Alright folks. I’m going to rag on fix and flippers again. I can’t help it; they leave themselves wide open.
Investors! Listen up! When you buy a home at foreclosure auction, it’s going to need some work. Paint and carpet might not be all the house needs to make it livable. Case in point (these are all from 1 home). . .
Kitchen sink has a temporary drain pipe. It’s designed to get you through a weekend until the plumber arrives.
Oh, fix and flipper. Seriously?! You put in laminate floors. But they’re already buckling because the toilet leaks where it connects to the wall. This is about $20 in parts and 30 minutes of labor!
While you’ve got the plumber in the house, how about having him spend another 10 minutes and $15 in parts to make the shower/tub diverter work? So I could, ya know, maybe. . . take a shower?
Now this one’s truly stoopid. That red arrow is pointing to the pressure relief valve on the water heater. It’s connected to. . . wait for it. . . nothing. So if the pressure relief valve starts working, it will spew hot water all over the wall of the garage. Not how it’s designed to work. Again, 30-45 of labor and maybe $10-$20 worth of parts.
Oh fix and flipper. Again I say unto you, Seriously?! You installed shiny new carpet over what I presume is a new carpet pad. But you didn’t install door handles on the doors. Or the $8 worth of hardware that makes the doors stick to the floor instead of flopping freely in the breeze. Ohhhhhh, Le Sigh.
Can’t tell what it is? Click to enlarge. It’s the circuit breaker box at the side of the house. Showing 1 circuit breaker attached to 2 household items (hence ‘double tap’). I’ve seen this job done. It requires an electrician buy about $10 worth of parts and spend 15 minutes installing another circuit breaker, then re-wiring 1 of the 2 household items to the new breaker. Fix and flipper: for realsies? you couldn’t manage this?
OK, all snark aside. The work here amounts to maybe $600 worth of parts and labor from a plumber and an electrician. They call them fix and flips; the buyer shouldn’t have to ask for these to be fixed. If you’re flipping houses and your profit margin is so slim you can’t absorb $600, you shouldn’t be flipping houses. You’re doing it wrong. Stop. Get a desk job. Seriously.
Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.
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Heather, you stated ‘Now this one’s truly stoopid. That red arrow is pointing to the pressure relief valve on the water heater. It’s connected to. . . wait for it. . . nothing. So if the pressure relief valve starts working, it will spew hot water all over the wall of the garage. Not how it’s designed to work. Again, 30-45 of labor and maybe $10-$20 worth of parts.’ I’m curious to know what you think needs to be done to this and how do you think it is designed to work? Here in New York, it is against building code to attach anything to the PRV or put any type of shutoff valve on it. It is actually designed to spew hot water if the pressure exceeds @30psi. If you were to block it off, the boiler could explode.
You know what Jeff? You caught me. I may have stuck my foot in my mouth on this one and I apologize. This is a really good illustration of why I let my qualified, licensed, insured and bonded home inspectors and repair folks advise my clients about inspecting and repairing their homes. On this blog I said, “This is wrong!” but in real life, I stick with being an expert on buying & selling houses and leave home inspection and maintenance to others. I advised my buyer client to talk w/ the inspector and the plumber to figure out what to do. Thanks for finding, reading, and commenting!