Hi Edith. I'm intrigued by the idea of flipping a house — buying, fixing up and re-selling at a profit. But I have exactly zero experience and no cash. Not exactly a recipe for success.

What's the best way to go about finding a flip-worthy home? Are there particular "rehab loans" that might be available? Obviously it would be best to partner up with someone with experience, but I don't know anyone.

I'm just looking for some direction to figure out if this is even remotely possible. The way I figure, even the experts were just starting out at one point. Any thoughts, ideas or guidance is greatly appreciated. — M.

Answer: Here are some of the steps to successfully flipping property:

1. Locate a house that's being sold at a steep discount from market value, perhaps because the owner is under pressure for a quick deal, or because the place needs too much work to qualify for a regular mortgage-financed sale. It helps to have a real estate agent's help with this part.

2. Discuss with a CPA the dollar amounts involved to see if there's a reasonable chance you can fix the house up and re-sell it for enough to cover purchase price, closing costs, property taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, real estate commission, legal costs of buying and selling, something for unexpected costs and something left for profit.

3. Negotiate a contract to purchase.

4. Arrange financing. As you have no cash, your best bet will be to locate a partner who is willing to put up the money in return for your doing most of the work.

5. Actually buy the place, probably for cash. It's difficult to arrange financing these days for investment property, particularly when you have no experience.

6. Transfer gas, electric, water, trash or other utilities to your name and arrange insurance. Supervise repairs, doing whatever you can yourself. Get the work done as quickly as possible.

7. Put the property on the market at a slight discount from market value for a quick sale to avoid the expense of holding it vacant.

8. Sell for enough to make the whole enterprise worthwhile. (Pay income tax on the profit at your regular rate because your gain is short-term.)

I realize you're all set for No. 8, but most of the others may give you trouble. A good place to start is by taking the course required of beginning real estate agents. You'll come out with a lot of useful information and you may meet people who are interested in your project.

Tub or Shower

Dear Edith, My husband and I are getting ready to remodel our main bath and are considering putting in just a walk-in shower and forget the tub. Do you think that could be a problem for selling it in the future? Would it devalue the house? — K.

Answer: Someone sent in that very question a couple of years ago and it brought a flood of responses. When I sorted the email out, opinions were pretty much 50-50. Many said "We'd never buy a house without a tub" or "Where would we wash the dog?" Just about as many wrote along the lines of "Haven't used the tub once, waste of space".

Appraisers consider anything that cuts down on the pool of potential buyers as detracting from market value. On the other hand, you might find some buyers particularly enthusiastic about a fancy shower. That's about all I can tell you.

Up from the Grave

Dear Edith: I own our home, but my wife had to co-sign the mortgage because my income wasn't sufficient. Is this enough to give her the house if I die, even without a will or her name on the deed?

I have two children from my first marriage. I explained to them that I want my wife to have everything if anything happens. If they make any claims, boy would I come up out of the ground and come after them! — G.

Answer: Why on earth did your wife agree to that arrangement? Being on the mortgage makes her personally responsible for the entire debt, but it doesn't give her any claim to ownership.

At any rate, it's a lot easier for you to make a will now than to come up out of the grave later. Without a will, the state disposes of your property. It won't pay attention to what you may have told anyone. The state figures if you really wanted your wishes to prevail, you would have left a will. Different states have their own rules about what happens. In many jurisdictions, a spouse and children share 50-50. In some places, parents of the deceased are entitled to a share. In a few states, the surviving spouse takes all.

Edith Lank will respond personally to any question sent to www.askedith.com. To find out more about Edith Lank and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.