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The 25 Top U.S. Cities for Flipping a House

The 25 Top U.S. Cities for Flipping a House

By Money , Money.com , Taylor Tepper and Taylor Tepper / Money.com

June 05, 2017

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This story originally appeared on Money.com.

Lucas Machado makes his living flipping houses in South Florida. But that real estate market has gotten so flipping hot that he now feels like he's in a different line of work.

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"It feels like I run a marketing company that does real estate deals," says Machado, president of House Heroes.

With intense competition from U.S. and foreign buyers alike, Machado's biggest concern these days is just finding properties he can acquire at decent prices. As for attracting families to actually buy the homes after his company has fixed them up? That's easy by comparison, he says.

Chalk it up to today's crunched real estate market. As demand for housing across the country rises — thanks to an improving economy and soaring rents that are forcing many families to consider buying instead — the appeal to flip a property for a profit intensifies. That rising demand coupled with the lack of available homes for sale means that prices are climbing through the roof.

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This has forced flippers to broaden their search — geographically, but also in terms of the types of homes they're considering. The average flipped house, for instance, has never been smaller, measuring out to only 1,422 square feet, on average.

Nevertheless, there is money to be made. Gross profits for flipped properties was almost $63,000 in 2016, with a 49.2% gross return on investment, according to RealtyTrac.

To get a sense of the top places to flip a home among the country's largest metro areas, MONEY combined data from two separate surveys (from Trulia and RealtyTrac) that measured each market's home flipping rate — that is, flips as a percentage of total home sales.

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We then took the 25 top markets and then ranked them by their average return on investment (based on 2016 data). Because ROI is a measure of profitability that factors in acquisition costs, this allowed us to judge pricey cities like Los Angeles against less-expensive markets such as Birmingham, Ala.

Look through the slideshow below to see what we came up with.

Start Slideshow

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1. Baltimore, MD.

Credit: Richard Cummins/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 96.6%, Average Days to Flip: 196, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 2.4%

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2. Knoxville, TN.

Credit: Anne Rippy/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 85.0%, Average Days to Flip: 186, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.3%

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3. Oklahoma City, OK.

Credit: Walter Bibikow/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 76.1%, Average Days to Flip: 173, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.4%

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4. Jacksonville, FL.

Credit: TraceRouda/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 75.8%, Average Days to Flip: 172, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 7.8%

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5. Memphis, TN.

Credit: csfotoimages/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 75.6%, Average Days to Flip: 121, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.4%

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6. Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL.

Credit: Dennis Macdonald/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 66.7%, Average Days to Flip: 174, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 8.8%

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7. St. Louis, MO.

Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 65.8%, Average Days to Flip: 163, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 4.2%

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8. Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA.

Credit: DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 63.9%, Average Days to Flip: 179, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 1.8%

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9. Richmond, VA.

Credit: Sky Noir Photography by Bill Dickinson/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 63.8%, Average Days to Flip: 184, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.8%

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10. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL.

Credit: Arrangements-Photography/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 61.0%, Average Days to Flip: 184, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 8.5%

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11. Nashville, TN.

Credit: Danita Delimont/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 55.3%, Average Days to Flip: 180, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 8.2%

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12. Atlanta, GA.

Credit: WIN-Initiative/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 54.6%, Average Days to Flip: 176, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 6.5%

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13. Birmingham, AL.

Credit: SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 52.5%, Average Days to Flip: 157, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.5%

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14. Fresno, CA.

Credit: Spondylolithesis/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 51.6%, Average Days to Flip: 172, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 4.5%

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15. Fort Lauderdale, FL-West Palm Beach, FL-Miami, FL.

Credit: JillianCain/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 51.2%, Average Days to Flip: 182, Year-Over-Year Change in Home Prices: 7.6%

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16. Orlando, FL.

Credit: John Coletti/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 50.9%, Average Days to Flip: 175, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 8.0%

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17. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL.

Credit: Jack Elka Photo/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 49.4%, Average Days to Flip: 197, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 10.5%

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18. Tucson, AZ.

Credit: dszc/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 44.9%, Average Days to Flip: 182, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 4.6%

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19. Bakersfield, CA.

Credit: George Rose/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 44.1%, Average Days to Flip: 173, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 2.5%

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20. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL.

Credit: Wicki58/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 41.4%, Average Days to Flip: 198, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 3.4%

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21. Sacramento, CA.

Credit: dszc/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 39.2%, Average Days to Flip: 178, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 6.8%

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22. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA.

Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 35.7%, Average Days to Flip: 183, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 5.2%

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Los Angeles, CA.

Credit: Rich Polk/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 32.7%, Average Days to Flip: 191, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 6.0%

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Phoenix, AZ.

Credit: Matt Mawson/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 30.0%, Average Days to Flip: 163, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 6.7%

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Las Vegas, NV.

Credit: Allan Baxter/Getty Images

Return on Investment: 29.8%, Average Days to Flip: 160, Year-Over-Year Change In Home Prices: 6.9%

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By Money , Money.com , Taylor Tepper and Taylor Tepper / Money.com

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The 25 Top U.S. Cities for Flipping a House

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1. Baltimore, MD.

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2. Knoxville, TN.

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3. Oklahoma City, OK.

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4. Jacksonville, FL.

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5. Memphis, TN.

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6. Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL.

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7. St. Louis, MO.

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8. Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA.

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9. Richmond, VA.

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10. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL.

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11. Nashville, TN.

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12. Atlanta, GA.

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13. Birmingham, AL.

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14. Fresno, CA.

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15. Fort Lauderdale, FL-West Palm Beach, FL-Miami, FL.

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16. Orlando, FL.

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17. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL.

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18. Tucson, AZ.

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19. Bakersfield, CA.

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20. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL.

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21. Sacramento, CA.

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22. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA.

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Los Angeles, CA.

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Phoenix, AZ.

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Las Vegas, NV.

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