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| Turnkey Flip |
So I closed escrow Friday on a house that was purchased by an investor/agent at a trustee’s sale and flipped. My client needed a turnkey house of which there is a surprisingly large selection in Santa Rosa right now. She chose this nice house in Rincon Valley and hopefully will love living in it for many years to come.
The interesting part of this story is that the house next door is also currently on the market. It is an REO. So side by side on the same street in Northeast Santa Rosa are the turnkey, ready to move in house and the distressed bank owned house. So what is the difference? Money wise $72,500.
What did my buyer get? She got a “new kitchen” with lots of new cabinets, wood floors, granite counter tops, and stainless appliances. Two remodeled baths, new paint and carpet and freshly landscaped front and back with a beautiful new deck. And the house next door? The yellow walls and the smell from years of cigarette smoke. It features roses on pink wallpaper, brown tile in the entry hall and baths with the coordinating 70's gold vinyl flooring in the kitchen.
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| Remodeled kitchen |
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| future potential kitchen |
So if you are willing to do the work do you get $72,500 in sweat equity? Not quite. My personal experience with sweat equity homes? We buyers make some basic mistakes, first we never put our pencil to paper and write down our budget and second even when we say the budget out loud we never manage to stick to it. My usual tactic goes something like “if I’m going to live here I want…” regardless of how business like my husband tries to keep the remodel I usually win the day when it comes to the finishes and fixtures.
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| Needs love and care |
The upside of buying the beat up home is that in the end you get the house you want, the way you want it and you can usually do it for less than the amount you would have spent buying the turnkey home. The downside is, doing dishes in the bathtub, living out of boxes and walking around on subflooring for a number of months/years. Can I see a show of hands on how many people have ended up getting out a roller and painting the floor just because you couldn’t stand that press board beige for one more day?
The bottom line is there are some great deals on the market right now and whether you want a turnkey home to walk in and put your stuff away or a project that will be an investment in your future there is a house out there right now waiting for you.
