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My wife and I bought the present 1960 model home that we live in, as our last home. It was "flipped" before the couple moved in to it, that we bought it from. Just realize that if a investor/flipper renovates every aspect of the whole house they buy to top notch, they will not make enough profit to keep them in business very long.
So many will do as the flipper did to the home we live in. He installed all new windows and doors, interior woodwork, paint, moved a wall to make a open kit/dining rm, all new kitchen, porcelain floor tile, new bath cabinets/mirrors, refinished hardwoods, poured a new two car driveway, new 22' x 16' concrete patio.
All projects where the buyer will SEE the new and attractive components installed. And a lot of money, he invested, so he had to stop. And he stopped where the buyers eye would not go or most would not think about.
So he left the homes old exterior walls un-insulated. Did not upgrade the 1960 electrical service or any of the homes 1960 interior electrical wiring(just put all new switches and receptacles in) . He left all the old cast iron and steel piping drains in it. He left all the homes 1960 galvanized water lines in it. He left the homes main galvanized water line to the city water meter in place, that was partially clogged. He left the 1960 chipped,white steel bath tubs in it and "dusted" touch up paint on them. He left the 15 year old gas furnace in it.
So anyone that is considering buying a "flipped" property, had best get the BEST home inspector they can get to inspect the property. Because the house will have some corners "cut" on it somewhere. If it does not, then IMO the flipper either got the property for a bottom dollar steal, or they renovated everything top notch and they will NOT, be smiling while going to the bank on closing day.
JMO
This is us ^^^^. Ten years ago we bought our 1950s rancher. There were very few homes available in our price range, and this one ticked all our boxes. It had been a cheap rental and then a "flipper" bought it and did a very cheap upgrade. We had to install a new roof, upgrade plumbing, wiring and more. All the old water lines, piping etc were left and we have had constant problems for years. (Under the slab leaks, disintegrated cast iron sewer pipe etc.
But even with all of this we love this house and as my husband points out (he is an architect) even new homes can have problems. So yes, if I really love a house and location, I will buy from a flipper. I will say, I feel sad when i look online and see how many homes have been "renovated" with the same dull gray paint, counters, carpets etc. I absolutely hate it and would rather decorate to my taste. Some of us LIKE those old pink tile baths and don't necessarily need or want walls taken out for "open" concept....
Mike Holmes suggests being extra careful when buying a flipped house, unless you know the flipper is good. There are too many bad flippers out there that just pretty up a house without repairing serious problems. Some even take deliberate action to hide the problems. In one of his books, he recommended a special type of inspector to hire, that has experience in dealing with flipped houses and knows what sort of things to look for in them.
We are planning to do a VA renovation Loan. It is fairly new, I think it became available in April 2018.
We want to get everything done before moving in.
Best of luck to you. The biggest challenge we saw with the VA reno loan is that you need to have all the updgrades/improvements decided on and bid out prior to closing on the home. That just didn't fit for us, but I certainly understand the desire to have all the work done prior to move-in. Living through a renovation is no fun.
No. It costs more to undo their nonsense and fix it than it costs to fix it right to being with. Also they tend to cover problems with band-aids so they are hidden until a few years after you buy the house. Finally their changes are almost always bland and tasteless in an attempt to appeal to as many mainstream people as possible. I want a house with at least some character and flippers goal is to remove all vestiges of character.
But how different is it from buying a house which has been "upgraded" by the seller over a period of years?
Usually a homeowner is doing upgrades to make his home better. thus he or she is not gong for the cheapest junkiest and most bland modifications they can come up with. Yes there are some homeowners who go for the junk quality like flippers but most want the work to last more than a few months because they have to live there. Now, if they do a bunch of flipper fix ups just before the sale, then they are no different form a flipper. In fact,they are simply flipping their own house, so they are a flipper.
When we sold a prior house, our realtor insisted we put in a bunch of flipper upgrades (carpet over wood floors, change light switches, landscaping, etc. We spent about $35,000 on this stuff. Who bought our house? A flipper. He tore out all of that stuff and replaced it with even cheaper stuff and also tore out all the quality/cool stuff we had put in over the long term and replaced it with home depot junk. Sure glad I spent that $35,000.
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