Market Watch: Mighty MS

While a lot of people know that MS is the mighty state of Mississippi’s abbreviation, a lot of people may now know this: Mississippi is not a flipping state. At least that is what the experts are saying about its market watch.

Located in the Southern United States, the state’s  name derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary. Jackson is the state capital and largest city, with a population of around 175,000 people. The state overall has a population of around 3 million people. Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. On multiple other rankings, however, Mississippi ranks last of all states, such as in health, educational attainment, and median household income.

Maybe this is why the state is not a great state to invest in real estate? As home prices have retreated significantly across the country, flipping is starting to become popular again. But real estate sources say Mississippi’s market is not quite as “flippant” as some of the other southern states.

“This is not a flip state,” said Cynthia Joachim, broker associate with Coldwell Banker Alfonso Realty Inc., Gulfport. “You buy in states like Mississippi, you buy to hold. We don’t see much flipping here because we don’t have the business climate for it. For a flip market to work, you need a constant flow of buyers moving quickly. Real estate is best as a long-term investment. It was never intended to be a liquid investment. When it is treated as a liquid investment, that is dangerous for investors and the economy.”

It is important to remember that flipping houses holds risk. We have talked about how to reduce that risk but sometimes people think they can pay $50,000 for a house, and sell it for $100,000. Then, after fixing it up, they have trouble getting $60,000. Flipping houses  is not for everybody and not for every region. As long as property values are appreciating, flipping works. When people read about flipping in Southern California and South Florida it makes them think that can happen anywhere but the economics of the state have to be strong for this to work.

Most home buyers being seen by Ken Austin, broker\owner Mississippi Coast Realty, are people who are buying to thicken their rental pool.

“I have not seen a lot of people house flipping,” Austin said. “I saw a lot of foreclosures and 90 percent of the foreclosures we sell are for rental properties.”

But there has been some success. Like in the  Golden Triangle area with investors flipping houses.

“We do have investors in our area who make it a practice to purchase homes that may be in foreclosure or in disrepair with the intention of renovating the home for resale,” Kris Davis, broker/owner, Re-Max Partners, Starkville and Columbus, said.“These investors are able to purchase the home at a reduced price because the repairs that are needed prevent the home from qualifying for a traditional mortgage. Investors purchase by cash or an in-house bank loan that does not have the same requirements for the condition of the home.”

So Mighty MS may not be the best place to flip houses but the key is to know your farm area. Anybody can really make money in any region if you know what you are doing.

Source: Mississippi Business Journal online

http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/08/29/flipping-flipping-houses-popular-much-country-mississippi/

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Erik Hitzelberger has been Real Estate Investor since 2007. While learning the ropes in the market down-cycle, he now teaches others how to use his systems and leverage other people’s expertise to achieve their own goals.

Erik Hitzelberger – who has written 194 posts on Part Time REI.

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