Truth be told, flipping houses may not be as easy as television shows portray it to be. It requires time and patience, as well as expertise, to make your every fix and flip project a success. So before you take a step forward, take a step back and read whether you have at least a few of the following "requirements."

Do you have the handyman attitude? A dictionary defines a handyman as a person hired to do various small jobs, especially in the maintenance of an apartment building, office building, or the like. When it comes to flipping houses, a handyman is someone who carries out repairs and renovations to a property by himself. If you have the knack for applying paint, fixing clogged water pipes, and landscaping gardens, then you’re probably made for this job. People who know much about home maintenance are bound to save a lot of money when they fix and flip property as they don’t have to spend on labor.

Another advantage of having the handyman attitude is that you can ensure the quality of work, unlike when you assign a specific job to an odd job worker. The downside is that it will eat up a lot of time and effort. Remember, you are against time whenever you fix and flip houses so if you have the handyman attitude but are not swift, you might reconsider some work to other people.

Do you have familiarity on the "housing pattern" in your area? This is simply knowing what qualities buyers are looking for in a house in your area. If you are familiar with the likes of house buyers in your area, then you’ll know what to do and avoid when you fix and flip houses. For example, if buyers in your area prefer homes with a lot of rooms, you can try putting up dividers in large rooms to increase the number of rooms in a house you are rehabbing.

Do you have the skill of making estimates? If you have some background on making estimates, then that will surely help. Some house flippers start as home inspectors and this is where they develop their skill in checking out property and estimating its value. Estimates define whether you will earn profit or not from a project. For example, you estimated your repairs costs to be around $15,000 but your actual expenditure was $20,000. That means you lose $5,000 instantly just because of a faulty estimate.

Learn more about real estate investing "requirements" at REIwired.com, where you ca watch videos or read articles about real estate investing.