have a clear indication of your target market, you might do linoleum flooring instead of hardwood or the like, when in actual fact your potential buyers prefer hardwood surfaces.  Alternatively, say you purchase a home in a middle-income area of town, make changes geared at the target and then garner a quick sale and the maximum expected return --you've obviously correctly identified the target market.

How
When choosing your house flip’s target market consider your area; the gender and income levels of your potential buyers; their needs, wants, desires and aspirations; their age and education level; whether the property they purchase is primary, secondary or for investment and any other distinguishing factors you feel may come to play.

Once you gather this data, you can begin to form a more realistic picture of ‘John’ or ‘Jane’ --potential buyers. Gearing every aspect of your house flipping renovations at ‘John’ or ‘Jane’ will provide a greater chance to get closer to the target's desires rather than having to work on your flip blindfolded. Getting closer to the correct target will allow a window into the housing "musts" and "nice to have’s" of your potential buyers and also give you the knowledge to make the right decisions as they pertain to paint, furniture, renovations, colors and finishes.

Knowing about your potential buyers and renovating for their tastes will likely make your house flip more focused and savvy.