Last February, Warren Buffett casually mentioned on CNBC that "single-family homes are cheap" in the U.S. and that if he could realistically buy and manage a "couple hundred thousand" of them, he would do so in a heartbeat. "It's as attractive an investment as you can make," Buffett said.
Others apparently agree. As the once stagnant real estate market starts to perk up, house flipping--purchasing a property and reselling it within six months for a profit--is hot again. According to real estate research firm RealtyTrac, nearly 100,000 U.S. homes were flipped in the first half of 2012, up 25% over the...