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Calgary leads Canada in house flipping, but those who do it say caution is needed

Calgary leads Canada in house flipping, but those who do it say caution is needed

You’ve probably watched it on reality TV. Someone buys a house, renovates it and resells it for a profit.

It’s called house flipping, and as it turns out, Alberta, and especially Calgary, is leading the country in it.

Lara Mitchell has been in the real estate industry for almost a decade and helped her sister find a home in August.

“But it turned out she didn’t want it. So now I’m changing it,” Mitchell said.

She bought the duplex for about $430,000 and is spending $50,000 on renovations.

He hopes to sell for about $550,000, making a profit of $70,000.

“For now, we have replaced the floors. We are going to paint them too,” Mitchell said.

Lara Mitchell has been working in the real estate industry for almost ten years. He has been flipping houses for six years and says the market has never been hotter.

Mitchell has been shooting for six years and says the market for this product has never been hotter.

In fact, Calgary leads the country.

According to statistics from the Bank of Canadaapproximately 7.6 per cent of homes purchased in the Calgary area were resold in the last 12 months – the most of any major city in Canada.

Edmonton comes in second with five per cent, followed by Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto with just one per cent.

“Toronto has a benchmark price for a detached house of under $1.2 million, Vancouver is under $1.1 million and Calgary as of September is under $600,000, so people are moving here, selling their Toronto home and saving half of what they paid for they sold it and buy a bigger house here,” Mitchell said.

“In other cities, housing prices have risen so much, especially in metropolitan areas, that financially it has become more difficult to turn things around, especially as markets there have slowed,” said Anne Alkok, a Wahi broker.

Lara Mitchell has been working in the real estate industry for almost ten years. He has been flipping houses for six years and says the market has never been hotter.

But experts say the situation is changing faster in Alberta thanks to an influx of people moving to the province in search of a more affordable home.

And when they get here, they want it to be turnkey.

“Actually (he’s) very busy. We already have enough vacancies – we are buying houses for next year,” said Neritan Gremshi, contractor at NLG Renos.

Gremshi has been renovating homes for 20 years and says the demand for renovations is huge.

He hopes to make a 20 per cent profit on a stripped-down tenement house in the Northwest, but says nothing is guaranteed in Calgary’s competitive market.

“There are risks. You also need to be careful about your budget when flipping. You can spend more,” Gremshi said.

Due to the hidden risks, experienced flippers warn anyone planning a project to seek professional advice first.

“Be careful what you buy. There are many surprises hidden behind the walls,” Gremshi said.

“When you start opening the walls, you start opening a can of worms that you have to fix,” Mitchell said.