A recent study has ranked the top 10 college towns and cities for flipping houses. According to MarketWatch, the real estate website RealtyTrac was very selective with the metrics it used to rank the towns.
The metrics include 2014 home price for the city, July 2014 county unemployment rate, gross profit on flips, and the return on investment (ROI) on flips. RealtyTrac only chose from college towns because “[t]hey tend to be insulated from the volatility that many other markets experience because of the large source of employment from the university,” said RealtyTrac’s Vice President Daren Blomquist.
The study only ranks towns and cities that have four-year public universities with an enrollment level over 20,000, an unemployment rate less than 6.2%, and over 10 flips. Some towns were not included in the rankings due to insufficient data.
RealtyTrac found that Minneapolis, MN, home to the University of Minnesota, has the highest returns on investment for house flips, at 65.59% or an impressive $105,292. Following Minneapolis in the second and third place positions are Seattle, WA, where the University of Washington is located, at 61.88% ROI, and Lincoln, NE, which boasts the University of Nebraska, at 55.01% ROI.
“Investing in homes is just like owning a business… it’s all about Location… Location… Location. Buying properties to rent out near college towns is a great strategy. College students are always looking to find a great place to rent near their campus. You can also resell your property to other investors who are looking for rental properties to buy,” says Justin Williams, Founder & Host, House Flipping HQ.
House flipping typically works two ways. One way is to strategically buy and sell houses during market changes. Market cycles are typically three and three quarters years up and nine months down. The other method of house flipping involves purchasing a house at a low price, making repairs and renovations, and then selling for more than the original price.
House flipping as a practice has led to pretty fierce competition in the low-cost housing market, but it looks like college towns might be the new lucrative market for house flippers to gain profits from.