Why Most Flippers Stay Stuck (And How You Can Break Free)

Transform your house flipping side hustle into a systematic business operation capable of handling 12+ deals per year. I break down the exact blueprint that took me from sporadic flipping to running a real estate machine, with practical systems you can implement immediately to save time and dramatically increase profits.

• Create consistent deal flow through multiple channels including direct mail, realtor relationships, and targeted advertising
• Secure financing sources before you need them so you never miss out on great opportunities
• Standardize your renovation materials and finishes to save approximately $5,000 per house
• Build a bench of backup contractors so your projects never stall when someone flakes
• Implement proper project management systems to keep multiple flips on schedule simultaneously
• Systemize your sales process with the same stagers, photographers and agents for faster closings

If you're stuck on one or two flips a year, start with just one system – standardize your finishes. It feels like a small change but will put thousands back in your pocket and cut weeks off your timeline. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a show. Now get out there and get cracking!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Scaling Your Flipping Business
• 1:06 Creating Consistent Deal Flow
• 1:41 Funding and Standardizing Rehabs
• 4:57 Building Your Contractor Team
• 6:12 Managing Projects and Systemizing Sales
• 7:04 Taking Action for Success

Transcript

Ed Mathews: 0:00

Do this and you stop being a hustler who flips here and there and start running a business that cranks out deals like clockwork. Ever sat in your car scrolling through Zillow and thought, man, if I just knew where to start I could flip one of these? Yeah, I've been there too. Most people who want to flip houses never even start, not because they're lazy, but because they don't have the blueprint. Well, that changes today. If you give me five minutes, I'll give you real-world flipping strategies that actually work. No fluff, no theories, no gatekeeping, just real how-to information for you to apply. Today, most flippers get stuck at one deal a year. They treat it like a side hustle, dabbling in DIY, chasing contractors and scrambling for financing. But if you want to scale and I mean really scale you need systems. Today, I'm going to show you our blueprint that takes you from one lonely flip a year to running a 12-plus deal flipping machine, and I'm going to share a story about how I cut weeks off our rehab timelines and saved thousands of dollars just by standardizing our finishes. All right, the first step is you've got to lock in consistent deal flow. When I first started, I'd find one deal, we'd rehab it and only then would I start looking for the next deal. That's why I was stuck at one or two flips a year. The shift was building a pipeline. I set up direct mail campaigns, built relationships with a couple of really good realtors and a handful of wholesalers I trust, and we used online ads and tracked it all with a very simple CRM. As we grew, we added SEO, more ads and more direct mail. Now leads trickle in every week like clockwork. You can't scale without a conveyor belt of deals. Second piece you've got to line your money up before you need it. You've got to dig your proverbial well before you're thirsty. Early on, I lost a killer deal because I couldn't get funding fast enough, and that's when I started building relationships with private lenders and hard money guys. The trick is having multiple funding sources at the ready so when a good deal pops up you can move quickly. And the third component you've got to standardize your rehabs. Here's where most flippers blow it. They reinvent the wheel on every single project. Don't do that. Use the same colors flooring cabinets and finishes every time. I'll give you an example flooring cabinets and finishes every time. I'll give you an example.

Ed Mathews: 2:25

On one of my early flips, I thought I was being creative by picking different finishes every time and actually in a lot of cases, different paint colors for different rooms. Instead, I created chaos, contractors constantly calling me Ed, what gray are we using on this project? Or worse, they'd guess wrong and I'd have to pay for a redo. I wasted days in Home Depot aisles and had a storage unit full of leftover materials that never matched the next project and we never used again. Then I standardized One gray paint Benjamin Moore paper white. One white trim Sherwin-Williams ultra bright white. And before you start talking about using different manufacturers or different suppliers, we go to Sherwin-Williams because we get a great price from them and they can match any color on the planet. We use the same white shaker cabinets from RTA direct. We use red oak hardwood everywhere. We use the same carpeting in bedrooms. We use the same white granite or quartz from the same supplier. We use the same LVP flooring. We use the same brushed nickel hardware across the board.

Ed Mathews: 3:33

I put all the SKUs in our database and give my guys access, or I print it out for my old school guys, and suddenly the calls stopped. Materials were ordered faster and jobs finished weeks earlier. And here's the kicker it saved me about $5,000 a house. Let me break that down for you. First decision fatigue and wasted time. I used to burn 10 to 15 hours per project just choosing the finishes. Even at $100 an hour, that's $1,000 to $1,500 of lost time. Hundred dollars an hour, that's a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars of lost time. Contractor confusion and rework wrong colors, mismatched backsplash, tile or redos easily added up to a thousand dollars a project. Material waste. Buying unique finishes every time left me with $500 to $750 in leftovers. I couldn't reuse Home Depot runs Before standardizing. I'd make 6 to 10 emergency runs per week. That's another $300 to $500 in gas and a whole bunch of wasted time. Bulk pricing so once I ordered flooring and paint and volume, I was able to shave $1,000 to $1,500 off in materials alone. Add it up, it's $4,000 to $5,000 plus back in our pocket. Multiply that times 12 plus deals a year and you're talking over $60,000 saved each and every year just from picking the same finish package and sticking to it.

Ed Mathews: 4:57

Step four build a contractor bench. I learned the hard way that relying on one do-it-all contractor is a recipe for delays when he flakes and they will your whole business stalls. Instead, keep a roster of subs, a couple of electricians, a couple of plumbers, a couple of HVAC guys, painters and so on. Think of it like a sports team. You need backups. Someone isn't returning calls, next man up.

Ed Mathews: 5:23

Step five manage projects like a pro. If you want to scale, you can't keep everything in your head. I used to run around with sticky notes in my truck. Well, that ended the day I double booked cruise and lost a week. Now I use schedules, gantt charts, weekly contractor check-ins when you're running multiple flips. Project management is what keeps the train on the tracks. It also prevents brain damage. And finally, step six systemize your sale.

Ed Mathews: 5:49

Flip isn't done until it's sold. I got tired of scrambling for stagers and photographers, so I built a team I could count on. Every time the same stager, the same photographer, the same listing agent. Buyers started recognizing the look of our homes and it shaved weeks off of every sale. Okay, scaling from one flip a year to 12 plus isn't about grinding harder. It's about putting these systems in place. A deal pipeline feeds you. Financing keeps you moving forward. Standard rehabs save time and thousands in hidden costs. Contractor benches give you stability, project management keeps jobs on schedule and a repeatable sales process keeps cash flowing. Do this and you stop being a hustler who flips here and there and start running a business that cranks out deals like clockwork. That's today's play from the Demo to Dollars playbook. If you're stuck on one or two flips a year, start with one system. Just standardize your finishes. Trust me, it feels like a small change, but it'll put about $5,000 back in your pocket and cut weeks off your projects. Then move on to the next system and the next. That's how you scale with confidence.

Ed Mathews: 7:00

This is Demo to Dollars. Thanks for making us a part of your day. Thanks for listening to Demo to Dollars. If today's episode helped you move one step closer to your first or next deal, do me a favor follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss a show. I'm grateful to be part of your journey. Now get out there and get cracking. Bye for now.