Mistakes That Can Turn A Flip Into A Flop

• Liar loans. "Lying on a mortgage application is a federal crime," says Joseph Falk of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. "It includes bank fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud and potentially a host of state offenses. This can result in jail time."

• Overpaying. No matter how promising the property, the bottom line is trump.

• Lacking cash. Desperation makes investors do crazy things. When you act in haste, you're more likely to make poor decisions.

• Quitting your day job. A steady source of cash staves off desperation.

• Hiring unlicensed contractors. Not only do they present an insurance risk, but worse yet, often they don't get the job done.

• Buying sight unseen. You can bet it will be uglier than the seller said it was.

• Buying property far, far away. Even the tiniest repair can mushroom into a crisis.

• Buying too many properties too fast. Too much money, too little time.

• Underestimating remodeling costs. There's no such thing as a cheap and easy fix.

• Having a poor exit strategy. Running out of cash and living on credit cards doesn't work. (Source: USA Today, Noelle Knox )