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Am I the only one who really doesn't like the idea of looking at houses people are flipping?
I guess some of them turn out okay, but IMO, you are paying an inflated price for a bunch of fix ups and renovations that were done in the taste of someone else. If I'm going to be footing the bill for it, I'd rather foot it on the front side by paying for the fix ups and renovations and doing them the way me and my wife like them.
I've looked at a few now that were nice, but TOTALLY not our taste. Paint colors, carpet/flooring choices, kitchen layout.....it all has been leaving a lot to be desired. Doesn't seem to be a lot of unflipped houses around that aren't just all around bad floor plans. Starting to thing we should consider smaller homes and just buy new so we can pick out the details.
If a "flipper" is doing things to their own tastes, then they're an idiot. When assessing a house for renovation, one needs to determine what fits the neighborhood and house, and go from there. You shouldn't put granite slab countertops in a $100k house, just like you wouldn't put Formica ones in a $500k house.
You also shouldn't do colors to your own personal tastes, but rather stay neutral so that it's inoffensive to everyone. Neutral may not be to their own tastes, but it's easier for a buyer to see themselves living in the house with neutral paint rather than the OMG IT'S RED (or any other intense color) scheme.
It's all about appealing to the broadest possible spectrum of buyers. As far as clumsy floorplans...a lot of the time there's not much to be done about that. Depending on the structure of the house and how much the renovator wants to put into it, they may very well have to leave the floorplan as-is, or very close to it.
Last edited by RoaminRed; 02-20-2008 at 10:22 AM..
Reason: Added more...
Ditto what roaminred is saying. Not sure why a flipper would be doing a house to their tastes. Someone who knows anything about flipping knows to keep it neutral. I actually have an appointment to look at a flip on Friday. From the pictures I can see a few things that were done in a cheesy fashion (painting over wood paneling rather than removing it, stock light fixtures, etc), but I know these are things that can easily be fixed, updated replaced to my tastes. To the credit of the flipper, the interior of the house is all white, carpets are beige, bathrooms are mostly white with off white tiles. My intention going in is to go over everything with a fine tooth comb because like the OP noted, I also tend to think that many flippers do minor upgrades and expect top dollar and i'm curious to see close up what the quality of the cabinets are, how old is the roof, what type and brand of new windows were installed, etc....
...OMG IT'S RED (or any other intense color) scheme....
Hmmm....about that....
One of my kids' rooms has the lower 3 1/2 ft of the wall painted bright red. It's a nascar themed room (featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.) Well it's a fun room and it's well done. But do you think a buyer would walk in there and rule the whole house out because of it? The rest of the house is very neutral.
One of my kids' rooms has the lower 3 1/2 ft of the wall painted bright red. It's a nascar themed room (featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.) Well it's a fun room and it's well done. But do you think a buyer would walk in there and rule the whole house out because of it? The rest of the house is very neutral.
It's quite possible. Why? Because people as a whole have no imagination and can't see past things they don't like. You'll also get people that don't want to be bothered having to change anything before they move in. When you go to sell the house, I'd take the time to paint over it. It's not like you can take it with you
One of my kids' rooms has the lower 3 1/2 ft of the wall painted bright red. It's a nascar themed room (featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.) Well it's a fun room and it's well done. But do you think a buyer would walk in there and rule the whole house out because of it? The rest of the house is very neutral.
Are there stickers on the walls or a border? As a buyer with no children I would not be turned off by the red (it would most certainly get painted over by me) but turned off if these things were present on the walls. I like to paint but had to take down wallpaper.
I'm seeing abysmal flips. People are asking top dollar for shoddy work 9 times out of 10. EVERY single house with the identical HGTV look because someone told them that granite counters sell houses, frequently on inappropriate homes. Unfortunately the same attention has not been paid to fundementals, such as wiring, plumbing and insulation, which are the things I most care about. Paint is easy to change, not so much a roof.
AnthonyB - funny you say that...the one i am looking at this week advertised "Granite Counters" and when i enlarged the pictures of the kitchen I could see that its granite tile counters, not a slab. I'm not a fan of any tile on counters so it should be interesting to see what other holes I can poke in this house on Friday.
Are there stickers on the walls or a border? As a buyer with no children I would not be turned off by the red (it would most certainly get painted over by me) but turned off if these things were present on the walls. I like to paint but had to take down wallpaper.
Yeah there is a 8" boarder that goes all the way around at the top of the red. It looks really nice. The walls are textured so the bond between the border and the wall isn't that strong. It could probably be peeled off easily enough.
It's like one of those things that you hate to have to change because you spent a lot of time on it. But ....can't take it with you I suppose
I watched ( for the first time) the TV program about "flipping houses" and based on that, I never would consider buying one.
The woman who was doing the "flipping" sure kept reminding the contractors that " I'm never going to live here" to encourage them to do it as cheap as possible and for cosmetic reasons only.
That may be fine for re-painting a room, but not when putting a new roof on a house or correcting major problems in the heating and cooling system.
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