Flippers

As Realtors we are seeing a lot of flipped houses on the market these days and water cooler gossip is about what buyers "see" and don't see in a house that has had a generous coat of lipstick and a yard sign put on it.

Don't think that we are standing around the coffee machine bad mouthing all of these freshly carpeted and painted homes. There are some gorgeous remodels done by reputable companies and individual investors that I would happily buy and live in. What we are grousing about is when a clients walks into a flipped house and falls in love with the granite counter tops and turns a blind eye to the dry rot and moisture issue that no Navajo White paint can conceal.

What are buyers getting for the price of a turn key home? What do buyers want and expect in a flipped house?  There are a lot of issues to take into consideration when buying a home but a flipped house adds in whole pages of calculations and disclosures that don't come up in a conventional transaction.

Again there are some GREAT flippers here is Sonoma County and I look forward to seeing the completion of each of these new projects. Having seen a great number of the properties "before" as trustees sales, bank owned properties or just outdated homes it is like our very own Tye Pennington reveal to see the completed project.

I love houses! I love architecture and interior design and landscape design and to get to see first hand how a flipper manages to add a spa style master bath and a walk in closet to a 1960s tract house without adding square footage is equivalent to how some people feel about the main street parade at Disneyland. I get truly excited when I see that the flipper and I had the same ideas about how to make the house better.

On the flipside (sorry, couldn't resist) there are houses that have been, are being, and will be put on the marked with watered down paint, no pest work repaired and tile work attached directly to drywall. These people are looking to make a buck fast and I have no doubt that when the tiles fall off the wall and the drawer fronts are breaking off of the kitchen cabinets they will be long gone. We Realtors have seen many examples of flipper's work and have done deals with many of them. We know who stands behind their workmanship and who will drop a buyer like a hot potato if they ask for repairs or price reductions for issues that show up in inspections.

The better flippers will do everything necessary to make a buyer happy down to the minute details. It is easy for them to do when they have already cleared the pest report repairs and are ready to stand behind their work. They want a happy buyer and more important a happy agent who will want to work with them again and again.

I guess my point is not to get snow blind by new paint. Look at the new finishes but also look beyond the new. Is the quality of the cabinetry appropriate for the price point? Are the finishes consistent throughout the house, front door to back? Is the layout functional? Is the storage adequate? I hate when the flipper puts in new kitchen cabinets but chooses the least expensive pieces and doesn't even put enough of those. Should there have been a pantry instead of one more base cabinet with one shelf inside? If you notice these thing what else have they taken short cuts on?

If all a flipper is offering is new carpet and paint then go back down the street and buy the house with the pink paint and green carpet and update it before you move in. If a flipper has installed low end cabinets and put granite on top don't buy it. Again you are better off buying someones granny house and updating it yourself.

When you walk into an older home in a good neighborhood and are wowed make sure it is for the right reasons. Did the flipper move walls, open up the living space, add indoor laundry, increase the size of the master bath to add his and hers vanities? Was it all done with permits? This is what you want to be paying for when you pay for a turn key house. A new homeowner can easily add equity after purchase by putting in new paint and carpet. It can be done in a week with a homeowner going to home depot one time and calling their local handyman. A flipper should be offering more than your average DIY homeowner is willing to tackle.