House Flipping Question

[Tom Bender]

One near me is filled with trash and dog crap, but is sound. The fixtures etc will be fine once cleaned.

With the walls painted white, would it be better to sell it with bare subfloors or with new vinyl and carpet?

The outside has T 111 that is about done, Replace some of it and paint or cover with vinyl siding?

Of course it all depends on the price.

[Jerome Stanek]

When we flipped a house we put down new carpet the cheapest we could get as the smell of new carpet is like a new car smell. This was told to us by several real estate agents.

[Frederick Skelly]

I don't know if this is practical on a flip house. But your question reminded me of something my Dad once did.

Dad once sold a house with bare floors and gave the buyer a "flooring allowance". Told the guy "I will pay you $3,000 (or whatever) cash at closing to buy flooring. That let's you pick out what you want, and it gives you a down payment on better if you want to upgrade to something better than I'd put in." My Dad was fair with the amount and they wrote it into the contract. The buyer's wife was tickled.

[Ron Citerone]

If houses are selling quickly there I would go with the subfloor/carpet allowance. If the market there is "iffy" I would put the carpet in. While the subfloor/carpet approach makes practical sense to people like us, it may not to many first time buyers who want move in condition.

[Jerome Stanek]

The house we just flipped was sold the first day it hit the market for our asking price.

[Yonak Hawkins]

... we put down new carpet the cheapest we could get....

... gave the buyer a "flooring allowance". Told the guy "I will pay you $3,000 (or whatever) cash at closing to buy flooring....

The second choice just seems so much less wasteful.

[Jerome Stanek]

We could have given them a credit but it would have been a lot more then the carpet we put down. We went with a construction grade carpet and it only cost us about $1500 the real estate lady said we could do that or offer $3000 in credit so we saved ourselves $1500 plus the sale percent. We wanted a fast turn over also and a ready to move in house. The lady that bought it said she needed to move in by the end of the month and she just got in

[Matt Day]

Definitely put finished floors in. A large majority of buyers can’t/don’t want to do anything for themselves.

Installing vinyl siding might not have a good return on investment. Depends on the local market.

[Adam Herman]

We live in / reno houses and sell, on our 3rd one. We don't touch a place unless we think we can gross 100 over the buy price. We use used, high end appliances, Trendy finishes and do as much as possible ourselves. It all depends on the market, high end looking finishes sell houses fast and i would rather spend a few thousand more on flooring and sell the house a month faster then the other way around, which will cost just as much to you in another months payment/taxes/utilities. roll vinyl and super cheap carpet will not help sell a house unless there are none others for sale. smells are very difficult to remove. Mold is even worse. If you can buy it very very cheap, it may make you some money, but starting out with what you describe is very difficult.

[John Goodin]

As a home inspector I deal with buyers all the time. Many people have a hard time visualizing in an unfinished house so I would make it as complete as possible. If what you describe is all that is needed I proceed with caution — real estate commissions and closing fees are not kind to the quick and easy flip.

[Rick Potter]

What John said.

My experience has been that most people can not visualize what a home CAN be. They have to see it finished.

I have some rentals, and experience has taught me to not let people look at them until they are ready to occupy.