COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT THE PHOTOS OF THAT REDO YOU’RE BUYING DON’T SHOW 
“The most value in a flipped home is found in the hidden improvements: foundation, insulation, wiring, plumbing, structural integrity, weatherization, HVAC upgrades, etc. However, HAR only shows cosmetic pics and details. I agree with markd — one peek in the attic should tell you more about the value of the transformed house than anything you can glean off of HAR.
Of course, I watch real estate TV shows all the time and see people shopping for homes. Nearly always, the buyers turn up their nose at some real gems because of ‘that paint color‘ in one or two rooms, or the ‘ugly bathroom’ — which could be fixed for under $10k, yet they don’t even ask about the more important mechanical systems or structural issues, which could quickly run up to $100k to fix.” [Superdave, commenting on Going Gray Suddenly at 61, a Braes Terrace Redo Aims for a $698K Flip] Illustration: Lulu
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Excellent post of the day. In addition to poking your head up into the attic, there are some other things to do:
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Always take a marble with you. Discretely put the marble down on the floor; if it rolls then the floors are out of level – the house might need costly foundation work.
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Also on the floors: beware new carpet and tile. Old hardwoods are good to see. If they’re still intact, chances are the house has never flooded.
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Run, don’t walk, from any house with visible water damage — unless you’re experienced in construction and are getting a damned good price on the place….
ZAW: The things that normally send a buyer running – Bad roof, HVAC, foundation, are not THAT hard to fix. I’ve saved $20k on a place that needed a new $6k roof. Other buys passed because the roof was bad. I paid $30k under market because the foundation on another property was way off. But $7k got it fixed, then I sold for $30k more (likely to one of the buyers that first passed).
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More recently I listed an apartment bld for sale. No buyers because it didn’t have it’s certification of occupancy. I told buyers it needed about $50k in busy body dumb city work so I had no reason to do it and rather price reflected this need. But they hesitated. So I finally did the work myself (was $44k) and listed it for $120k more than I had before and had three offers. They could have bought it, did the work to get the CoO and saved $80k.
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But that’s how flippers make their $ I guess. They buy stuff with issues that others pass in, upgrade/fix, and sell. Of course they sell for more than their cost to upgrade, or it would be a pretty shitty business to be in :)
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Price is a great mechanism to address these issues. So long as the price reflects the condition, don’t let issues scare you off.
My favorite is seeing substantial plumbing or electrical done without permits and not to code. Yeah. That’s going to be a problem.
MrEction: What about substantial plumbing and electric that *IS* done to code, but not via a permit?