
Flipping houses for a profit is one of those ideas that feels exciting the moment it pops into your head. On TV it looks fun—even when things go wrong, the disasters usually get wrapped up in a neat 60-minute storyline with a big reveal and a happy ending. It's easy to see why so many people daydream about doing it.
But it isn't just television that makes flipping sound enticing. Real estate has always carried a certain appeal for people who want to invest in something solid and tangible. At the same time, once you start thinking a...