Remember just a few years ago, before the housing bubble burst? There were TV shows, practically entire television networks dedicated to teaching us all how to flip real estate. After all, the price of housing is always going to go up, right? Home loans will always be easy to get, as long as you keep your credit up (and often even if you don’t), right?

Obviously, we know by now that it just isn’t completely true. Yes, the value of real estate and housing does tend to go up over time, and probably always will, as long as you have the time to wait the market out. But, it doesn’t always go up. Like any other market, it is cyclical, and it does correct itself from time to time. Hopefully you weren’t trying to flip a house when it corrected itself this time. If you were, you took a soaking, for sure.

The really sad thing in this housing crisis, though, is that a lot of the hype and information about flipping houses has gone away. Why is it that people have such a herd mentality that they can’t see opportunity when it bites them in the ass? Hasn’t anyone ever heard that age old saying about how to get rich? Buy low, sell high.

This isn’t rocket science. If you can obtain home loans, and have ever had a desire to flip houses for a living, now is the perfect time to do it. The loans are at an all-time low as far as interest rates go, banks, despite what you’re told, are eager to lend money to qualified buyers, and on top of that, you’re never going to see the price of housing as low as it is right now, in all likelihood.

We were concerned when people kept buying homes for speculative purposes before. At some point, the bubble had to bust. But now, with property values in the crapper, those who can afford to wait it out for a little while stand to make a killing when values start going back up. So, what are you waiting for? If you ever wanted to flip houses without falling on your face, now is not only NOT a bad time to get in, it’s likely the best opportunity you’ll ever see.

Photo via alex_ford