Flipper FAILS! 13 Things I Wish I Found BEFORE I Bought My House
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- The Epic Homestead was my first time buying a house. I bought it from a company that flips 100+ homes a year, and even with an inspection, there were a TON of small little things I missed. I hope this video helps you if you're looking for a house right now to build out your homestead!
00:00 - Intro
04:14 - Scraping The Yard
05:07 - Incomplete Fence
06:02 - Garage Floor
07:12 - Garage Electrical
08:12 - Soffit Rot
08:41 - Indoor Issues
09:19 - Busted Fridge
09:55 - Dishwasher
10:54 - Kitchen Layout
11:36 - Interior Electrical
12:25 - Window Install
12:50 - Exterior Finishing
13:35 - Landscaping
14:44 - Outro
IN THIS VIDEO
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If you want a video on BUYING a house, let me know what questions I should cover!
Mine had a busted air conditioner leaking the coolant. They charged it just for the sale the inspector mentioned it's cooling really well which should have been a red flag. (The tip was to call around to see it any local AC repair companies have the address on file to see what the scope of work was and it can be used in the negotiations) but it's a sellers market so the tips all depend on they type if market buyers or sellers.
All of it. You do a fantastic and thorough job.
Does the house have mold issues? What treatments have been done to make sure it doesn’t become a problem in the near future?
I'd like to know about the zoning requirements for having a homestead. Thank you--good topic!
Walking the neighborhood and checking with the city about any area/neighborhood plans as well as zoning for surrounding property is recommended. Solar access would be another consideration & how redevelopment nearby could affect that. More big picture for any real estate purchase.
I know Kevin can't say it but, if you're buying in San Diego and it's a signature Turquoise door, it's Acropolis Developments. Was house hunting early last year too and every house we went to flipped by Acropolis had many sloppy issues. It looked great on the surface but peel back the first layer and you'll see lazy quick fixes, cabinets installed poorly and numerous other questionable issues. Just one year later I walk around the same neighborhoods I was looking to buy in and those turquoise door homes have over grown weeds sprouting from their wood chip mulch, the black paint trim is chipping away already and a couple of newly replaced fencing done by the current home owners due to warping or poor workmanship. Even though you've run into so many issues Kevin, you've really done a great job on the epic homestead! We obviously care about your home and have invested the time and money into making a quality home, even if you didn't buy it that way. Keep up the good work!
Bingo, they're so sloppy!
I learned my lesson with flipped homes. I was under contract for a flipped house & it was beautiful inside & out. The home inspection only revealed a few minor things but I paid extra to have mold & radon testing done. Both those tests came back a few days later showing the home had extensive mold throughout every floor & also had high radon readings. I researched the property more & found out it was a bank foreclosure which had extensive water & mold damage. The flippers basically didn’t address any of the mold issue so it was still under all that new flooring, walls, cabinets, etc. What’s scary is the mold test shows you the type of mold & one of them was Stachybotrys chartarum also known as black mold. I backed out of the deal despite them offering to give me a credit for the mold & radon remediation. I’m glad I paid extra for those two tests because the standard home inspection wouldn’t have showed those issues.
Oh wow, that's tertrible!
@@epichomesteading the plumbing and electrical work i 🤔 think there is a good chance if Texas telling exaggerating or straight up lied there ass off
@@epichomesteading do a water sample test as it sounds like a pre-1980's home 🏡and iv had landlords experience trying to pass that bs. off aka full leaded water anyone works better in you then LL avgas ⛽lol 😂 and test the paint plus the insulation as it might be toxic aka aspesto/or heavy metals
This infuriates me. My husband is a master carpenter as well as incredibly knowledgeable in electrical and plumbing, but most of all he is unconditionally ethical. Like even if a client is horrible and going to screw him in the end, he still does 100% work. And yet we struggle financially. To hear about unethical and half-a**ed people like this making profits … I just can’t stand it. I’m sorry this happened to you. I wish my husband could’ve helped you, because he would have.
Yeah, it's so sad that capitalism rewards this kind of people more than people who actually care about their customers...
You are not alone. Lots of people are in the same place because their ethics and conscience wont allow them to take advantage of others. /edit for spelling
These types of scum are the majority of people enabled by a entitled society. They will constantly do this shady business because it’s rewarding them. If they did it right it would be perceived as too much work or unprofitable
May God bless you for your honesty. My husband and I are the same way. I would feel awful scamming someone else. But God always repays so if they want to be on His bad side, that's on them.
What area does your husband work in? Let's get him some business!
Some of the things that they didn’t touch like adding outlets may have been because doing the update would have required an inspection under current code, but leaving it as is could be grandfathered under the old code.
Also maybe the connection from the electric company that he said was like 6ga too small cant handle a normal amount of outlets
The grandfather clause is null/void if a person does any type of remodeling (and it looks like they did that EH's flipped home). In that case, the flipper's have to bring the electrical in the home up to today's code, which includes GFIC outlets where required, tamper proof outlets, the number of outlets per wall (ie, no more than 12 feet between outlets in most parts of a home), as well as making sure any conduit/wiring that is exposed to the outside elements is of the proper type/gauge sand protected from water seeping in. From what I see in the video, and what EH talked about, it seems there are some code violations, and EH should seek legal advice as to how to proceed to get them rectified.
or lied about it courant code says every 10ft a 120V residential outlet ( plus X amount in a room forgetting that part and the exact page in the NEC to dissisentavic use of exsenchen cordes and or daisy chaining ect same way for lighting X numbers of lumans per SQFT minimalist required as this house failed it aka my house is to dimly and unevenly lit plus a unsafe 100A challenger panel and overhead maid service socket ect. ) inside occupant room as im remembering the code for 2022 as the 1970's home im in is getting updated to 2022 standards
@@lukelave8615 a 100A maid and main 10-20 cricate disabusin panel is to small for 2020 house 🏡use now days as 200A is the standard ( 400A 240V SP and 40-60 or so slots in my hood but it's a little nicer/for heavyweight users like car chargering ect. ) for hole house hardware and why did the utility's think 🤔that undersizing it was a good idea? as in my area the wiring from the transmission/transformer/poll to the main house 200A or 400A beaker plus the metering box/maid/socket ( i had to provided the initial trench/PVC and can ect but final wiring to the poll is on them to pull and contnet it ect. to there and localities governments spec's but repair work after that is on them up stream of the main panel/outside ) and smart measuring equipment is there domain and i can't touch it legally speaking and is in the homeowners contracts ect. but there parts of the contract says that unsafe conditions is a violation of their parts of the deal so under sizing or sloppy workmanship and bad insulation can start a fire and or hurt someone
@@CoroaEntertainment definitely, go after these shoddy, illegal flippers. Also, where was his realtor during all this? I know Kevin said that he had his mind set on getting this property, but shouldn’t the realtor have advised Kevin and pointed out the pitfalls of the shoddy work? Just wondering.....
That is super scummy to back out of a handshake agreement and not do the repairs over 10k, especially since they were getting 15k over asking. Buying from flippers is all around usually a different ballgame when buying a home. We love watching all of the work and improvements you’ve done with your home, it looks so great, on top of being homestead functional! 👏🏻👍🏻
Totally agree with you!
Honestly it is, but also I'm not at all surprised. Now a days going 15k over asking is an absolute steal, so that's just how the market shakes out... Verbal agreements mean nothing.
@@alejandrodelavega1063 He said it was an email conversation... so technically it does mean something. Nowadays, emails can count as legal documentation if both parties involved are agreeing to terms and/or all conditions. Either way, backing out based on a legal mistake that they made is super scummy, and poor business practice.
@@TheBourneHomestead not saying it's not scummy but it's par for the course. I'm surprised they even agreed to repairs on a house with multiple offers to be honest!
@@alejandrodelavega1063 😁👌🏻
PSA: If anyone thinks they can avoid these types of issues by buying a new build, think again! We had massive foundation cracks almost immediately because the builders rushed and didn't agitate the concrete properly, which required both external repairs and our basement shower wall to be ripped out and replaced, among other things. We also had water pouring in through the microwave vent when it rained because the vent cover was crap.
Part of the game no matter what, it seems...
That is why we bought a liveable house that obviously needed renovation, not a fliped one. I'd rather spend more time doing it myself than find out broken stuff the flippers covered on the long run. We are into this project 3+ years now and do find nasty surprises now and then, but at least we knew beforehand we were going to rip that part off anyway. Not like we thought that was nice when buying and then found out it was the worst. Also the price was lower for a non-fliped house. But yeah the market is soooo crazy right now that I feel we dodged a bullet buying the house before 2020.
I went a step farther and bought bare land we're going to build our own.
If I ever buy another property, I am absolutely going to get some thing that’s outdated that did not get flipped. That way I am aware of the issues. It’s more annoying to rip out “renovations“.
I agree with you. I bought mine with the idea that I would fix a lot. Though I still baffled with what people did not do right with their home
@@lisacastano1064 That’s exactly what I decided to do. Buy land so I’m not rushed in buying or spending money I didn’t need or want to spend. We will live in our RV on our land until we decide on what we want to do.
See I would think this would be a selling point! My house is pretty original with updates in The 80s. But the houses that have been flipped with less square footage and no property sell for more because they are updated from the 90s to today's style. Smh also you can tell we didn't fix anything from earthquake damage from 2 years ago because there was no damage.
This is why you don't buy flipped houses! Honestly though, most things you listed were pretty minor, I've seen *much* worse. I rather buy the fixer upper and pay someone I know to do all the repairs, and that way you at least know exactly how everything was done. You'd save money too!
Yeah, it’s not necessarily a flipper thing. The house I had before the current one was owned by the world’s worst home handyman. He had done some major basement renovations without pulling a permit. When we went to do our first round of changes, we discovered all kinds of things that weren’t to code. He and his family had lived with them for years, and realistically they probably weren’t going to cause a safety problem, but we had to correct most of the time to get our updates to pass inspection.
@@rhuffstedtler Just because other people mess up houses and don’t maintain them properly doesn’t mean it isn’t a flipper thing. Flippers are trash. Almost none of them do anything correctly.
In my neighborhood you don't have much choice. Flippers snatch up all the reasonably priced houses because they use "Other People's Money" to offer cash. Anyone who needs to finance a house (which is most people) can't possibly compete with this scheme. Then the flippers do their sloppy work, jack the price up, and THOSE houses are the only ones available for people who have to get a mortgage.
@@colleendemaio Yeah, it sucks. It’s a fucking racket. They add zero value and ruin everything.
It’s hard sometimes when they have the best bid compared to everyone else, they just get snatched up and then we are all stuck with flip homes as options at a 50k+ price
My mom did a landscape plan for an Extreme Home Makeover home. She said that it was a still a messy construction site while they were doing the plantings. She knew all the plants wouldn’t make it so she had the landscapers go back and replace all the plants a couple weeks after the episode was filmed.
Yes, flipping houses is a very dirty business, they try to maximize the profit while limiting the costs. Always get everything in writing and I like the idea of checking the landscaping beforehand, some invasive plants are impossible to get rid of and that would be a deal breaker for me.
If they agreed by email, it is legal. It is a verbal contract. Keep the emails. It is too late for you, bot hopefully others will benefit.
Came here to say this.
Yes, but it isn’t even a verbal contract, they have it in writing.
It might be a bit more informal but something you agree about on email is just as binding as a formal contract you sign. And pretty easy to prove.
If you agree on something verbally that is binding aswell, just a bit harder to prove. As it’s common for the parties to have differing opinions on what they agreed on.
Only difference is that you probably didn’t agree upon consequences if one part broke the agreement (like it sounds like the flippers did based on the description in the video), like many more formal contracts tend to do.
So it might be a little messy to sort out what should happen because they allegedly didn’t fulfil their part of the agreement.
But it’s binding. They should have done the repairs that you agreed they would do.
Our first investment house we brought , being green horns we trusted the agent, they told us we would get a new hotwater system and clothes line installed the day after exchange of keys (settlement) the plumber came and installed an illegally small rusted unit (to the toilet not the other plumbing) and the clothes line was falling apart. But because we had already settled we didn't have a leg to stand on which resulted in us having to spend 6k extra when we shouldn't of had too
I bought near you in SExSD! The best Flipper Fail I saw when shopping was painted over termite damage. I pressed my fingers into the freshly painted outside wall and it was spongy!! I ended up buying an abandoned foreclosure that had never been updated so I'll back you up on the "just don't give me appliances" --much better to choose your own!
Oof!
What you really bought was a great plot of land that came with a tarted up turd house. It's got loads of potential. Don't sweat the small stuff, buying isn't like renting. It's up to you to make it what you want. As you live with it for a few years, you'll see where you can extend, create a better flow and definitely add two more bedrooms and bathrooms to maximize the value. Til then, enjoy creating a fabulous garden 💚
Nooo, big homes are all over the place but big beautiful yards/gardens are rare and precious.
@@colleendemaio two bedrooms off the back will barely make a dent. Having a family in overcrowded living conditions is no fun.
@@Toodle.Pipp001just needs a master bedroom and ensuite. Maybe an extra living space away from the house for hobbies. But bigger isn’t always better. We have a small home with a larger yard (for our area) and I love it. Since we now have 3 kids, we’re building a big shed out the back as an extra living space so the lego room can be used as a bedroom again. But otherwise I love our home.
I am from Georgia and grew up with horses. Bermuda grass is actually REALLY desirable where I am and for horses. I get it, different strokes for different folks. But it just makes me giggle every time Kevin describes Bermuda grass as an undesirable weed.
If I only had a horse!
@@epichomesteading and now, in your next episode will we see a pony? Nope. It will just eat all the lettuce! 😆
Well I have 2 horses, you will definitely have a great compost system with them! Black gold! 🐎🐎🧲💩💩💩💩💩💩
haha yeah, being from the midwest I want a little bit of grass. I've been babying a small patch of Bermuda in the back yard and it's barely holding on. The clay soil here is brutal LoL
Florida here, I hate Bermuda grass. It’s itchy as anything! At least now that I’m in Georgia, there are other types of grasses. Like the wild ones
15:08 When you say this company flips 100 homes a year, it hints at me that they're probably a private equity firm. Part of the reason that the housing market is so awful right now is due in no small part to these private equity firms, such as Blackstone. We're also starting to see Wall Street buy homes and turn them into rentals.
Thanks for making this video, Kevin! This video really sheds light on the shady practices of many "home flippers" out there. You showed how careless they can be with their so-called repairs.
Surprisingly, they're not!
You bought and flipped a 🍋 and made limoncello! Cheers 🥂
Hope the flippers watch this video.
For anyone buying a house in the San Diego area, I highly HIGHLY recommend house inspector Magnus Bludworth (sp?)...he was recommended to us by multiple people, and he was incredible. Don't just go with whoever the realtor suggests. And pay for the sewer line inspection too! We winced at the price but a few hundred dollars for that ended up saving us thousands because the camera revealed it to be in bad shape and the flippers had to redo the sewer line on their dime.
I feel for you, Kevin. I bought my flipped San Jose home in 1998 and I’m still correcting the stupid, incompetent and code violating crap they did. I’m redoing my master bath and we discovered they didn’t wipe the excess flux from the copper pipes, and it’s all over them. The plumber explained that the pipes will develop pinhole leaks that could go undetected. They cut the waste line and seamed it together with tape instead of buying the angled pipe. Ugh. The list of stuff I’ve had to correct is endless. Some things, like improperly installed and ineffective earthquake sheer walls, are too costly and intrusive to fix. And I had inspections (the roof failed inspection twice and they paid at closing for me to reroof).
What I’m trying to say is some of these things you’re dealing with are cosmetic but they’re the canary in the coal mine. There are quite likely much deeper issues. When I redid the kitchen we found scary electrical things. One day my garage door fell down because it had been installed upside down and backwards. Of course, the way they constructed the garage, a car could fit in there if it was a small convertible but not anything larger-no way to drive it past the back door steps (poured concrete). It never ends, but the market here is so unreal that I couldn’t afford to buy my home if I had to pay for it today.
Solid points you're addressing. I'm still house hunting after 8 months, bidding almost 50k over asking & still looking. I've gone under contract a few times but I would NEVER waive the inspection period! Luckily for me, that saved me from buying homes that had active gas leaks, non permitted HVAC's that were basically useless, homes were a flipper cut into a structural beam, etc! The unfortunate part is that I've spent thousands of dollars on inspections on homes I ended up having to walk away from but at least I didn't buy a home that had a massive amount of repairs needed. Take a break from home shopping if you need to, don't buy a house out of desperation. Also, a HUGE caution, unless the "flipper" has a local reputation for quality work (I've never seen that), try to avoid buying from them. They will typically do the biggest shortcuts & if anything were to ever come up that you'd take them to court over, they just have to claim that they never lived there and had no prior knowledge of the issue & they usually escape any liability. Good luck
You are totally right - good luck on your search!
You can also get someone waiving liability if they owned the property but don’t live in it, and rent it out. That’s what happened to me. There’s a horrible basement leak, the neighbor knows that he knew about it, but there’s no way to prove it legally.
I truly feel the seller should have to pay for some sort of base level inspection on all home sales. And the report should have to be openly available (like on the MLS listing type of easy availability) , so people know what's happening.
Oh man, how frustrating! I feel your pain. When I bought my home, I didn’t know the seller’s agent could flat out LIE to the buyer!! I knew they could omit stuff, but didn’t know they could lie. I asked how often the train went by the house and the agent said less than once a day (cargo train only). Turns out it goes by SEVERAL times a day, and at all hours of the night! Like gardening, these are all learning experiences. Thanks for sharing your lessons learned with us, Kevin!
This was such a helpful video especially given the market that we’re in right now. I mean I probably won’t be buying a home anytime soon like most millennials but this is definitely a cautionary tale worth citing for those who are going into first time home ownership. Thanks Kevin
I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, but I feel as though it takes a certain type of personality to be a realtor-someone who can stomach a certain level of unethical behaviour, whether it's from clients or colleagues. I know I couldn't do it. Thanks for highlighting what can go wrong, Kevin.
Ha! I feel the same way. I live in what has been one of the fastest growing areas in the US on-and-off for the past 20 years and I grew up with many friends who’s parents were realtors. They always expressed how much they hated their jobs due to the dog-eat-dog atmosphere of the market and the moral dilemma involved in selling unfit homes to often desperate families (we had a devastating string of hurricanes in 2004 that left a bunch of people homeless or in FEMA trailers). Most of them quit permanently after the fallout of the bubble burst of 2008-ish. Now there’s a new crop of FIRE realtors who are willing to stoop as low as they can to sell sell sell. And according to my landlord who used to be a property appraiser, local governments don’t do their part to prevent this corrupt behavior. Such a depressing thing to watch
Depends on the realtor. Broad generalizations like this are unfair to realtors who care about their clients and are ethical. Our realtors (a married couple) live here and are part of the community. Everyone knows them. That makes a big difference.
I just bought a home from this same flipper last month in Clairemont. Fortunately, thus far, I haven't had as many major issues that you had. They installed brand new appliances in the kitchen and all the electrical was in good shape. One pain in the butt thing was they didn't bring the cable line into the house. It was left cut off in the garage, so now I have a temporary cable line running from the garage into the house until I can get somebody out to properly wire it up. I'm having the same experience with the yard too, where it looked really nice with the wood chips while it was listed and in escrow, but now with all the rain we've had, the weeds are coming up like crazy. They also made some interesting choices with the planting. I also get a lot of compliments on the door color and do personally like it. It's definitely a signature design feature for this group. As is the fence. It's funny to see houses with the same door color and fence style driving around town and knowing that it's the same group. But, like you said, it's such a crazy seller's market right now that you're almost forced to just go with it and hope nothing horribly bad comes up. Really enjoying the channel and look forward to watching more videos and working on getting my own garden set up here in the not too distant future.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER drop the inspection contingency! You'll live to regret it evermore. Also, go along with the inspector and take many photos while he's inspecting. If he forgets or skimps on anything, ask him to address it before you finish.
I heard it is good to house shop when it's raining, so you can see where the water pools.
Great video. I would never buy a house with out the inspections. You never know what is lurking in the shadows. Just sayin!
Good call!
Helpful tip except that it rarely rains here in San Diego!
@@debbyd5729 Helpful tip for those of us living in FL.
Interesting to hear how the house purchased unfolded. I agree a traditional home inspection honestly doesn’t give you much and mainly they just refer you to a professional in that area, ie an electrician. My husband is a master electrician so that helped a lot as we were more aware of what we were getting into since our home is 100 years old.
I totally agree!
I disagree. Our home inspector was a rock star. He noted a potential electrical problem with knob and tube up against insulation. He recommended us to an electrician, the city, and to check with insurance companies, That was key. The house wiring was grandfathered in so not a code problem. The two electricians were split if it needed to come out. However, the insurance companies said, nope, not insurable. It came as a huge shock to both parties (as standards has changed). His one sentence made a huge difference. Story is ending well as insurance inquired subject to wiring being removed within 30 days of close. The estimated cost split 50/50. It was a painful inspection window but the process worked as intended.
Adults: those cartoons and anime are a bad influence on kids!
Also adults: watch HGTV and think it's reality and they can renovate a house too
Me: man, I don't think I can fix that.
Also me: *fully renovates bathroom after watching youtube videos*
Build a custom addition on your own in three days for $1,000. That's regular HGTV fodder!
The house I rent from a friend was flipped just before I moved in. Leaky roof; bowing floors especially after it rains; doors not properly hung; edges of the cabinets not being properly sealed; holes under the cabinets that lead to outside and under the house and allowing insects and spiders in; can't use water in more than one place at a time (no flushing toilets, showering, even washing hands or dishes, let alone laundry or dishwasher at the same time) otherwise the toilets and sinks leak; the stove vent hood doesn't vent outside, rather blows the air out of the top of the microwave and up to the ceiling of the kitchen getting oil stuck to the cabinets and ceiling, and spreading cooking smoke (sets off the fire alarm every time I use it). That's just inside the house. We're on a 1/4 acre and the stuff outside just boggles the mind.
😳I feel your pain. We just went through a 3 year kitchen nightmare. Home Depot👿in Paramus NJ did a horrible botched kitchen reno job which they refused to complete leaving our kitchen unusable. For three years we tried to get them to finish it & fix the problems. They had closed out our case without our permission, our consent, our our signing off on it. We had to take legal action & hire our own construction company to finish the job. 3 years of using a hot plate in our basement wasn't fun😖 …. We thought we might be 'safer' hiring a big box store, so no, think again this wasn't the case.
Flippers will always cut corners to try to maximize profits - if you are looking at a flipped house, don't skip inspections, or at the very least find someone who knows what to look for and take them with you to see the house so they can make sure the flipping didn't cut important corners (where they can check, cos obv some things you can't check). But I also know how hard it has been to buy a house over the last two years. I bought one myself this year - and it was the sixth house I'd put an offer in on, too. I kept losing because I wasn't wiling to drop inspections while everyone else was. It's a garbage market right now.
So sorry you had to go through this. I know how you feel because we bought a nice home in a great location with a huge yard but it was too small, so we did a remodel doubling the size of the house. We literally got the contractor from hell. I was in a waiting room and picked up a magazine and started reading the article titled "Contractors from Hell" and ours was one of the first ones listed in the article! So so many problems and headaches and years later we are still finding issues with the foundation, electrical and so on.
Your ability to call out all of these items is GREAT! I don't think I've seen any TH-cam content like this. And, for you being a first time homebuyer, making note of these things and problem-solving them is pretty amazing. Most renters turned new homeowner wouldn't even know where to start. Clearly, you got the home and property you wanted, that's what is important. With all your skills and resources...you'll be able to get these items update, as you clearly have already tackled many of them! Shame on these flippers, trying to hide defects is a huge NO-NO in real estate. Seller Disclosure is a very important feature and it would be nice if more sellers lived by this credo.
Yup, learning lesson - will be all good!
Kevin, throw a lazy susan into that corner kitchen cabinet and transform it into useable space!
I've never owned a house, but I've lived similar situations with rentals. I've seen too many realtors that try to pressure you to make an offer without giving you the time to take a proper look at the property. Or using tactics like "There's already an offer, so if you want to keep looking you need to make a better one". With things like these, its better to take your time, even if it means loosing a few opportunities along the way.
I feel your pain! We bought a house that wasn't flipped but the former owners did a lot of questionable repairs. We also had issues with our fridge and it took forever to get the water hooked up because they messed it up so bad. We are constantly bumping into new weird things that make any repairs much harder.
I think a lot of this also comes with an older home or a home where the previous owner tried to do a lot of the work themselves. I own an older home in the SD area and - though it wasn’t a flip - there were a lot of things that just weren’t done correctly over the years.
Flippers are con men. The issues you described, sure, are issues with many houses, but flippers are intentionally doing things incorrectly to put as little money as possible into a property to get as much out of it as possible. They’re scammers.
@@Rena-ej7vv I definitely don’t doubt that! Again, living in an older area I’ve seen a lot of homes bought by flippers, then three months later sold for $100k+ more when I bet only $10k was put into it.
I feel like shows such as Flip or Flop really glorified the scam of flipping. It’s definitely shady.
Similar issues for me, I bought my old house here in NorCal in 2016. It was renovated off and on for 5 years. They tried to convert the front sitting room to a ‘master’ by installing a crap closet, which took me forever to take down this year finally. I still have to patch and repaint. And I had a plumbing leak like within months of purchasing it. So so so many problems, but honestly I love my little cottage so I am still really happy I purchased it!
I’d love to see a video on what to look for in a new homestead!
I just bought my house last month and didn’t realize until I had a complete inspection how terrible the electrical wiring was... everything was “half-assed but it works” and not much was to code. Plus I had too much radon and asbestos insulation... things that aren’t obvious unless you test for it. The seller fixed it all, thankfully. I’m so thankful I could do my due diligence to thoroughly cover my butt and not rush through the transaction. This market is crazy
For the angled cabinet, use a "Lazy Susan" to fill the space efficiently. The shelving rotates 360° allowing for easy access to everything stored, and they come in stackable versions.
One thing you can do with those awkward kitchen cabinets is put in a lazy susan (and that will be a trick!) or reconfigure the doors on the bottom cabinet to open from the center but hinge on opposite sides and possibly taking out the drawer and the wall separating the sections. Whereas now they are hinged in the middle. Also, with the outside electrical being shoddy, and your low graded wiring for voltage, you wouldn't want the flippers to put in more outlets. Best to have the whole house and outbuildings upgraded with a new panel. My landlord does every on the cheap and it bites her in the butt, especially the electrical panels she replaced and has to replace them again because she went with the unlicensed contractor. I've been dealing with flickering lights for 2 years....So I give you all the Good Luck!
I got lucky with the flip I bought in 2004 (which I sold in 2013). The house was an original 1922 Sears kit home - just 924 sq. ft. The contractor who bought the house to flip was financed by a well known local Samaritan. They accepted my offer of $19K under asking. Any questions I had, I was able to reach out to the contractor and he would come over to help and educate, but it was definitely turnkey - no repairs needed. I loved that home and regret selling it. I was able to pull the original permits and drawings from the city planner's office so that I could learn more about the property.
So cool to get a Sears home!
Way back in the day, my grandfather, who owned a cabinetry business in Northern California, redid our entire kitchen...new avocado green appliances, drop light that was almost half the size of the ceiling, and in the corner where the cabinets would have created those black holes, he placed lazy susans. I think those should be in every corner of ever kitchen! lol
I've resented flippers since we bought our first house. Not only do they rip out all the personality and replace it with beige blandness, but they do such a crappy job of it that vast swathes of the housing market just aren't even appealing anymore. But on top of that they're somehow pumping prices up and making an already difficult market tougher for first-time buyers.
My spouse and I prefer to pay as little as possible for a house we can live in while we fix it up. We've been lucky enough to find un-flipped houses both times so we can actually pay an affordable price plus 10k-20k in fixing up. But flippers have made it a lot tougher to find the sorts of homes we prefer to buy.
I'm really glad you were able to get a place with such a large garden!
As much as I love my house (4years now) the flippers did soooooo many shotty things that we had to deal with. Leaking roof (which was brand new) no vent for the kitchen stove and the electrical wasn’t even turned on but said it was “working” totally understand what you went thru
YUP!
A number of years ago I bought a 1914 Craftsman home. You can't imagine how many things were "hidden ". I paid for Home Insurance. This covered appliances, water heater, furnace, etc. 1st winter -18° furnace went out on a Saturday! $75 got me a brand new furnace. Next year $75 paid for water heater. Would you believe all windows on 1st floor were painted closed!!!!
Bought a flipped property as our first home in 2020, and wow does a lot of this scummy shortcuts feel like an industry standard, especially in a hotter market like CA. Were outside of chicago and they "fixed" horrible basement leaking and flooding by putting fresh drywall and trim up. We paid 30k extra for a great finished basement that will cost us at least 30k or more to make right.
We bought our house fast due to a big job move. The family was sooooo sneaky about hiding things. One of the doors to the bedrooms didn’t close! They put dark stain on top of old stain so all of the cabinetry was sticky and would rub off. I could go on. Learned my lesson with that one.
I wonder how much the “flipper” shows made unscrupulous people get into the business with FOMO. I’m glad I got my house back when the market was still very low and they were trying to liquidate properties. Bidding wars are the worse, especially in California, I would suppose.
Man, they ripped you off but sounds like you are able to overcome that treatment and put the time and money into making a real home. A home is never completely 'finished' and I'm 75 yo to testify to that! Always something to do or want to do or wish had been done. It is a money pit. I love my home, built new to my design by competent builders but still there are things I wish I had done and things I wished I could redo but no money left now. It is sound, safe, comfortable, and I'm truly blessed to live here but just to let you know, you got a raw deal but junk will continue to be a problem for the rest of your days in that home. Homes are money pits, but they are home and somehow we all want that dream. Good luck that nothing major goes wrong in the next few years! Your yard is a wonderful part of that dream and you are really making lots of 'lifelong' improvements there. So happy for you.
I’m in the process of *starting* the house search and trying to learn what I need, and what I should look for and be wary of. You’re one of the most trusted people I follow on social media and TH-cam and this was so insanely beneficial to listen to. I’ll be saving this to take notes later. I’m genuinely so thankful for this wisdom. Thank you!
If you're renting now, one of the really helpful things you can do is mention that you're flexible on closing date, or can allow the seller to rent the house back from you for a reasonable period while they close on their next house. Also, put some thought into the offer letter, it makes a difference.
Great and reasonable description. I want to add: the house we bought more than a year ago ended up with a flooded crawl space not because of the seller (a very nice person) but because of global warming. Our architect said that she’s seeing unprecedented basement flooding and problems in the last couple of years because of “once in 100 years storms” happening almost every year. So, depending on where you live, think about what your house might encounter as climate change moves even faster. I know that in your area it’s unlikely to be flooding but I’m sure you have or will have to deal with other freak weather events.
Oh wow - that's gnarly!
I bought a home that needed reno vs a flipper home (mostly because I had a very short window to buy or I have to renew my lease at the apartment for another year (they weren't doing any less at the time and the cost was skyrocketing for rent)) but found this place knowing I had work to do. VA loans require an inspection so that was good as they had to replace the wood sill at the foundation (old water issue rotted some of the wood) as well as fixing the sewer line that had roots intruding into it. For my part, it is a 1955 home that has literally not been updated since it was built, for the most part. There are a few updates here and there but I ended up repiping to pex from cast iron, upgraded the electrical from 100 A service to 200 A service running the service underground from the pole, and completely updated and renovated the fireplace (it never had an insert installed) adding a wood stove insert as well. I am slowly in the process of updating the interior electrical which isn't grounded, adding outlets, insulating the walls, replacing the lights with LED's and (since I am taking the plaster down room by room) adding interior wired networking cables to each room because I'm a huge nerd! The kitchen is stock 1950's so am in the process of having that completely redone in the next 3 weeks and pouring concrete for the back porch and front steps as the back deck was fairly well rotted out and wouldn't have lasted another couple of years in our Northwest rainy seasons while the current front step is a huge boxy looking thing that has settled over time pushing into the foundation (which was repaired and reinforced because of it).
AND it's my first house at 50+ years of age, so I jumped in with both eyes open but no net!! So there ya go!
This feels like a big diss video for the flippers, and I am here for it 😏. My house was awful too when we first moved it. A lot of it were hidden problems for us too.
As long as you continue to be as seemingly/legitimately authentic as you are on social media, I’ll always have good things to say and like buttons to smash. Much love 🤙🏻
Appreciate you!
If you haven't done so already, get yourself an outlet tester and check the ground wires on the outlets. It's pretty common for someone to install a 3-plug outlet without actually hooking up a ground wire (more accurately, a ground-fault wire, since in the US "earth ground" is actually the white/neutral wire) -- leaving you with a potential fire hazard. If you find any, it's easy enough to install a GFCI outlet at the start of the circuit to add that protection, though you will need to label all outlets appropriately that they should not be used with electronics like computers (which need a "true" ground fault wire).
Great call
Yo! On the windows- look at the top. If they're the kind that open from top and bottom, sometimes the top falls down and it's really hard or impossible to lock. I had the same problem, checked the top, and they had each fallen open about an inch.
You're great! Love your channel, I learn so much! Thanks for being awesome!!!
I bought a new build townhouse in another city. Retrieving a toy from down the floor vent, I found a big canvas bag of nails in the duct. So “weird stuff shoved in the cavities” isn’t specific to flippers…
I’ve bought 3 houses (and sold 2) in my lifetime and I have learned a lot. It will never cease to amaze what people do to a home, regular owners or flippers! The garage electrical was probably some random DIY job done way before the flipper ever got ahold of it.
In the upper midwest - during winter you can't test a/c or underground sprinklers during inspection when it's below freezing outside. But to circumnavigate that - I had the sellers provide two year's worth of home warranty of major appliances and mechanical. Glad I did too - because in less than a year, the a/c went completely belly up. That was also when I found the hot water heater was not up to code. Also - take a look at the breaker box and figure out what is wired with what - if you can. I found out after moving in, that my entire basement shares a breaker with my garage. I can't use any of the outlets in the basement without blowing the breaker - which of course, shuts down my garage (electrical door, can't get out, etc).
Don’t ever buy a home without an inspection.The inspector would have caught those problems. Thanks for the $10.00 my planter love it
I got an inspection :)
I bought a house in San Diego in 2019. Our inspector found a big list of things. The flippers wouldnt reimburse or do anything unless it safety related. They installed fire detectors, strap for water heater, and carbon monoxide detector. Inspection is more for knowing what you are getting yourself into. I wouldn't recommend buying from a flipper as we found out a lot of hidden things after living here.
@@geeyoupee What goes around comes around. Some times we wonder why bad things happen to some people but it’s the seeds they sow. They will reap that seed of dishonesty one day🙏🙏 keep up the great work of helping us new gardener. I started 3 years ago after surviving breast cancer so I decided to grow my own food. Thanks again for all your helpful videos
Here in the Bay Area if you really want a specific house you MUST waive most or all contingencies, offer $100,000 to $300,000 ABOVE asking price (sometimes more), and pay cash. Even with all that houses routinely get 30 offers.
INSANE right now
@@umiluv I hear you, but….I live 30 minutes from the beach, short drive to Napa Valley or skiing, it never freezes and I never need air conditioning, and I have world-class restaurants just a few miles away. It’s pretty good living if you can afford it!
@@typorter-pp6lh you go girl!
The video we've all been waiting for 🙌🏽
Glad the property is in good hands now!
If buying a home and considering one that is has been flipped, I would suggest people look up the permit history for the properties they are considering. We bought around the same time you did, and one of the flipped houses we looked at had stop work orders from the city because they didn't get the appropriate permits filed for all the work where it is 100% required, even up to the time the house went under contract. A lot of the things you mentioned seem on par with all of the flipped houses we toured. We ended up with an older home that wasn't flipped. But they did a lazy painting of the master bathroom tile, so paint is slowly coming off of the shower tiles. People we bought from were just super lazy- did nothing with the yard, didn't fix drywall, and rarely cleaned. Thought there was a rodent problem, but they had just left the old poop lying around from whenever there was a problem (we found dead ones in the garage wall).
Boy, some good stuff in here. I bought a flip home 20 years ago from and individual. I did get an inspection and they needed to replace the roof...not happy but it did get done. All the "upgrades" in this very old house were builder grade. None of the windows are the same size. Every time someone needs to work on the house something else wonky shows up. As far as landscape, there was a 20 foot cedar tree trunk (he was a logger) was placed in the front yard...and I do mean just placed. We pushed it over and a neighbor cut it up for me. When I try to dig into the ground I often come across large pieces of asphalt and concrete. Those are just some of the fun things I found. However, I was prepared with extra cash in case anything untoward occurred, which it did on moving in, roofing day....a very large earthquake sending everyone out of the house and the roofers off the roof. LOL So the extra cash was spent on putting in a concrete foundation to replace the post and beam it had originally. I still love it though and I have a very nice large lot for gardening.
I bought my current home from flippers. They did an OK job, but took some short cuts, too. The biggest short cut was that they painted some of the shower tiles with acrylic paint to match the other tiles. So when I used the shower for the first time, the water saturated the paint and it peeled off! Now I have seafoam green tiles with the tan/brown tiles!
Annoying!
I bought a home last year also and the previous owner used all used stuff to remodel… including the kitchen cabinets 🤣 thankfully not everything for us was low quality but I’m so perplexed at other things lmao
Always do your own walk through and pay attention to the inspection report. If you don't know what you are looking for , try and find someone who does. And when you do more a cosmetic remodel, you will always find items wrong or not up to code. We are working on our fourth remodel, and we have not had one yet that didn't have problems. Also, set money out of your budget to fix unexpected problems.
Here, with FEET of snow on the ground during winter, flippers are able to spend more on the house cosmetics and nothing on the yard. SO, in the Spring after the snow melts, a new home owner can be VERY surprised by the horrific condition of the landscaping.
As an agent, those are absolutely major oversights by the agent. Everything in these contacts is very important. If it isn't in the contract it has no traction.
😂😂😂😂 this feels like my home buying experience! I bought in 2020 during the lockdown in New York. Still trying to make it my homestead! Congratulations on your first home 🎉
I watch Design for Serenity, a San Diego based landscaper, who specializes in succulents/low water. They show time and time again that large cuttings do survive in your area. It might be a good channel for you to watch for inspiration as you were talking about redoing your front bed. The idea of you complimenting your high water use plants with low water planting in other areas would take things to the next level. Plus even though I live in Maryland, both of your channels are in my top 5 favorites so I would love to see the crossover.
Oh I feel you! We bought our first home a couple years ago. Not a flip exactly but a renovation by the kids of the deceased owner. It looked so good but the longer we live in it the more problems we find that were cosmetically covered. There was also a tone of termite damage they tried to hide but thankfully we caught that in our inspection and renegotiated on price. I’d inspect a future house SO MUCH Closer. Live and learn hey
This market is so wild. It’s crazy because they really don’t care to do these things since they know they will still end up selling the house. This leaves the buyer with risking going back to the market or gamble on the house and hope for the best.
Apparently in Chicago you need a lawyer to purchase a home. It seems dumb but that lawyer paid for themselves 10x over because they pushed to get the repairs done and fought for every credit possible.
Really hope this market chills for future buyers
I really like the advice of paying for a full-on inspection to see what work needs to be done (before it might end up costing you more in the long run than to fix it right away).
Ah, Kevin, your videos do so enlighten, encourage, and brighten my day! Shoddy workmanship is a pet peeve. But, I a dear old friend of mine would always say at such times, "People are funnier than anything" and then she would just laugh and go fix it. Keep on growing, building and sharing your Epic Homestead - it's been awesome to see what is truly possible! 👍🙌💚
Install a tilt drawer under your sink. We did that on ours in the bathroom. It's great to store smaller items that you want access too quickly! Cheap and easy to do!
These are the kinds of things that make me shy away from getting flipped homes as we start looking. And yes, definitely spend the money on an inspection, even if it's not part of the contingency of purchasing, know what you're looking at (and never use one that is recommended by the buyer or the buyer's real estate agent or the buyer's lender! Get a reputable indpendent person!
Loved this, thanks! I’m hoping to buy a home within the next couple of year and this is the type of real talk I need to hear!
Very kind & sweet of you for sharing your interactions with everyone you had to deal with. Thank you for showing us the issues with your home.
I bought a home (we're Navy, forced to move). 9 other families live in this home and nothing was nice or up to date. We've already had to remove the kitchen and buy new carpet. We had to buy this house unseen because of the "Sellers Market" in Virginia. It really sucks... 😒
I feel your pain. Lots of us feel your pain. I'm glad you're still positive about the move you made.
Thanks for making this video! I suggested this video (im sure a long with others) so its cool to see it happen! Would love to see the video about home buying too
Excellent job on showing people what to look for when buying a new home!
Most of that is very trivial. But there are things that a building inspector should have caught. Makes me wonder if they had permits.
You have a lovely home Kevin & the love you’ve put into it will be paid back with a lovely garden and the stuff that’s important to you. I bought a place that required TONS of unexpected/undisclosed work, it makes me angry at the dishonesty but decided not to try going the legal route. The way I see it, my house needed TLC, it’s a 100 year old house, it’s been through it. I tackled it as a distressed plant, give it back as much repair possible and in return it’ll be stronger & blossom for the future. I try to avoid the what if’s, the could’ve should’ve would’ve s, the drama of it all because I didn’t want those feelings to turn into resentment. I love my home so much and yeah I could’ve been smarter but no point living in the past.
It kind of sounds like my new old home. I spent the first two months walking around and shaking my head at all of the ridiculous things they did or didn’t do.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this video. It was so informative and interesting. You are an awesome narrator. Love you, Kevin. Thanks.
All these items should be listed in the report from the home inspector? We had a home inspector look over the house before we bought it, they pointed out all the things that were 'off' in the house. It included plumbing, electrical, structural, etc. They had us turn on everything to test the water, heater, air cond., etc.
Good information. We’re looking to buy a new home and have seen some really unexpected things for sure. Buying a home is a huge investment and you for sure don’t want be be buying some else’s nightmare. If your seriously considering a house it’s most definitely worth getting inspections done.💚🙃
I would have expected the pest inspection (which checks for dry rot) to find the bad soffits. (As much as I expect any inspection to find things, none ever seem that good.)
We overbid on a house by $100K and had a $50K appraisal gap, and we were still one of worst offers. This market is just ridiculous.
INSANE
Would love to see another video on this topic! 😊
It helps to know what you are looking at when shopping for homes and when following your house inspector around. Read up on how to do basic homeowner electrical, water drainage, piping, landscaping, some real estate law. Maybe even on horror stories so you know what to pay attention to. The experts really are only as good as you are. I have seen inspectors expect to not have to crawl through the crawl space or get into the attic, until I tell them to. Before this, of course, we have already done some checking of our own, so we kind of know where possible issues might be. As long as you are aware of what you are getting into, it is fine. Even a perfect house needs work and maintenance.
For sure!
My husband and I just got our first home.. first experience in learning about a flipper here and oh boy.. over 11k thus far to fix the plumbing only to find out half of my rain gutters are connected to the drainage or sewer line....... it's been an interesting experience..
Oof :(
We bought our first house earlier this year and despite having half a dozen kinds of inspection done, the renovators *immediately* found mold when they tore up a bathroom floor. This kind of thing definitely involves a learning curve, which sucks because you (in most cases) hope not to have to re-buy your home a bunch! Great video-appreciate the transparency as always.
Wonderful video. Practical financial purchasing information for beginners and people who may not be aware of current real estate practices. And what you actually experienced. I am sure there are lots of viewers who can relate with your home purchasing.
Even purchasing a new home has some of the same type of deceptive practices. I had repairs before and after closing despite independent inspectors.
My first home mortgage company required an escrow account for taxes but paid them 3-6 months late using my money but did not let me receive the actual bills, just payment amounts. I supposedly agreed to it at closing. Bank was investigated due to my complaint after a late notice "accidentally" received, got refund of late payments with assistance of state AG, and bank shut down 30 days later by feds.
Moral is to get independent inspectors and attorney to represent you for all negotiations and closing. Buyer's real estate agent actually works for profit and does not work for you.
Around here, people do the same thing. They'll agree to a million dollar mortgage on a house that is SO not worth that much, and say it's OK I don't need an inspection on top of it. It's really very foolish. I get wanting a house, but to already vastly over-pay, and then have it be basically as-is, could end up being a complete nightmare, that costs even more to deal with. Imagine paying that much for a house, only to have to strip it down to the studs because of a huge mold or infestation problem.
My fiance and I just purchased a home in Seattle and some of the homes we saw were a doozy. Some flippers really don't care how bad their work is because they know they'll have a buyer regardless due to the market demand. There needs to be more protections for buyers especially in big cities, especially protections from flippers.
We bought our house a few years ago in the Seattle area. It was BAAAAAD. And houses that hadn't been flipped were sold in lots of 30 to investors, so we had no other option.
the seattle area is getting worse by the year. if the houses aren't shittily flipped for twice the price, they are sold to developers to get dozed and 5 million sardine cookie cutter houses get put on the land. i'm not in the market to buy yet and at this point i don't even know if i can or would want to buy anything on the market if i could.
Hey Kevin,
Love the content especially on the gardening channel. You've really taught me a lot and I grew up on a farm! For your corner cabinets, Ikea makes some really great lazy Susan type hardware. It's called a Utrusta. They spin to fit right in AND they pull out so you can reach the stuff in the back too!