Selling homes has always brought an infusion of cash into the mix of personal finance unlike any other. Home flippers have capitalized on this relationship between homes (as a valuable commodity asset) and supercharged cash flow. As a result, teal estate holds a unique power that isn’t comparable to any other asset class as an investment opportunity.

Flipping homes is one of the fastest ways to earn a serious profit on your investments, but the marketplace is rife with pitfalls for unsuspecting investors. While this strategy can introduce incredible gains into your portfolio, it can also provide a unique risk factor that can result in significant losses and a tie-up of your free capital for other investment options. This means that a sound strategy for success in the marketplace is necessary for any investor looking to add real estate holdings to their investment portfolio this year.

With these tips and tricks, shortening the learning curve and earning a profit on every sale you make can be done easier and faster.

Start by honing your home improvement chops.

One of the most essential components of a great real estate flipping strategy is the ability to do a significant portion of the renovations on your own. Real estate sales training course options specializing in first-time flippers and other investment areas often champion this notion. Everything requires an investment, and pumping your time and energy into a home’s value is often far more cost-effective than sinking additional cash assets into the endeavor with the help of a general contractor or specialized technician.

For flooring upgrades, painting changes, and even the installation of new cabinets or appliances, tackling the job on your own is a great way to boost the overall price point of the property without infusing it with any more capital than you already have—and reducing your profit margin in the process.

Learning to tackle these action items (and building a library of DIY ideas for upgrading each new property) in your own home is a great way to get started on this challenging but critical aspect of the flipping and real estate investing marketplace.

Also understand when it’s time to call in the professionals.

While DIY jobs will help you erase additional costly expenditures, there are times when it’s necessary to call in a professional technician or contractor to get the job done right. Maintaining a list of Chicago plumbers, AC specialists, and roofing contractors is crucial to ensuring a fast turnaround on any property you decide to invest in. Likewise, it’s a good idea to brush up on your general knowledge surrounding these additional areas so that you can identify potential expenses in any new property before you decide to buy it. This way, calling a plumber to handle particularly tricky drainage, faucet hookup issues, or other plumbing services and emergencies (like a burst pipe, drain cleaning, or water heater repair) won’t come as a surprise and can be factored into the estimated costs of upgrade before finalizing the sale.

Take cues from professional real estate agents.

Whether you choose to work with a real estate agent or not, it’s essential to learn from these professionals in the real estate industry. Pros in the real estate business are exceptional talkers, and they can turn a maybe into an interest in a property at the drop of a hat. One way that they do this is with the home staging process. Staging a home is a great way to help prospective buyers envision their own lives fitting neatly into the property. Then, with some sparse and generic decorations and furniture, building this image can be promoted by you and your team to ensure a smooth transition from buyer to seller during each investment transaction.

With these areas locked down, flipping homes becomes a far more lucrative endeavor.

Joyce Laroche