It’s a prudent time to be focusing on Fix and Flip. While the pandemic devastated certain parts of the mortgage sector – “it wasn’t pretty,” Lind said – the Fix and Flip route has remained popular, especially when compared to investing in new builds outright. The reason? Quite a simple one.
“It’s cheaper. Think about inflation, or shortages, or prices going up, or any of the ancillary products you need to build a home. Not only are material prices up, but builders are working for higher margins because they can. Traditionally they’d have five people knocking on the door, but now they have 40 people knocking on their door to build a house. So, you’re really getting hit on both sides, not just materials, but margins as well.
“The advantage to fix up is you’re not rebuilding a home. You don’t need all this lumber. You don’t need all of the metal in the plumbing. You might need some of it, but you don’t need all of it.
“It’s more efficient to already have a home than it is to do ground-up construction. And the average home in the US is 40 years old – so I think this aspect of the business is here to stay.”
It’s a market that has given Acra the chance to showcase its customer-focused approach – and also to highlight the importance of a measured and analytical outlook on lending.