Texas Cities Among Best For 'House Flipping' Investors, Survey Says

AUSTIN, TX -- Three Texas cities are among the best in the nation for flipping houses, according to a new survey.

WalletHub has compiled a list of the top cities in which to flip a house, the process in which an investor buys real estate, renovates it and then sells it at a profit. Among the top ten markets for this type of investment strategy are three Texas cities: El Paso, ranked 3rd; Lubbock (sixth-ranked); and Laredo (No. 10).

"With more than 110,000 house-flipping investors in 2015 — the highest rate since 2007 — and an average gross profit of $55,000, the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2016's Best Cities to Flip Houses," the survey's authors wrote.

To help serious real-estate investors find the best markets to list their flipped properties, WalletHub compared the 150 largest cities based on 19 key metrics -- ranging from "median purchase price” to “average full home remodeling costs” to “housing-market health index.”

Other Texas cities were noted, including the Dallas suburb of Plano, described as having the highest housing-market health index, 9.81, which is 88.3 times higher than in Jackson, Miss., the city with the lowest, 0.11.

Austin also was noted, if only in the way of house-flipping comparison with other cities: "Memphis, Tenn., has the highest percentage of home flips, 11.1 percent, which is 3.5 times higher than in Austin, Texas, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, the cities with the lowest, 3.2 percent," the survey's authors said.

The WalletHub findings are rather exhaustive, including an interactive U.S. map that allows users to click on a state to see rankings of specific cities.

Not all Texas cities fared well in the rankings. Among the cities with the lowest average gross return on investment were Dallas,Fort Worth, Arlington, Garland and Plano, all tied at 119th along with Austin, ranked 126th.

San Antonio ranked low in terms of the lowest percentage of home flips, ranked 121st -- tied with Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. Austin was ranked 124th in the same category.

Laredo had the fewest real estate agents per capita (all but a requirement for house flipping) ranked 141st.

But on the plus side, El Paso ranked high in the category "Lowest average bathroom remodeling costs," ranked second after Fort Wayne, Ind. Rounding out the top five were: Modesto, Calif.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Knoxville, Tenn.

It's an interesting survey, well-researched and far-reaching. To see the full version, click here.