Does the concept of "house flipping" have a negative connotation to you?

[Barb D]

I'm writing a story in which one character is a "house flipper." IOW, he buys dilapidated houses, fixes them up, and sells them, like on "Flip That House" on TLC.

I was telling DH about it, and he says that he always thinks of house flipping as a negative -- even illegal -- thing, where somebody buys a house, and then works in cahoots with a house appraiser who inflates the value, and then resells it at a higher value than it's worth.

When you hear about somebody who "flips houses" which do you think of?

 

[sha_lyn]

What you described is house-flipping. What your DH is picturing isn't. Where in the word did he get that from?

 

[nataliela]

We are doing it right now. We are not getting an inflated appraisal. We won't even be making that much money after we factor in our costs and taxes on the profit.

Well, I guess it does have a negative connotation to me because it is NOT fun and I will not be flipping a house again.

 

[diznygirl]

Here in Celebration, house flipping has a bad rep. Real estate agents and others bought cheap from the builders and sold high (like what is going on with the Wii on ebay)....... of course, the market is kicking some of them in the pants right now.....

What your DH is thinking of is actually some type of fraud. What you are thinking of is actually getting a profit on your investment.

 

[freckles and boo]

House flipping as I have seen on television has left a bad impression on me. I have seen a lot of cosmetic "lipstick on the pig" fixes that don't warrant the huge mark-ups in price. I am sure, though, that there are people out there who do quality work. It just seems like a lot of the tv flippers are in it for the get-rich-quick aspects.

 

[simba928]

My uncle owns a business thatflips houses among other things. He puts a ton of work into the houses he buys and is therefore very successful at it. He really pays attention to all the details. He bought a house in a town that is about 40 minutes from where he lives, but only abou 10 from where we live. He had new grass planted and while they were still working on the house, he needed to water the grass daily. He hired the little girl next door to water it in the morning and my brother to do it in the evenings. A couple times a week he would call my brother checking on the house and making sure whatever the workers that were there at the time were supposed to be doing was getting done. He knew exactly where everything was. At one point, there was some junk in the backyard (pieces of siding, lumber, just normal "house-building" stuff). That was supposed to be removed and my uncle called that evening asking my brother if that was cleaned up. When my brother said kind of, my uncle listed every single item that was back there and asked if it was gone. And he was working on other houses and projects at the time. I was very impressed that he had knew every single minor detail that was supposed to be done. So my answer would be absolutely not. Flipping houses is ALOT of work and, generally, the people that do it earn every penny they make. (I say generally because, as in all other things, there are people that rip people off doing this)

 

[Barb D]

Replies from duplicate thread:

I sell real estate, so when I hear the term I think of investors trying to make money. Oh, and A&E, Bravo and HGTV.

I think that term is trying to be legitimatized by those shows.

Where I think it's great that they take a ran down house and improve upon it is great but we all know in real world thats not what Flipping is all about.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Now that this has been converged, I want to say that I have represented investors, and while there may be unscrupulous flipping, there has also been unscrupulous first-time buyers, move-up buyers, commercial deals, re-finances and everything in between. Not all flippers are crooks.

House flipping means nothing more than finding a property that needs work, putting the needed work into it, and then flipping it into a profit.

Yes, sometimes it happens before a contract has been finalized, and I can't speak for the legitimacy of those. I've never been involved in one, and don't care to be. Too much liability on my part. Maybe this is what your husband is referring to?

 

[Barb D]

Bottom line: If I refer to someone as a "flipper" and go on to explain that he buys houses, fixes them up, and sells them, will your first inclination be to think he's a crook or a hardworking businessman?

ETA: Here's the context in my story...(two teenage girls talking)

"...My dad‘s a flipper, so it was easy for him to move here.”

...“What in the heck is a ‘flipper’?” I asked, picturing her dad doing backflips down the aisle of the church.

...“A flipper. Like ‘Flip That House’ on TLC. He buys old houses and fixes them up, and then he sells them. That’s how he found this house,” she said, waving her hand in the general direction of the haunted house. “He was looking for houses to flip, and he found this one and decided we would keep it for ourselves. It has more bedrooms than any of the other ones he saw.”

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My friends "flip houses" and don't do any "ca-hoots" thing. They buy houses in foreclosure.

You do have to know what you are doing to "flip", you can lose money on the deal.

I look at it like a whole lot of work and gambling you are going to get what the house is worth.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I have known people who flip houses and each time they were the "get rich quick" always have some plan or scheme to "make it big" type of people. Lots of them want you to get in on the action and great money. Around here a ton of people bought newly built never lived in homes, sat on them while prices inflated then flipped them (never touched the property to improve it). They were doing great for awhile but right now the market is flooded with homes in foreclosure from these guys.

I'm smart enough to know not all (and maybe even not most) people who flip houses are like the schemeing get rich quick type, and house flipping in and of itself is a fine thing... But you asked for the connotation and honestly when I think of house flippers it does have a somewhat negative connotation to me.

 

[debden]

House flipping as I have seen on television has left a bad impression on me. I have seen a lot of cosmetic "lipstick on the pig" fixes that don't warrant the huge mark-ups in price. I am sure, though, that there are people out there who do quality work. It just seems like a lot of the tv flippers are in it for the get-rich-quick aspects.

In my opinion 'Designed to Sell' does alot of that 'lipstick on the pig' fixes.
They use that 'stainless steel' looking stuff that you peel and stick on your appliances to make them look high-end.So if you don't look real close your paying a high price for something your not getting.
JMO.
Debbie

 

[safetymom]

We love watching Richard Davis and Trademark properties flip homes. He sometimes helps folks out instead of making more money.

There is another Armondo Montolongo that drives me crazy because he is all about how much he can make. He cheaps out on a lot of things.

 

[debden]

We love watching Richard Davis and Trademark properties flip homes. He sometimes helps folks out instead of making more money.

There is another Armondo Montolongo that drives me crazy because he is all about how much he can make. He cheaps out on a lot of things.

Oh I totally agree.I love watching Richard Davis.They don't skimp on anything.
They make sure everything is the way they would want it if they were going to live in that house.
I cannot stand Armondo Montolongo.What a cheap,cheezy swindler that guy is..I would not take one of his houses if he was giving them away.He hires contractors that he can negotiate the price down to next to nothing to do all the work he wants done.I cannot stand the man! He takes advantage of people and cuts corners to save a buck whereever he can.I watched that family a few times and after I got the jist of what him and his family were about I refuse to watch it anymore.
Debbie

 

[Acklander]

We've flipped 5 houses so far. We buy the reposessed houses in distress, fix them up and then sell them. We don't do it as a job, but as side thing. We've done really well at it, but we do most of the work ourselves.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

A few years ago I talked to some house flippers when we were getting ready to move to Florida. The inside of our house needed some heavy cleaning, as well as new carpeting and inside repaint (we had lived there 15 years and not painted or replaced carpeting). Lots of work had been done within the past few years; reroof, replace all windows with themopane/sceen combinations, new appliances, etc. We talked to one of these places that says they "buy ugly houses as is".

Their initial offer was at about 85% of what comps had gone for (and this was 2003 when the DC area market was very hot); after pushing they were willing to come up to about 90%.

However, they required that we turn the keys over to them and guaranteed wthey would go to settlement within 120 days. It turns out their plan was to take possession when we left, tear out the carpet, repaint the interior, recarpet, and then put it up for sale as if they were the owners.

When they would finally have had a purchaser, they would go to settlement with us in the morning and then go to settlement with the buyers in the afternoon. Only if they could not have sold it within the 120 days after taking possession would they have bought it from us without an immediate flip.

And we would have been owners of record until they sold it (or the 120 days, whichever came first) and still responsible for taxes, utilities, insurance and mortgage payments.

 

[froglady]

In my opinion 'Designed to Sell' does alot of that 'lipstick on the pig' fixes.
They use that 'stainless steel' looking stuff that you peel and stick on your appliances to make them look high-end.So if you don't look real close your paying a high price for something your not getting.
JMO.
Debbie

This is also the impression I've gotten from many of the TV shows; simply esthetics with little structural corrections.

Perhaps being the victim of something similar 20 years ago (the previous owners knew they were only using our house to gain equity, so slapped on a family room. It looked good for a few years, but literally started falling apart!) has made me skeptical of quick fixes.

 

[gina2000]

Lipstick on pigs is a good way to describe what I've seen locally. Some guys don't even bother to put lipstick on....they just hold the house for 60/90 days and put it on the market at an inflated price.

I feel that some flippers have no vested interest in the neighborhood and are buying purely to make a quick profit. They put very little money into the home and never live in it. There's a house on my block in that situation right now. The flipper is stuck because the house is severely overpriced. He's now ripped out the old carpeting and ripped out the kitchen. Although I haven't seen the new kitchen, I'm willing to bet he's installed cheap appliances and cabinets to spruce the place up. He's also painted the house....one coat. The old color shimmers through the new paint in the right light. I can't get behind his improvements. They're superficially cosmetic designed to attract a first time home buyer who has limited experience in the home market.

 

[sharlon]

I have never had a negative impression until the house behind us sold to a flipper. I won't get into specifics, but if the reputation of all flippers was based on this guy, they would all be in a lot of trouble.

 

[poohandwendy]

I agree with the 'lipstick on a pig' phrase.

I think a small percentage of 'flippers' actually take pride in the remodeling work they do. But, I think the vast majority are in it for a quick buck and not qualified to even know what a house needs 'fixed', beyond the aesthetic. I don't see it as much different than slum lords who own apartment buildings and do the bare minimum to keep them inhabitable.

I think the 'get rich quick' infomercials and 'gut and remodel a home in a week' tv shows have definitely encouraged non-qualified people to get involved in 'flipping houses'. I really feel for the inexperienced buyers who fall in love with the 'money pits' some of the flippers are offering at inflated prices.

I wouldn't buy a home from a flipper.