Greedy Inbred House-Flippers

okay---it is a problem, one that contributes to escalating housing prices. That, and honey-whipped guys who are all-thumbs, that "need" move-in-ready homes, irregardless of the price. Even if the owners(before the heir and the flipper) committed suicide there & his spouse died a slow death of cancer there! It should be marked:STIGMATIZED and sell for much less, instead of three times or more what the inbred hillbilly paid the heirs for it! Well, shouldn't it? Yup. I don't want to go any further with this, except to say the place creeps me out, and the house should've been demolished(or torched, like the other two death houses in the hood), but no---hillbilly inbred flipper and his sissy realtor wants THREE TIMES what he paid for it, after slicking 'er up like a used car to flip! I hate flippers. Don't you? Try not to get upset with me. Thanks.

I'm not a fan of flippers either. I watched the house across the street from us get sold and then thoroughly fixed up on a superficial level, everything shiny new, quartz counters, staged furnishings, etc. A nice young family bought it for top dollar ($625K for a small ranch), and it looks like they had quite a few problems with plumbing issues right after moving in.

I like flippers if they do a good job. So many of the old, decrepit victorians in my former neighborhood need complete renovation that we welcomed developers who did the job right, It’s just that renovation of 140 year old buildings, some without heating systems, is seldom a money making operation.

I am thinking of the 10 old houses on my side of the street and 6 were renovated in the time we lived there, all by flippers. We welcomed the improvements. On my old street there is now one house that is kinda-sorta renovated, all others have been updated.

Of the three tiny houses we once owned, two have been complexly renovated. We stabilized them by tuckpointing, roofing, painting, etc but never finished the interiors. We lost money on all of them but that is ok, we made them solid and whole for the next owner to come along and finish them. And the main reason we had them was to use the grounds for gardening anyway.

Friends of ours bought a flipped house. They unfortunately did not due proper due diligence and after buying found all kinds of serious issues. It was a good thing that they loved the location since the house was crap. They were smart (partner in law firm) and financially astute so it can happen to anyone.

okay----the case i just described is not the first house this slick-n-dirty inbred has bought, slicked, and hired a sissy realtor to flip at 3 times what ir's worth. Just across the road a ways, there was a hillbilly shack occupied by a sex offender aand the place looked worse than mine. Anyway, property records say it was built in 1910, and of course added on to, here and there. Anyway, house-flipper hires the CHEAPEST help he can find, and since the roof was caving in at the back of the place, due to structural prollems, he hired a mexican crew ta come in and re-do it. they had the siding partially off on one side, and there was that fake-brick tarpaper siding on it, which they just left and capped it over with plastic. Yeah, they capped 'er with plastic and put REAL brick halfway up the front of the house. Anything to give it curb appeal. It looks like a home built in the 70's+, but it's a 1910 home. Fake, fake, fake. Curb appeal Galore!!!!! I heard he paid 60k for it(which was far too much), but it was on the market for not long, priced at 245k. But yeah--I know where you kids live that wouldn't buy a storage shed, so some out-of-towns might buy sight unseen except for online photo listing. The new carpet and new paint and new countertop do a lot(too much) for the ambiance(as the realitor would say). This flipper-mania brought on by cable tee-vee shows with the cool sunglasses wearing flipper driving around by his flip projects in their luxury suv while yakking on the cell phone to his subcontractors. So yeah--the inbred slick-it-n-flip it used car traders say hey---thats the life for me! Yeah---hook up with a mexican bricklaying crew, and give 'er some curb appeal! Yup.

It probably depends a lot on the flipper. A former work associate did some house flipping, one house at a time, and did much of the work himself. I just suspect he did a decent job with quality materials match the house value. He quit, saying prices had escalated so much that there were no bargains on the market that he could make money on. The other side of the equation is the corporate flippers who make a corporation or partnership and do multiple properties at once as a big business and probably use a lot of low quality contractor grade upgrades and repairs.

The nice 50's brick house across the street had been occupied buy I think the original owner until she passed in her 90's. It had not been updated for decades and would need to be refurbished regardless of the owner. The corporate flippers spent months there and sold to a young man as a first home. The poor guy had an endless stream of plumbers and electricians fixing all of the problems. But probably much better than a new owner not upgrading or turning it into a rental or airbnb, which is possible in my area.

What does an inbred house look like? Is this where tiny homes come from?:~)

Had a house on my old street, that I saw all the things they were doing. I didn't understand it, as they spent more money then what the house would have been valued at, at the time. Took them I think close to two years to sell it.
But I also didn't understand things like MAYBE builders grade cabinets, but top them with stone countertops, etc. A mix of cheap and expensive.

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Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff

What does an inbred house look like? Is this where tiny homes come from?:~)

Had a house on my old street, that I saw all the things they were doing. I didn't understand it, as they spent more money then what the house would have been valued at, at the time. Took them I think close to two years to sell it.
But I also didn't understand things like MAYBE builders grade cabinets, but top them with stone countertops, etc. A mix of cheap and expensive.

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One quality inbreds seem to have(stereotype) is expediency--i.e. git 'er done ASAP, and leave no short cut untaken. When they "restore" something, work from the outside in; that way, you don't invest too much in your project. Strive for tripling your original investment, at the very least. The goal is to make your gain someone elses' loss. See? So, yeah---they were all bass ackwards. Ironically, the late Lonnie Mow, who sold the home over 30 years ago, was remorsing about how his people told him he was crazy to have put more in the place that is was worth. Yup. But I guess he had originally planned to live there longer than he did. But yeah---buy and flip; cap it over as quick as you can and flip it. But, where does all that easy money go? They end up spending it on stupid stuff like vacation trips, motorcycles, monster pickups and stuff like that. Living Large. That's their values system, for ya.

I hate the "slick-it-and-flip-it" trend (I like that adjective, bobby). They ruin houses by taking out the character and putting in cheap and bland. As IL said, they're not all like that, but those that are just in it for a quick buck usually are. The consumers are also to blame...the ones who are too "busy" to put any of their own sweat equity into a home... the ones who want cheap, homogenized eye candy.

Okay---this just made the news---one o' the lots in Hasta LaVista, Callyfornia---one that had an older(maybe 40's) home that burned, went on the market, and SOLD within days. It still has the debris from the burned house and several burned cars, to deal with. But yeah---it sold for more than the asking price, to a home-builder. Yup. It isn't a big lot, at all. Maybe 1/5 acre. Not in a "toney" 'hood, either. Nope. But yeah---it was listed at $449,000!! Callyfornya is nuts. Hope that helps you some.

I think most of you ( cough cough bobby) do not understand what “flipping” really entails in my former neighborhood. Sometimes (often?) developers are heroes. They take a big financial risk. Renovations down to the studs is typical because at least SOME of the plumbing and wiring is 140 years old, if not all. Plaster has been applied directly onto a course of brick with no insulation. Any original windows are energy leak nightmares. Lead paint everywhere. Etc etc.

It’s not just cosmetics here that are changed.

Just yesterday we got an update from our close friend who is selling her city house “as is” because she wants a fast sale with preferably no mortgage by the buyer. The house might not pass occupancy inspection and would have some trouble qualifying for a mortgage so a cash buyer (i.e. a developer) is preferred. It has been a work in progress for 30+ years.

This is a typical house in my old neighborhood.

I'm sorry... every time I see this thread title I read "Greedy Inbred House-Slippers". :laff:

In my neighborhood, flippers buy up the stock of "starter homes" that buyers of modest means could have bought and fixed up, building some sweat equity. The flippers make the houses bigger and make a lot of visible improvements while sometimes neglecting the underlying essentials, then sell at a large profit at prices beyond the reach of those trying to gain a foothold in the housing market.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

In my neighborhood, flippers buy up the stock of "starter homes" that buyers of modest means could have bought and fixed up, building some sweat equity. The flippers make the houses bigger and make a lot of visible improvements while sometimes neglecting the underlying essentials, then sell at a large profit at prices beyond the reach of those trying to gain a foothold in the housing market.

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Good call, RR. My thoughts, exactly.

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Originally Posted by rosarugosa

In my neighborhood, flippers buy up the stock of "starter homes" that buyers of modest means could have bought and fixed up, building some sweat equity. The flippers make the houses bigger and make a lot of visible improvements while sometimes neglecting the underlying essentials, then sell at a large profit at prices beyond the reach of those trying to gain a foothold in the housing market.

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Maybe.

You may be giving too much credit to those buyers of modest means who could’ve built up the sweat equity. I am with you in that I like that Imvalue that goal.

I am not sure that Gen X and younger are willing to do that, are willing to live without everything being “updated. “ I really don’t know the market.

I just know that in the past 15 years of living in the city, I can think of one— just one young couple —who bought a house that was in need of fixing and are putting in their sweat equity. in that same time. I saw young people buying houses at many hundred thousand of dollars and wow, I don’t know where the money came from. But they were not people who are willing to do any work themselves.

In previous decades, the urban pioneers were all over my neighborhood, living in the middle of construction and doing much of the work themselves. so for the most part, my neighborhood was not good for first time buyers, although we did have some smaller units.