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It's tough to assess 'worth' with a flip house. They're often 'putting lipstick on the pig' with lots of attention to cosmetics and papering over real problems. The whole thing is driven by trying to get the most possible profit with the least possible labor and materials. That's the opposite of how I do renovations. I want anything I do to be good for 30 or 40 years. If something is opened up and I see a problem, it gets fixed.
Yes, thank you. As an admittedly inexperienced buyer, I wasn't quite sure how to express my true concerns with a flip job, but my instincts told me to be wary. You summed it up perfectly. There's an element of mistrust, as a buyer, when I'm buying from someone who never lived in the home and bought it for extremely low. Maybe it's still worth 389, how do I know that his repairs actually improved it by anything at all really? As you can see from the many defensive and unfriendly remarks on these boards, flippers tend to not be the type of people you'd want to spend a lot of time with.
There's an element of mistrust, as a buyer, when I'm buying from someone who never lived in the home and bought it for extremely low. Maybe it's still worth 389, how do I know that his repairs actually improved it by anything at all really?
As a potential buyer, inexperienced in both real estate transactions AND construction/repair, this is why you should have an experienced buyer's agent and pay an experienced general contractor to help you determine a home's value and potential value. If you have any friends who are knowledgeable, invite them along next time. It'll save you a lot of time, money, and headache beforehand, if you know a house isn't good before putting in an offer/deposit and paying the inspection fees, then having to back out and losing the cost of the inspection.
Asking strangers on the internet what you think are rhetorical questions is not working for you. You seem to be here for validation, not assistance. People with experience are giving you different advice than what you want and you're annoyed with them instead of trying to understand why. You'll never learn anything that way. :/
Yes, thank you. As an admittedly inexperienced buyer, I wasn't quite sure how to express my true concerns with a flip job, but my instincts told me to be wary. You summed it up perfectly. There's an element of mistrust, as a buyer, when I'm buying from someone who never lived in the home and bought it for extremely low. Maybe it's still worth 389, how do I know that his repairs actually improved it by anything at all really? As you can see from the many defensive and unfriendly remarks on these boards, flippers tend to not be the type of people you'd want to spend a lot of time with.
You don't seem to understand the buying process.
You find a house you like.
You put in an offer, based on current market values and your desire to procure the house.
You go into contract.
You have the house inspected to see if there are any issues that you cannot live with. If there are such, per the contract, you opt out.
There is nothing to worry about - the seller's profits are none of your business.
Entitlement is thinking you deserve to be paid the same higher wage as a male co-worker who is seemingly doing the same job. Entitlement is discovering that fact and telling everyone else you meet how unfair it is that you're not being paid the same.
Want to be a strong woman? Tell your boss - the person who can actually do something about it - why you deserve a raise. Don't say the male co-worker doesn't deserve his higher wage; say why YOU *do.* Even better, having done some research before going on the interview, you negotiated higher pay, discussed and set mutual goals, and laid out a career track within the company right from the gate.
Empower *yourself,* don't whine about other people not deserving their higher raise or promotion or their higher profit, the last of which you're complaining about in this thread. You don't achieve great things by whinging about how it isn't fair that other people have achieved them. If you want a great deal, LEARN how to recognize it and seize those opportunities... but don't begrudge others having that skill already.
As a house hunter and potential imminent buyer, I look at price history of any home I'm interested in. For me, a checkered history of ownership, much like a resume with several quick work history jumps, looks bad. My first thought is something is severely wrong with the home, my second thought is it's a flip job. Did they do the work well? Is the house perfect now? Does what they did justify the price jump?
We just looked at a house today that sold this past summer for 389K, and 10 days later was listed for 480K! Almost 100K of work in 10 days???!? And it's still not perfect. It still needs CAC, the basement is unfinished and there's only one bathroom (not a great one at that.) Despite this swift seller's market, it's been on the market for almost a month and they've had to lower the price by 10K. I doubt they did more than a few cosmetic changes in 10 days and therefore I don't see how they can justify such a huge price spike. I like the house and would buy it for a reasonable price, but don't see their asking price as reasonable. How does a flipper expect to find a buyer interested in paying top dollar for a house that was *just* sold for almost 100K less??
I have seen houses do that a lot lately. Is the listing price out of line with current comps? If not then they are asking a reasonable price and they just somehow got a really great deal when they bought it. My husband and I have flipped houses before but it takes a lot of work and much more than 10 days to get it back on the market. We have to buy "very" low in order to compare with current comps when we sell, pay the Realtor, pay capitol gains and make any profit. If we can't get a home for very low we pass on it.
Don't assume a flip house has worse workmanship than the homeowner who has been fiddling around with his/her home for the past 20 years or so. All of the houses we have bought were from long time owners and were in horrendous condition with unsafe work. Don't forget that it doesn't really matter what you think a flipper or owner does. Hirer a good inspector and they will tell you what is wrong with the house....even the really stupid things.
Personally I would rather buy and un updated house and not pay for anyone's upgrades that I might not like.
It all comes down to if it compares with the current comps. If it is inline then that's what your market is selling for. Make sure you check the sold prices....people can "ask" anything they want and it can sit for months.
actually, now I'm thinking "I'm sure there's a bunch of thankful Realtors in Long island that she's NOT using them yet."
One of two things will happen, and Abby will get her house:
1. She will continue writing these offers without basis for months if not years, until the market is in a place where someone finally accepts one. Maybe she'll find the "little old lady" whose heartstrings are pulled by "the letter" from Abby, and just wants Abby to have the house, regardless of what someone else offers.
2. She will realize/learn that her way is not the way that 98% of people do it, and change, and finally get a house before 2020.
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