Ralph R. Roberts’s success in real estate sales is legendary. He has been profiled by the Associated Press, CNN, and Time magazine and has done hundreds of radio interviews. Ralph is a seasoned professional in all areas of house flipping, including buying homes, rehabbing them, and reselling them quickly and at a handsome profit. He has penned several successful titles, including Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (Wiley), Financing Real Estate Investments For Dummies (Wiley), Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies (Wiley), Loan Modification For Dummies (Wiley), 52 Weeks of Sales Success (Wiley), and Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud (Kaplan). In Flipping Houses For Dummies, Ralph reveals the tips and tricks he has hammered out in his more-than-four-decade career. For more about Ralph, visit RalphRoberts.com.
Joe Kraynak is a freelance writer who has authored and coauthored dozens of books on topics ranging from slam poetry to computer basics. His most recent For Dummies titles include Employer Branding For Dummies with Richard Mosley and Lars Schmidt, Natural Cures For Dummies with Dr. Scott J. Banks, and Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, 3rd Edition, with Candida Fink, MD. In Flipping Houses For Dummies, Joe teams up with legendary real estate pro Ralph R. Roberts to produce the ultimate guide to profitable real estate flipping — flipping the right way. You can find Joe on the web at JoeKraynak.com.
Ralph: This book is dedicated to the people who believed in me most. To my wife, Kathleen, without whom none of my dreams would be possible. To my core supports, David W. Roberts, Ray Confer, Joe Sirianni, Frank Giannetti, Dave “Ace” Wilson, Dale Hadel, Bob Van Goethem, Dave Constantine, Domenic Belcastro, Mike DiGiovanni, Cecil St. Pierre, and Hannah McCollum.
Joe: To my brother John, who kept asking me when this book would come out, and whose eagerness and enthusiasm inspired me to do my best.
Although we wrote the book, dozens of other talented individuals contributed to its conception, development, and perfection. Special thanks go to senior acquisitions editor Tracy Boggier, who chose us to author this book and guided us through the tough part of getting started. We’re also indebted to our development editor, Georgette Beatty, for ensuring the breadth, depth, and accuracy of content. Michelle Hacker, our project manager, deserves a round of applause for acting as a very patient choreographer — shuffling chapters back and forth, shepherding the text and photos through production, and keeping the project on track. Thanks also to Corbin Collins, our copy editor, who read through everything — forward and backward — to identify and obliterate our many grammatical goofs and typos.
Throughout the writing of this book, we relied heavily on a knowledgeable and dedicated support staff, who provided expert advice, tips, and research, so we could deliver the most comprehensive and useful information. For this third edition, special thanks to Kyle Roberts, Ralph’s son, who served as point person for Team Ralph, shuffling e-mail messages back and forth, gathering information, and writing most of the new material. We owe special thanks to our technical editor, accomplished real estate pro Libby Cyman, for ferreting out technical errors in the manuscript, helping guide its content, and offering her own tips and tricks.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Senior Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier
Project Manager: Michelle Hacker
Development Editor: Georgette Beatty
Copy Editor: Corbin Collins
Technical Editor: Libby Cyman
Production Editor: Vasanth Koilraj
Photographer: Jeremy Goodell
Cover Photo: © Stock-Asso/Shutterstock