Flipping houses is harder than it looks

[Lea Simpsons]

Forget no-money down and other late-night TV fantasies. In the real world, flipping requires deep pockets -- and plenty of hard work.

It's not as easy as it looks on TV. The price run-up of the past few years led thousands of people to reach the same conclusion you have. There is a boatload of competition out there, which means that the obvious deals are gone in a heartbeat. The pros will tell you that they make their money on the front end by buying properties for at least 30% below market value. Finding those houses takes time and once you find them, you'll need to move fast. And no matter what the late-night gurus say about doing this with no money down, it hardly ever works that way. That means you'll need access to cash to do the deal, not to mention the rehab.

But then again, I believe flipping needs proper timing and adequate background for those who are interested to be in this niche.