Ever flip a house?

[Nette]

We're in the midst of fixing up my dad's house for sale. It is sort of like flipping, so I'm obsessed with flipping DIY shows and blogs, etc.

Anyone here ever been a flipper? Would love to hear your stories!

 

[horseshowmom]

We're in the midst of fixing up my dad's house for sale. It is sort of like flipping, so I'm obsessed with flipping DIY shows and blogs, etc.

Anyone here ever been a flipper? Would love to hear your stories!

I haven't, but I'm interested in stories as well. DH and I may be purchasing a house that will need a great deal of work, and I'm curious about renovation success stories.

 

[Nette]

Well, I'll have to warn you that most of my threads are dead out of the gate. Hopefully this one will yield some more interesting results.

 

[monkeyboy]

HMMM

Market not good now

Sit and rent for a year or 2

 

[Nette]

Actually, the market in Austin isn't bad at all. (Knock virtual wood) I can still get more than 3 times what my parents paid for this house in the 80s. And it's ours free and clear, so everything over what we spend renovating is pure profit (inheritance).

 

[LuvOrlando]

The only investment I would make on a house right now would involve paint and elbow grease. The forclosed properties haven't even been vacated yet or hit the markets yet and once they do kiss equity bye bye. Seriously, what do you think is going to happen when all the homes the banks own hit the market on a short sale? They will drive values down into the dirt and it can't be avoided, it can be put off but not avoided. No way would I sit on a home, credit is still ridiculously tight because of all the bad risk and no amount of infusion will help,why the gov't keeps at this is beyond me. The only people who are in a position to buy are healthy renters and why on earth would they? Why on earth would anyone absorb the risk and inevitable losses? If I could get away with it I'd liquidate and rent in a heartbeat.

 

[luvflorida]

It's official. I need new glasses. When I glanced at the thread title, I thought it said, "Ever flip a horse?"

No, I've never flipped a house OR a horse.

 

[mhsjax]

It's official. I need new glasses. When I glanced at the thread title, I thought it said, "Ever flip a horse?"

No, I've never flipped a house OR a horse.

But, have you ever tipped a cow?

 

[mhsjax]

I was actually watching House Hunters last night in HGTV, it was from some other area in TX, they said that they hadn't experienced the same housing crash and in fact it was at this time a sellers market, I was stunned. I didn't know those existed anymore. Good for Texas.

 

[WDWBarb]

But, have you ever tipped a cow?

I've tried, but haven't been successful!!

On flipping a house - I've considered it before but have always been scared of the horror stories.

 

[C.Ann]

My brother and his GF were flipping houses like crazy in Florida (Vero Beach/Jensen Beach area) back when things were booming - even had one place custom built.. They made a boat load of money..

Luckily they sold them all before the real estate market crashed..

After the crash, they bought another place to rent out - then got the deal of a lifetime (a foreclosure - house is on the canal with a boat slip for his yacht).. Paid less than half of what the original value was, moved there and also kept the house they were living in as another rental property..

It worked out very, very well for them - but timing and location were the key factors..

 

[Planogirl]

I was actually watching House Hunters last night in HGTV, it was from some other area in TX, they said that they hadn't experienced the same housing crash and in fact it was at this time a sellers market, I was stunned. I didn't know those existed anymore. Good for Texas.

It depends on what part of Texas you're talking about. In our area there has been a glut of new houses so the older houses are harder to move. We also had a lot of foreclosures due to way too many people buying way too much house.

I'm not sure about Austin though. I've always felt that the houses there were too expensive but so far the market has been able to support it.

 

[LuvOrlando]

think about who is sponsoring the shows on house sales, the real estate industry. Once people stop expecting values to go up they stop buying, once they stop buying the real estate industry stops getting paid. They got us all into this mess in the first place by telling people it was ok to buy a $5000,000 home for $500 a month interest only,real estate people are the very last people to listen to right now.

PS I don't think the agents intended things to go this way, their education regarding finance is almost non-existant, they only knew enough to move houses. I blame the governments inability to protect and educate the public to be honest, none of this should have ever been allowed to happen. Once gas prices rose and relative incomes dropped everything came down like a house of cards when people couldn't absorb the price increases across the board Things are a mess and they are nowhere near close to being over, we didn't even hit bottom yet.

 

[Hillbeans]

About 6 years ago DH and I fixed up a relative's house with MIL/FIL and tried to flip it. We ended up breaking even on it after it was all said and done, and required a lot more money to get it "up to par" than originally expected. It also took over a year to sell. I don't think I could do it ever again.

DH and I bought our first house in 2001 and sold it in 2004 because DH got a job out of the area, and we made $100K profit. It wasn't the classic flip but we made out very well. Those days in NJ are long gone unfortunately.

Good luck!

 

[We_Love_Disney]

We're in the midst of fixing up my dad's house for sale. It is sort of like flipping, so I'm obsessed with flipping DIY shows and blogs, etc.

Anyone here ever been a flipper? Would love to hear your stories!

I always found the houses to be too heavy to flip.

 

[amyren]

In 2007 just before the market went south my family flipped our one and only house.

It was a unique situation because we were able to buy my great-uncle's house after he died. My family (parents & siblings) bought the house from his estate (ie other family members).
We paid $90,000 for a 950 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath 1920's bungalow that was in awful condition but in a fantastic location (historic district).

We replaced petty much everything:
New kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, new appliances.
New paint (inside and out).
Refinished floors but replaced baseboards.
New bathroom tile & bath vanity
Added central HVAC
New water heater
New windows & doors
Rebuilt garage
converted screen porch into sunroom
New landscaping
I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

We did about 80% of the work ourselves. We hired a landscaper, plumber and HVAC tech. We spent about $40,000 on all of the upgrades and after about 2 months on the market we sold it for $235,000. After splitting the profits with my parents & brothers, DH & I walked away with just about $20,000.

It was hard work and looking back we were extremely fortunate that it sold so fast. I felt kinda bad for the woman who bought it bc the house is now back on the market bank owned for $180,000. Here's a link of the current listing.

http://www.harrynorman.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?tab=1&2020_max=1950&0041=1&radius_lon=-84.5504184&radius_lat=33.9527746&radiusZFldKey=0240&radiusYFldKey=0230&radiusXFldKey=0220&radius_miles=1&radius_state=GA&radius_city=marietta&radius_addr=4+depot+street&RecordType=320&SearchPageName=PropertySearchRadius.aspx&AgoraItems=5&AgoraPage=6&5020_order=descending&PropertyItem=0&PropertyIdx=26&PropertyDetail=104150440

My parents tried to flip another house. They bought my grandparent's home when they died. They renovated but couldn't sell it. It's currently being rented. IMO the market stinks now, the flipping days are over. There are good deals but that makes it that much harder to sell. My parents are happy to be renting their current property, they are going to sit on it for a couple of years. The advantage for them is that the house is paid off, they aren't making mortgage payments so the $1,100 a month is just extra income.

 

[libraryfreak]

What are the houses on the block selling for, and what could you get for the house if you sold it today? If there isn't much of a spread, then I wouldn't invest much more than paint and a good cleaning.

Like a previous poster said, everything takes more time and more money than you anticipate.

Make sure your homeowners insurance knows it's a vacant house, I remember a thread about it not being covered when a house burnt down.

 

[Nette]

think about who is sponsoring the shows on house sales, the real estate industry. Once people stop expecting values to go up they stop buying, once they stop buying the real estate industry stops getting paid. They got us all into this mess in the first place by telling people it was ok to buy a $5000,000 home for $500 a month interest only,real estate people are the very last people to listen to right now.

PS I don't think the agents intended things to go this way, their education regarding finance is almost non-existant, they only knew enough to move houses. I blame the governments inability to protect and educate the public to be honest, none of this should have ever been allowed to happen. Once gas prices rose and relative incomes dropped everything came down like a house of cards when people couldn't absorb the price increases across the board Things are a mess and they are nowhere near close to being over, we didn't even hit bottom yet.

I'm not saying that the shows inspired me to do this. It sort of fell into our lap. We've spoken with a few different realtors about the property, and really there wasn't any choice but to fix the place up. It was in such bad repair that to sell it as is (to a flipper no doubt) would have yielded almost no cash.

The problem with these shows like Property Ladder is that most of these "freshman flippers" as the show calls them haven't got a clue what kind of money or work it would take to make a profit on a flip. They also buy WAY too high and get emotionally invested. They forget that a flip is all about perception. Not that things should only be pretty on the surface, but that a $400 faucet isn't necessary to get a nice look in a home.

DH and I spent a LOT of time budgeting and running numbers. What the estate owes, what we will have to pay to keep the property, what we will spend on the remodel. We also won't be doing any major work like adding a bathroom or tearing down walls. So far (and knock wood) we're under budget.

In 2007 just before the market went south my family flipped our one and only house.

It was a unique situation because we were able to buy my great-uncle's house after he died. My family (parents & siblings) bought the house from his estate (ie other family members).
We paid $90,000 for a 950 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath 1920's bungalow that was in awful condition but in a fantastic location (historic district).

We replaced petty much everything:
New kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, new appliances.
New paint (inside and out).
Refinished floors but replaced baseboards.
New bathroom tile & bath vanity
Added central HVAC
New water heater
New windows & doors
Rebuilt garage
converted screen porch into sunroom
New landscaping
I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

We did about 80% of the work ourselves. We hired a landscaper, plumber and HVAC tech. We spent about $40,000 on all of the upgrades and after about 2 months on the market we sold it for $235,000. After splitting the profits with my parents & brothers, DH & I walked away with just about $20,000.

It was hard work and looking back we were extremely fortunate that it sold so fast. I felt kinda bad for the woman who bought it bc the house is now back on the market bank owned for $180,000. Here's a link of the current listing.

This is very similar to what we are doing... except that we don't owe anything on the property. The estate does owe about $20K to medical bills and to me for paying lawyer fees and property taxes. I feel pretty strongly that we aren't going to lose money on this deal. I could put it on the market for 1/2 the going rate in that neighborhood and still make a nice sum for my brothers and I. And I do plan to underprice it slightly.

Make sure your homeowners insurance knows it's a vacant house, I remember a thread about it not being covered when a house burnt down.

Yes, they know. I specifically bought an unoccupied home policy. I was mostly terrified that someone would break in, hurt themselves and then sue the estate. My dad didn't have insurance on the place when he died.

 

[hugscot]

Yes I have done a few. The market is always good for real estate if you know what your doing. Don't buy expensive homes as they take more money to fix and longer time to sell also. Remember you make money when you buy it. You buy it cheap enough to do your repairs and cover holding expenses and still be able to resell less what the other homes are selling for you will make money. Worse case as a backup plan you rent it in the mean time and sell later. I have 3 for sale right now and sold two others this past year and made about 80k and I still have a full time job too. I enjoy it.

 

[hugscot]

think about who is sponsoring the shows on house sales, the real estate industry. Once people stop expecting values to go up they stop buying, once they stop buying the real estate industry stops getting paid. They got us all into this mess in the first place by telling people it was ok to buy a $5000,000 home for $500 a month interest only,real estate people are the very last people to listen to right now.

PS I don't think the agents intended things to go this way, their education regarding finance is almost non-existant, they only knew enough to move houses. I blame the governments inability to protect and educate the public to be honest, none of this should have ever been allowed to happen. Once gas prices rose and relative incomes dropped everything came down like a house of cards when people couldn't absorb the price increases across the board Things are a mess and they are nowhere near close to being over, we didn't even hit bottom yet.

Well most of these folks will sit around and point fingers at everyone but themselves, which is a huge problem with society today as no one wants to own up to their mistakes anymore it seems. But of all people I think agents are probably the least to blame because their job is finding buyers and sellers for homes not loaning the money to make that happen. The banks sure they knew they were making risky loans and it came back to bit them in the butt. But lets not forget about the individuals themselves taking these loans out. I mean for instance suppose a car dealer is willing to finance a car for you and give you a $600 payment and you know you only make $1200 a month does that mean you should take the loan because they said you qualified for it. Of course not!!! I think people just didn't use some common sense and bit off more than they could chew. So lets spread the blame all around.