Are you considering flipping a home? It can be a an excellent way to earn money, but there are some common mistakes beginners often make in the process.

Mistakes in house flipping fall under two main categories: financing and remodeling. You’ll have to have capital to purchase property and to flip you’ll have to remodel.

Avoid these Common Flipping Mistakes

Skipping the planning stage.

Especially in the beginning, the prospect of flipping a house is super exciting. You want to dig into demolition and get started on improvements, but you need to pause first. Make sure you consult with an experienced contractor — one that has done house flips before — and map out exactly what you are going to do. This will help you better manage both the budget and timeline to maximize ROI.

Failing to calculate resale value ahead of time.

Along with planning the remodel and construction aspect of the flip, you need calculate resale value ahead of time. The resale value with give a figure on you how much you can expect to sell the home for. Knowing that information is critical to understanding how much money you can put into the remodel and still make a profit.

Building too big.

Bigger is not always better, especially with flipping houses. You want to raise the value of the house, but you make a profit you have to focus. Upgrade things that will give the home the biggest bang for your buck — like a kitchen remodel — rather than trying to do expensive additions that may not raise the property value as much.

Trying to do everything yourself.

It may seem attractive to cut costs by doing things yourself, but for many projects you want to hire a professional. An experienced contractor can do things faster and properly to make sure you’re meeting municipal code and that the work done will actually last. Don’t find yourself deep into a complicated construction project to discover you are in over your head.

Hiring the Wrong Contractor.

Unfortunately, the tale of the bad contractor is all too common. Make sure you properly research any contractor — or designer — before you write any checks. The best way is to use a contractor you know for sure has done work that you like — perhaps on a friend or relative’s house. If that’s not possible, check plenty of online reviews before you hire a contractor.