Flip Not Selling? Plan B, C, D, E and F From Kansas City Investors

From the MAREI Facebook Group

Your rehab is done. The photos look great. And it’s still sitting there.

Days on market keep climbing. Every month costs you interest, taxes, insurance and utilities. And the voice in your head keeps saying the same thing: just drop the price.

Don’t. Not yet.

We asked the people who’ve been here before. In the Kansas City Real Estate Investors group, MAREI’s Kim Tucker posted one question:

“Sitting on a rehab flip that’s not selling? What are your options? Plan B, C, D?”

Within a day it reached more than 2,000 investors, and the answers kept coming. This article pulls together the best of what they said, adds the options the thread didn’t get to, and ends with the hardest question of all: what to do when the flip has failed and the lender is talking foreclosure.

By the end, you’ll have a lot more than Plan D.

Why houses are sitting right now

If your flip is sitting, you’re not alone, and it may not be your fault.

Rates changed the math. Prices climbed to records on 2% money and the COVID frenzy. Mortgage rates are now above 7%. Buyers can’t pay yesterday’s prices at today’s payments, so they wait, or they negotiate hard.

Buyers have leverage. Across the country, 44.7% of home sales in August came with seller concessions, the highest August share since at least 2020, according to Redfin. Here in Kansas City, pending sales of existing homes were down 14.5% in the latest KCRAR market report.

Flipping is tighter. ATTOM reports the typical gross profit on a flip fell to $60,526 in the second quarter of 2026. That’s a 21.5% margin, down from 27.6% a year earlier, and the average flip took 161 days. There’s less room for mistakes than there was two years ago.

And it’s an election season. Kim has watched a lot of presidential elections stop house sales cold, from about August until the day after the November election. This midterm feels the same, and other investors in the thread said so too.

The good news? Joe Williams expects buyers to start moving again in the weeks between the election and Thanksgiving, then cool off until mid to late January.

Your house might not be the problem. The calendar might be.

Step 1: Find out why your house isn’t selling

Before you pick a plan, listen to what the market is telling you. The fix depends on where buyers are dropping off.

What you’re seeing	What it usually means	Where to start
Few clicks or showings	Buyers aren’t finding it, or the photos and price don’t pull them in	Photos, description, search price brackets, exposure
Showings, but no offers	Something in person doesn’t match the price: condition, layout, smell, the street	Get showing feedback, stage it, fix the objection
Offers, but they fall apart	Inspection surprises, low appraisals, or buyers who can’t qualify	Pre-inspection, comps package for the appraiser, buyer incentives
Nothing changes after any of it	The market or season isn’t there right now	Move to Plan B through F

Ask your agent for the showing count, the online views and every piece of buyer feedback. If you’re selling it yourself, track them yourself. Numbers beat guesses.

Before you cut the price, read this

The most detailed answer in the thread came from Lawrence Hopkins, a MAREI Business Associate with Longhorn Investments. It covers the thing most people miss:

Every price cut can cost you more than the cut.

If your backup plan is to refinance into a DSCR loan and hold the house, many DSCR lenders look at your current or most recent list price when they set the value. Even if the appraisal comes in higher.

A lender in the thread backed that up: some capital providers won’t honor an appraisal above your lowest list price, no matter what the appraisal says.

So a $20,000 price cut today can shrink the loan you get tomorrow.

Lawrence’s advice is to work in order. Fix the marketing first: photos, presentation, staging and buyer exposure. Then run the rental numbers and ask whether holding and refinancing would make you more money. Know your holding costs, because interest, taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance eat your profit every single month. Only then decide on price, strategically and not out of panic.

“Don’t automatically sacrifice equity to solve a marketing problem.” — Lawrence Hopkins

Do the math tonight. Add up one month of interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, lawn care and maintenance. If it’s $2,500 a month, waiting three months for your price costs $7,500. A $5,000 cut that sells it next week might be the better deal. Or it might not. Now you know.

Plan A: Sell it better

Plan A isn’t “wait and hope.” It’s changing what buyers see, what they pay each month and how confident they feel.

Reset and relaunch

This is the one Kim has seen work again and again: take it off the market, fix everything buyers didn’t love, and bring it back as a brand-new listing.

Pulling the listing resets your days on market on the sites buyers use. A house that shows 90 days on market makes buyers ask, “What’s wrong with it?” A fresh listing makes them ask, “Did I just find it first?”

While it’s off the market, use the time:

• Get it staged. Investors in the thread called staging non-negotiable in this market: faster sales and higher prices. Kim agrees. Staging makes a house look a whole lot more upscale. Can’t afford full staging? Stage the living room, kitchen and main bedroom. That’s where buyers decide.
• Get new professional photos. Staged rooms, bright light, a twilight exterior shot. Your photos are your first showing.
• Rewrite the description. Sell the life in the house, not the square footage. Lead with what’s new: the roof, the HVAC, the kitchen.
• Fix the objections. Go back through the showing feedback. If three buyers mentioned the paint color or the backyard, fix it now.
• Then relist with a launch plan: new photos, a new price strategy, an open house the first weekend.

One tip: many MLS systems still track total days on market behind the scenes, and some require a house to stay off for a set time before the count starts over. Ask your agent how long yours needs to be off.

Timing matters. Joe Williams suggests taking it off around November 1 and relisting around February 1, if you have the cash to carry it. In his experience the spring market can bring as much as 10% more than you’re asking today. His comment drew more reactions than any other in the thread. If your agent hasn’t brought you new ideas in 30 days, the relaunch may also be the time for a new agent.

Price for the search brackets

Buyers search in round numbers. A house listed at $305,000 never shows up for the buyer searching “up to $300,000.” The same goes for $250,000, $350,000 and $400,000.

Sometimes a small cut that drops you into a new bracket brings a whole new pool of buyers. A big cut that doesn’t cross a bracket just costs you money. Before you change the price, look at where the brackets fall and who you’re missing.

Offer a rate buydown instead of a price cut

This may be the most powerful tool in a high-rate market, and nobody in the thread mentioned it.

Buyers don’t buy prices. They buy payments. Look at a $280,000 loan at 7.25%:

• Cut the price $10,000: the buyer’s payment drops about $61 a month.
• Pay for a 2-1 buydown instead (about $6,600): the payment drops about $364 a month in year one and $186 a month in year two.

You spend less. The buyer saves more. And your list price stays put, which protects your refinance if you end up keeping it.

Put it right in the listing: “Seller will pay for a rate buydown. Ask how low your payment can go.” Other incentives work the same way: seller-paid closing costs, a home warranty or a bonus to the buyer’s agent. Loan programs cap how much a seller can contribute, so have the buyer’s lender confirm the numbers.

Take away the fear

Buyers walk when they’re scared of surprises, and flips make buyers nervous. Was the work done right? Was it permitted?

Answer those questions before they’re asked. Get a pre-listing inspection and leave the report on the counter with the receipts, permits and warranties for the work you did. Leave a comps package for the appraiser so a low appraisal doesn’t kill your deal. A confident buyer is a closing buyer.

Plan B: Keep it and rent it

This was the most common answer in the thread by far. Over and over, investors said the same thing: do a cash-out refinance and rent it. Several have done exactly that, more than once.

One summed it up: hold it a few years, and one day you look up and think, “Oh shoot, I have equity now.”

Kim’s take: time fixes a lot of mistakes, miscalculations and market shifts.

Before you decide, run real numbers. Get a rent estimate from a property manager, not just a website. Price out a DSCR or conventional rental loan. Then ask the only question that matters: does the rent cover the new payment, taxes, insurance, repairs and vacancy? If it does, you’ve turned a stuck flip into a long-term asset.

Remember Lawrence’s warning. If renting is your Plan B, protect your list price now. That number may decide how much your refinance gets you.

The catch: what if you can’t refi?

One member asked the question a lot of people were thinking: what if you’re in at 75% or 80% and can’t refinance?

Jeremy Zollin didn’t sugarcoat it. If refi-and-rent isn’t possible, the deal didn’t pencil to begin with. You’re over-leveraged and at high risk for a loss.

“70% rule exists for a reason.” — Jeremy Zollin

Here’s why. Almost every Plan B, C and D needs long-term money. Refi and rent. Short-term rental. Lease option. Seller financing. If you’re stuck in a short-term note you can’t refinance, you need a really good relationship with your lender, one who will turn it into a long-term payment plan so you can hold until the market adjusts. (More on that in Plan F, and in the foreclosure section.)

Your Plan B starts the day you buy. Buy at a number that leaves room to refinance.

Plan C: Rent it differently

Long-term rent not covering the payment? You don’t have to rent it the usual way.

Short-term rental. Furnish it and list it on Airbnb or VRBO. Investors in the thread suggested it as a way to recoup cash and make payments until the market turns. It can earn more per month than a lease, but it takes more work, more furniture and more cleaning.

Mid-term rental. Furnished stays of a month or more. Think travel nurses near the hospitals, people relocating for work, people between homes, and families displaced by a fire or flood whose insurance company pays the rent. Fewer turnovers than Airbnb, more rent than a standard lease.

Rent by the room. One investor in the thread does a cash-out and rents rooms to veterans, two beds per room. Renting by the room can turn one modest rent into several, but it takes strong management.

Section 8. A freshly rehabbed house often passes the inspection easily. The housing authority pays its share of the rent directly to you every month, and Section 8 tenants often stay for years.

Each one has more management and more rules than a standard lease. Check your city’s rental and short-term rental rules, your HOA if there is one, and your insurance, before you jump in.

Plan D: Become the bank

Several investors kept it short: owner finance it.

Offer seller financing and you open the door to buyers the banks turned away: the self-employed, people rebuilding credit, people with a big down payment and a short job history. You collect a down payment, monthly payments and interest. Often you get a higher price, too.

One investor added a smart tip: keep a list of buyers ready before you need them.

Jeremy Zollin added one more: a lease option. Your tenant rents now, with the right to buy later at a set price. You collect rent today, an option fee up front and, often, a sale down the road. If they don’t buy, you keep the house and the fee.

Owner financing works best when you own the house free and clear, or close to it. It also has real rules about who you can lend to and how. Talk with an attorney who knows Missouri and Kansas seller-financing law before you sign anything.

Plan E: Sell it to an investor

Retail buyers care about granite. Investors care about numbers. If retail isn’t biting, change the buyer.

Sell it as a turnkey rental. Put a good tenant in, then sell it to a landlord. Investors buy on rent and cash flow, and a house that’s already rented with a fresh rehab is exactly what many out-of-town buyers want.

Sell to another investor at a discount. Break even, or take a smaller profit, and get your cash back for the next deal. It hurts to leave money on the table. It hurts more to pay holding costs for another six months and then sell for the same number.

Put it in front of MAREI. Post it on your free MAREIMember.com website, share it in the MAREI Facebook group, and bring it to the Deal Room at the next MAREI Meeting. See how in “Get your property in front of MAREI” below.

Plan F: Work it out with your money

If your loan is coming due, don’t wait for the deadline.

Call your lender early. Hard-money and private lenders would rather extend a loan than take back a house. Ask for an extension before the note matures, not after. An extension fee almost always costs less than a fire sale.

Bring in a partner. A partner with long-term money can pay off the short-term note in exchange for a share of the profit when it sells, or a share of ownership if you keep it.

Get creative, carefully. Some investors sell “subject-to” the existing loan, or with a wrap, so a buyer takes over the payments. These can work, but your loan’s due-on-sale clause is real. Get an attorney involved before you try it.

When the flip has failed: facing foreclosure

This weekend, a member reached out to Kim with the message every investor dreads. The flip had failed, the house was listed for sale by owner, and the lender was threatening foreclosure.

If that’s you, take a breath. You have more options than you think, but only if you act now.

1. Keep talking to your lender

This is Kim’s first rule, and it matters more than anything else in this article: keep every line of communication with your lender open.

Answer the phone. Return the email. Send updates before they ask. Lenders who hear from you, and see that you’re working the problem, will often work with you. Lenders who get silence start the foreclosure.

2. Ask your lender for help

If the house just isn’t sellable, ask your lender for ideas. Hard-money and private lenders have seen this before. They have knowledge and contacts you don’t.

Remember what changes when you can’t pay. Your lender’s goal shifts from earning points and interest to getting their original investment back. That opens doors:

• They could become your partner in the deal and share in the eventual profit.
• They might have a buyer for you.
• They might help you turn it into a rental, and convert your short-term fix-and-flip loan into a long-term rental loan.
• They might restructure the loan. An extension, interest-only payments for a few months, or adding the missed payments to the back of the loan can buy you time to sell or refinance.

3. Consider deeding it to the lender

Foreclosure costs your lender time, legal fees and months of carrying costs. If you can’t sell for what you owe with points, interest and late fees, and the lender isn’t going to collect all of that anyway, you may be able to save everyone time and money by deeding the property to them. This is called a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Before you sign, get it in writing that the deed settles the debt. Ask your lender to release you from any remaining balance and any personal guarantee you signed. Without that, they could take the house and still come after you for the difference. Your lender may also say no if there are other liens on the property, such as contractor liens or a second loan.

4. Ask about a short sale

In a short sale, your lender agrees to let you sell for less than you owe and accepts the proceeds as payment. You avoid a foreclosure, and the lender usually gets more than it would at auction.

Short sales take paperwork and patience, and the lender has to approve the buyer and the price. Work with someone who has done them before. In the MAREI community, David Randolph and Rick Hamrick both specialize in short sales. Reach out to MAREI and we’ll connect you. As with a deed in lieu, get the lender’s agreement in writing that it waives the remaining balance, or that you’ll repay a set amount on agreed terms.

5. More creative ways out

Sell short and sign a note for the gap. If the lender won’t forgive the shortfall, offer to sell the house and pay the remaining balance over time on an unsecured note. The lender gets paid, and you get out from under the house and the holding costs.

Let another investor take over the loan. With your lender’s approval, a stronger investor can take over the loan and the property. Some lenders would rather keep a performing loan with a new borrower than foreclose.

Bring in a rescue partner. An investor with cash can bring the loan current or pay it off in exchange for ownership or a share of the profit. You give up some upside. You also stop the foreclosure.

Refinance with someone else. Another private lender or a DSCR lender may pay off your current lender, especially if the house can be rented. Lawrence’s warning about your list price matters most here.

Master lease it. An experienced investor leases the whole property from you, makes your payments, rents it out and keeps the difference, often with an option to buy it later.

Market it to every investor you can reach. A priced-to-sell house in front of the right investor can close fast. MAREI gives you three ways to do that, right below.

Know your clock

Investment property loans don’t come with the protections owner-occupants get, and the two states we work in move at very different speeds.

• Missouri foreclosures usually happen outside of court, through a trustee’s sale. They can move fast, often in about two months, with as little as 20 days’ notice before the sale.
• Kansas foreclosures go through the courts, which usually takes longer and can come with a redemption period after the sale.
• Both states generally allow lenders to come after you for the remaining balance, which is why that written release matters.

What not to do

• Don’t go silent. Ignoring calls and certified mail is how a workout turns into a foreclosure.
• Don’t sign your deed over to a stranger who promises to “save” your house. Foreclosure rescue scams are real.
• Don’t wait for the sale date to call an attorney. A real estate attorney can explain every option, including legal protections you may not know you have.

Facing this right now? You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. Reach out to MAREI. We can help you find the right people: lenders, short sale specialists, attorneys and investors who buy houses like yours.

Get your property in front of MAREI

Whether you’re selling, looking for a partner or just need ideas, MAREI members have three ways to get help from thousands of Kansas City investors.

1. Post it on your free MAREIMember.com website

Every MAREI member gets a free website. Log in to MAREIMember.com, activate yours, and post your property. Posted properties go out by email to MAREI’s investor list.

Coming soon: we’re building a bigger MAREI online community with a much stronger property posting tool, so members can share deals with each other even more easily.

2. Post it in the MAREI Facebook group

Visit MAREI.org/Facebook and post properties you own for sale. Or just ask for help. This article started with one question in that group, and more than 2,000 investors saw it in a day.

3. Come to the next MAREI Meeting

Nothing beats a room full of investors. Come to the next MAREI Meeting, talk to people, and ask for help and ideas during the 30-minute Deal Room. Bring the address, the numbers and what you need. The person with the answer might be sitting two rows back.

Don’t forget the tax side

How and when you exit changes your tax bill, sometimes by thousands of dollars.

Selling a flip is usually taxed as ordinary income. Converting it to a rental and holding it can change how the IRS sees it. Down the road, as Kim pointed out in the thread, a property held as a rental may qualify for a 1031 exchange to defer the tax. Taking a loss? It may offset other income or gains. And if a lender forgives part of your debt in a short sale or deed in lieu, the forgiven amount may count as taxable income.

The rules depend on your situation. Talk with your CPA before you choose your exit, not after.

Which plan fits you?

If this is you…	Look at…
You can carry it a few more months	Plan A: reset and relaunch, or offer a buydown
You have equity and the rent covers the payment	Plan B: refi and rent
Long-term rent won’t cover it	Plan C: short-term, mid-term, rooms or Section 8
You own it free and clear, or close to it	Plan D: owner finance or lease option
You need your cash back now	Plan E: sell to an investor, and post it with MAREI
Your loan is coming due and you can’t refi	Plan F: call your lender now, or bring in a partner
You’re behind and the lender is talking foreclosure	Talk to your lender today, then look at a workout, short sale or deed in lieu

Frequently asked questions

Should I lower the price if my flip isn’t selling?

Not first. Find out why it isn’t selling, fix the marketing and look at buyer incentives like a rate buydown. If a refinance is your backup plan, a lower list price can lower the value some lenders will use. Cut the price strategically, not out of panic.

Does taking a house off the market reset days on market?

On most sites buyers use, a relisted home shows up as new. Many MLS systems still track total days on market, and some require the home to stay off for a set time. Ask your agent how long yours needs to be off.

What is a 2-1 rate buydown?

The seller pays money up front to lower the buyer’s interest rate by 2 points in year one and 1 point in year two. The buyer gets a much lower payment early on, and the seller keeps the list price.

What can I do if I can’t refinance my fix-and-flip loan?

Call your lender before the loan comes due. Ask about an extension, a restructure, a partnership or converting to a rental loan. Other options include bringing in a partner, refinancing with another lender, selling to an investor, a short sale or a deed in lieu.

What’s the difference between a short sale and a deed in lieu of foreclosure?

In a short sale, you sell the house for less than you owe and the lender accepts the proceeds. In a deed in lieu, you give the house to the lender instead of going through foreclosure. In both, get it in writing that the lender releases you from the remaining balance.

How fast can a foreclosure happen in Missouri and Kansas?

Missouri foreclosures usually happen outside of court and can move in about two months, with as little as 20 days’ notice before the sale. Kansas foreclosures go through the courts and usually take longer. Talk with an attorney about your situation.

How can MAREI help me sell a property?

MAREI members can post properties on their free MAREIMember.com website, which goes out by email to MAREI’s list. Anyone can post in the MAREI Facebook group at MAREI.org/Facebook. And every MAREI Meeting has a 30-minute Deal Room for sharing deals and asking for help.

The bottom line

A flip that won’t sell isn’t a failure yet. It’s a decision.

• Buy right. Leave room to refinance, or most of these plans may not be open to you.
• Find out why it isn’t selling before you change anything.
• Protect your list price if a refinance is your backup plan.
• Reset and relaunch before you give it away.
• Sell the payment, not the price. A buydown can do more than a price cut.
• Know your monthly holding cost to the dollar.
• Talk to your lender early, and keep talking.
• Have Plan B, C and D picked before you buy the next one.

The best time to know your exit is before you close on the purchase. The second best time is today.

Comments shared by members of the Kansas City Real Estate Investors Facebook group, October 2026. Market data: Redfin (August 2026 seller concessions), KCRAR (Kansas City market report), ATTOM (Q2 2026 Home Flipping Report). Payment examples are estimates for principal and interest only. Foreclosure timelines are general and vary by loan and county. This article is for education, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk with your own lender, CPA and attorney before you make a move.