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You're taking this the wrong way. We don't feel superior. But the house is clearly listed as not move in ready and needing a lot of work. Why would people looking for move in ready houses come at all? That's the point. They came expecting something pretty then ran in terror.
I agree with dblackga who said it more diplomatically than I did.
Maybe some of these people wanted an even bigger project and were scoffing at you as amateur flippers mumbling "leave it to the HGTV wannabes as they leave".
People often look at houses where they know the square footage and number of bathrooms and bedrooms but they visit and say "too small" and leave (or "run in terror" as you would say).
Or they know it's on a busy road and they go to see it and say "looking for something quieter".
etc. etc. I think that for any given house, most people who see it leave without even considering putting in an offer because they determine very quickly that it's not what they are looking for. And if you look at the listing, you can say "dummies should have known". That's nothing so unusual or controversial. So forgive us for thinking that this thread is more about you proclaiming your stature on the flipping, investing and wheeling and dealing pecking order than anything else.
I agree with dblackga who said it more diplomatically than I did.
Maybe some of these people wanted an even bigger project and were scoffing at you as amateur flippers mumbling "leave it to the HGTV wannabes as they leave".
People often look at houses where they know the square footage and number of bathrooms and bedrooms but they visit and say "too small" and leave (or "run in terror" as you would say).
Or they know it's on a busy road and they go to see it and say "looking for something quieter".
etc. etc. I think that for any given house, most people who see it leave without even considering putting in an offer because they determine very quickly that it's not what they are looking for. And if you look at the listing, you can say "dummies should have known". That's nothing so unusual or controversial. So forgive us for thinking that this thread is more about you proclaiming your stature on the flipping, investing and wheeling and dealing pecking order than anything else.
I can walk into a house and pretty much tell whether or not it is right for me. I don't like to linger and forever. I can see past the wallpaper, the ugly appliances, the dirty carpets. Sometimes you can't tell until you walk in if the house is what you want from a description on the internet, you need to physically see it.
I took the OP's point as very similar to the posts you see here now and again about buyers who seem to ignore very clear descriptions about properties and then make negative comments. Like looking at homes near and airport, or backing up to a freeway.
From your questions, there seems that there is so much you still need to learn.
Oh, absolutely. We don't pretend to be experts on real estates investing. Just know that we don't feel superior or the other things that the hostile replies make us out to be. We know people came expecting a move in ready house because we heard them say that. Most were young couples looking for their first home.
But anyway, I apologize for having offended some people here. No superior attitude here. Just thought it was funny is all.
I took the OP's point as very similar to the posts you see here now and again about buyers who seem to ignore very clear descriptions about properties and then make negative comments. Like looking at homes near and airport, or backing up to a freeway.
Thank you for getting my point.
One of our flips clearly said 1100 square foot home. And yet the most predominant comment we got from people coming to see the house was "too small". It actually turned out to be one of our more profitable properties. But why come see a property that was clearly listed for things that you don't want?
There was a property we had on the market with a back sliding door to the patio out back. And yet some of the comments were they wanted French doors. But one of the pictures clearly showed sliding doors. Why come at all if it was the deal breaker?
The house we were at had some listing photos that came from horror movies. Why come only to criticize what was clearly posted on the listing?
1. Not all descriptions are accurate. Sometimes an agent will say "needs lots of work" for a house that just needs some cosmetic stuff done that will cost under $5000, because the agent isn't well informed on prices or construction. Or that has 70s wood paneling and orange appliances, but everything is totally fine inside if you don't mind that retro look.
2. Not everyone interprets the same words the same way. What the agent said lots of work, they heard "weekend project for them and their church buddies". Then they show up to see the house and find it needs lots more than that, so they leave.
My dad has flipped many houses, including doing a full gut to the studs on some of them. And he's walked away from quite a few, usually because upon looking at it, he sees that the profit margin isn't there. He isn't afraid of the work, and it wasn't necessarily "worse" than he thought, just more expensive to fix. As you know, some forms of "needs lots of work" are more expensive than others. So he'd have to look at the house to see if he could do the repairs and still make a profit. He makes that determination pretty quick, sometimes by just looking in the windows, he can eliminate one from the list. He'd probably be on your "running away" list, even though he knew it wasn't in good shape coming in.
One of those people could have been me. We are also investors. Sometimes we look quickly and leave. Having done enough of them sometimes it doesn't take long to decide if it is something we want to take on. As far as showing these sometimes you do have to let buyers see a few for themselves to understand what they really are. I had one buyer shriek, cover her nose and refuse to enter once when I unlocked the door. To us the smelly ones are the ones we can likely more easily obtain. I don't think there is any one thing that discourages home buyers more than stinky.
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