How does investment in real estate work? How fast can you buy a house that isn't built?

I live in Canada and I think the economy here is well. Now I am planning on buying and flipping a house for the first time. Would it be better to buy a house or condo? Also if I pay downpayment on a house/condo that is still under construction, and then decide to withdraw from the transaction, are there any risks involved? When the house/condo is complete and the value has gone up or down, will I always get all my money (downpayment) back if I decide to sell? And in terms of returns, what is the median percentage I could expect to make flipping the house/condo in let's say a year?

Whole lot of questions. Generally a house is easier to flip than a condo. Houses are easier to sell. If you enter into a purchase contract to buy a house or a condo, you have to be pretty sure that you want to buy because the seller can sue you if you simply change your mind about following through on the contract. Usually, when you write a contract you give a good faith deposit and your down payment is given when the sale is closing. If you back out of a deal, prior to the closing, for an invalid reason (like you simply changed your mind) you will lose your deposit. If your real estate market is stable (unlike the northeast US where prices got inflated and have since readjusted downwards) you should be able to count on getting your down payment back, but there is not hard and fast percentage of how much your property will increase in a year. There are many variables to consider especially the following three things: location, location, location (old joke).

You'll need a realtor's license to do this - they can answer all your questions in the classes.

Wow toooo many questions!!! Let's try to answer a few.

Don't expect to make much money in a preconstruction flip if you are hold for only a year unless the housing market in your area is EXPLODING upward.

When you say flip are you fixing it up or just holding it? When I think flip I am fixing a property up.

Risk in Withdrawing? Yeah your entire deposit might be kept in the transaction.

You may not get any money back if you have to sell at a loss.

Percentage Return? ??? Not enough info provided


Do this...
Step 1 Join a local real estate investors group.

Step 2 Get information about your local housing market. Your neighborhood, your town, and farther out, 50 miles radius max.

Step 3 Find investors who have already made money in flips and get their opinion on the deal. Investing is a team sport. If the deal is that good and the investor is honest they may pay you for finding a deal they can share in.