Selling, buying or renting a home is something that most people do a relatively limited number of times during their lifetime. But for Maria Friström43, it has become a job.
Friström, who was born in Turku, Finland but grew up in Stockholm, is engaged in “flipping” – something she shares on her Instagram account @marialovesrealestate and in the new series “The Housing Flippers”.
– Flipping is a real estate investment strategy where an investor buys a property, usually at a discounted price, with the intention of renovating or improving it and then selling it for a profit. The goal of house flipping is to buy low, add value through renovations or upgrades, and then sell high preferably within a relatively short period of time, usually within months, she explains to News24 and continues further:
– Successful house flipping requires careful planning, knowledge of the local real estate market, renovation skills and the ability to accurately assess the potential resale value of the property after improvements have been made.
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Maria Friström: “Freedom to decide on my time”
Maria Friström, who started as a physiotherapist but later worked in communications in the USA, completed her first flipping project in 2015.
– It was a villa I bought, without having seen it, in Fort Collins in the USA, she says and states that she has lost count of how many homes she has flipped until today.
– But since then I have been involved in buying and selling investment properties for around SEK 50 million, in Finland and the USA. The most extensive project is a construction project where we built six houses in Texas. We bought a plot of land with a house ready for demolition, and built six houses for sale in its place.
However, it is not the money that is the biggest dividend, according to Friström.
– The most valuable property investment has given me, apart from important meetings with people, is the freedom to decide on my time. That’s why I started it in the first place.
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Maria Friström is in the series “Bostadsflipperna”. Photo: Niki Strbian Previously worked 80 hours a week
In 2015, Maria Friström’s days looked completely different. She made a career in Silicon Valley and usually worked 80 hours a week – something she got enough of in one day when she sat pumping breast milk in the company’s massage room.
– When I sat there with my hands-free setup and pumped while writing emails, I thought: Wait a minute… I pay someone 20,000 kroner for months to take care of my five-month-old son. What am I doing?
– By then I had bought my first deal, but at that moment I decided to actively pursue my freedom through real estate investments.
According to Friström, a single flipping deal could give her money that corresponded to roughly ten years’ gross salary when she worked as a physiotherapist.
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Room in one of Maria Friström’s projects before renovation. Photo: Martin ShieldThe room after renovation. Photo: Martin ShieldMaria Friström on what flipping has given her
In the years that Maria Friström has been flipping, she has found that real estate investments, for her, are about two things:
– Partly to build wealth, and for me that means having an abundance of what is most important to you. For me it is freedom to decide over my time, health, love, creativity, and soulful connections.
– Partly to enable others. To create wonderful homes, to give jobs to others, to be involved in creating deals that move others forward towards their dreams.
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