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This past weekend, we went out to a short sale to look for our new home that we will do a live-in flip. We ended up making an offer for a price that their bank had already agreed to. So, that part is fine. We have done this before and saw lots of potential in the property.
My retired parents insisted that they go with us this time to see the place. It turned out to be a semi-horder's home. I begged my parents to try to look past the mess and look at the home itself. Unfortunately, they couldn't look past all the stuff.
In my past life, I was an inspector. I did a thorough inspection of the house myself. Trust me, the place is a gold mine if you could look past all the stuff and focus on the house. It's actually an incredible house.
After we left the place, my parents begged me to not get it because it was too messy. My mom even said it will cost me $50k or more to clean up all the mess. LOL
And actually, the mess totally worked to our advantage as it probably kept away a lot of our competitors.
So, if you're going to go to a short sale or auction, don't bring your parents along. If you are someone who is capable of looking past the mess and see the potential that exists in a house, you will make a lot of money.
Parents mess up many deals! I always have to remind my clients, especially first time home buyers, that their parents aren't buying and living in the house, they are. Their parents, many of them, haven't bought a house for 20+ years and don't understand what you get for today's money.
"Back when I bought my first house, it was only $50k. How can you spend $300k on this house?!!"
Parents need to be invited to the house-warming party, but not to the buying process, especially inspections!
Parents mess up many deals! I always have to remind my clients, especially first time home buyers, that their parents aren't buying and living in the house, they are. Their parents, many of them, haven't bought a house for 20+ years and don't understand what you get for today's money.
"Back when I bought my first house, it was only $50k. How can you spend $300k on this house?!!"
Parents need to be invited to the house-warming party, but not to the buying process, especially inspections!
I hear this all the time-- I am not a realtor, but I buy and sell a fair amount of property.
Once at the settlement table, dear old dad had my buyer so worked up over the price ("This is really inflated, honey. The house you grew up in cost a fraction of this. And we didn't have a mortgage! Are you sure you don't want to keep looking? I really don't think you can afford to have the bank own most of your house...") that he almost backed out. The agent had to ask dad to leave the room. He got huffy and refused. It was ugly.
I know what you mean. My father talked us out of buying a house in 1966 because the payments would have been $130 a month. Then we had to rent an apartment that was $130 a month. Made no sense. Today that house is worth $800,000.
Parents need to understand, their world is not their children's world. My in-laws screamed at us (why do parents always scream when you don't live their way), HOW MUCH? Then, when we told them our payment, they again screamed---their payment was only $130/month, and we were "crazy"
to pay so much! They even said the only reason our payments were so high was probably because our credit was low! No, at the time, our credit was about 800!
Parents of adult children need to learn things change, what worked for the, doesn't necessarily apply now!
Not all parents are so incredibly naive and incompetent. I run things past my father once in a while due to his background in finance and real estate just as a double check on my math.
On my latest flip, my folks simply said "nice job" once they saw the completed project. Two months from a near tear down to a nice, clean, and safe small home. The before pictures were very bad. Hazmat type suits and respirators required.
Not all parents are so incredibly naive and incompetent. I run things past my father once in a while due to his background in finance and real estate just as a double check on my math.
On my latest flip, my folks simply said "nice job" once they saw the completed project. Two months from a near tear down to a nice, clean, and safe small home. The before pictures were very bad. Hazmat type suits and respirators required.
My parents are musicians, so they know nothing about houses and renovations. When I bought the house I just sold, my folks kept telling me I would have to spend 100k to fix up the house. I did it with 13k. Bought it for 84k and just sold it for 162k after 2 years of living there. We do live-in flip.
I took my parents to see a foreclosure two years ago. It worked out for me, because they loved the house, thought it was perfect for me and they fronted me the cash to buy it.
Yeah, maybe other parents are raging morons, but mine aren't. I totally respect their opinion and would show them the home. They're savvy with money and real estate.
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