Home Flippers Newest Tool? Ride-Share Drivers

• May 28th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

The on-demand economy is bridging the gap between two industries. Home flipping companies are now enlisting ride-share drivers to scout potential properties, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Home flippers are using drivers, who cover a lot of ground during their routes, to spot and document homes in gentrifying areas with notices on the doors, unruly yards or other signs of neglect.

In some instances, third-party companies like DealMachine and CORI hire drivers to identify and take pictures of potential homes which could be ripe for flipping. CORI pays drivers $1,500 per lead that results in a purchase; the company currently has 100 drivers but aims for 1,000 drivers by year's end. The article notes that, while one recruiter estimates that every 200 houses a driver submits should lead to one sale, some drivers have been unsuccessful in producing such a lead despite having scouted hundreds of properties over five or six months.

It is unsurprising that flipping, where a house is purchased, improved, and then sold at a higher price typically within a year or two, is beginning to leverage on-demand technologies as the practice has become more commodified.

"40 percent of flips are now made by companies rather than by individuals, giving companies three times the market share they had during the last housing boom, according to research from property-data firm CoreLogic," the article states.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/house-flippers-recruit-ride-share-drivers/15450.