House flipping has become relatively popular, in part due to television shows about the process that tend to make anyone think that they can be successful at it. In 2019, for example, more than 6% of all residential homes that changed hands were flips.
Should you buy a house like this? There are a few things you need to consider.
A flipped house will be more expensive
People flip homes because they’re looking to make a profit. The general idea is to find a home that has good bones, but that is a bit run-down, to fix it up cosmetically, and then sell it for much more than the purchase price. But this means that you’re actually paying those people to do all of the work in advance, so it can cost more to buy a flipped home, and you certainly want to buy one that doesn’t require any changes as soon as you move in.
You need to have an inspection done
It’s also very important to do an inspection on a flipped home because you don’t actually know how well their team did the work. Did they just do cosmetic work that hid all of the major structural problems with the home? It’s easy to make a flipped home look beautiful in photographs or even when you look at it in person, but you need to have a professional come in to make sure that there aren’t problems lurking beneath that beautiful surface.
If you do find a home that you’d like to buy, whether it’s been flipped or not, it’s also important to carefully look into all of the legal steps you’ll need to take during this transaction.