Many Franks pointed out this article over at BiV about house flipping in Dunbar. and points out how the math might not always be as appealing as it first sounds:

“A well-backed investor leveraging 20% down financing [around $400,000] would yield over 100% [on their cash investment],” said Derek Tinney, Landcor Data operations manager.Vancouver realtor Ken Leong, who admits to a brief – and heady – history of flipping condominiums for himself and clients, said it takes more nerve and cash to speculate on Vancouver’s detached-house market than during the exuberant days of condo flips a decade ago.

Leong said that if house price increases go soft – as in the current condo market – investors could find themselves financially under water fast.

Buried below the big numbers and cherry-picked examples are some important details:

[I]f an investor bought a house for $1 million and flipped it a few months later for $1.1 million, he or she would have to pay $18,000 in B.C.’s property purchase tax. Realtor commissions to sell the house would total around $33,500. The capital gains tax, likely at the highest tax bracket, would be roughly $30,000.“So now your $100,000 gain is down to less than $20,000, and you still have to add in the carrying costs of financing of around $4,000 per month while the house is for sale,” he said.

“It would be hard to make a big profit on such a flip,” Leong said. “Actually the government would make more than the investor.”

The last sentence is key.

Read the original article here.