Flip that House! I can't be the only one here who finds that show to be

[ComerPerro]

disguisting, vile, predatory, and the perfect vehicle to illustrate everything that is wrong with our society.

Can I?

Thoughts?

[ComerPerro]

1. guess I am

[L A Woman]

2. Perhaps you should elaborate...

what's vile about it?

[ComerPerro]

3. Exploiting people, cutting corners to turn a profit...

[L A Woman]

8. woops, dupe

If you are about to foreclose on your home, thus ruining your credit and leaving you homeless, sometimes these people can be a Godsend. Sure, they'll give you less than what you could get if you put the house on the market yourself, but they'll give it to you NOW and save your credit rating.

And typically the neighborhood's property values go up once that crappy house is fixed up a bit. But, yeah, they cut corners. They are in it for the profit, after all...

But I agree with the other comment - it's an awfully risky business nowadays...

[L A Woman]

9. Mmmmm...I dunno...

If you are about to foreclose on your home, thus ruining your credit and leaving you homeless, sometimes these people can be a Godsend. Sure, they'll give you less than what you could get if you put the house on the market yourself, but they'll give it to you NOW and save your credit rating.

And typically the neighborhood's property values go up once that crappy house is fixed up a bit. But, yeah, they cut corners. They are in it for the profit, after all...

But I agree with the other comment - it's an awfully risky business nowadays...

[ComerPerro]

10. oh please. These people aren't saints. They are predators

[L A Woman]

11. They are capitalists...

I didn't say they were saints! :-)

[catmandu57]

4. Not only that

They're far behind the curve house flipping is hard to do now with the bubble leaking air, I'm surprised they're still running it.

[ComerPerro]

7. too true

[texanwitch]

5. The few shows that I have seen seem like a lot work for not much profit.

If I am going to put that much work into a house I will be living in it.

[ComerPerro]

6. first off, they hire crews. And second, they make $50k or more in

a matter of weeks.

One flip I saw, for example, featured a couple that bought a house that was a distressed property or something like that, did a really shitty two week flip, and made a huge profit. And they cut a lot of corners. All they did was cover things up and hide flaws.

[rug]

12. You're right. They're pigs.

[Flaxbee]

13. hmm - I saw one last night (just got cable and

am busy surfing the huge number of new shows I haven't seen in 2 years - haven't missed much).

Anyway - this one was flipped by a guy named Paul Jones, I think, in N.Hollywood - it was an old Craftsman home and he really did a lovely job, lots of work, very little skimping except for linoleum on the kitchen floor that looked quite good.

Of course, the house had good bones, hardwood floors, etc., so this guy had a lot of good original stuff to work with. I have only seen one other and it didn't look like the woman was being cheap.

However, the show seems rather outdated in the current housing climate. A crappy 1300 sq. ft home in Westchester, LA bought for $730K and flipped for $899K. Unfreakingbelieveable. I grew up in SoCal and my parent's beach house (long since sold, sadly) was $65K in the 1970s. Ha!

[Hand]

19. That was sort of an ideal case.

As he observed, "I've done this a long time, I know what I'm doing, I've got the money to do it, and I've got good taste." That was one of the few that wasn't either a clusterfuck or a take-the-money-and-run job done on the cheap--and even he ran into unexpected problems.

Not my cup of tea.

[Flaxbee]

20. true. Ideal situation...

and I liked the way it looked when he finished....

I almost went insane fixing up our house prior to selilng it; can't imagine doing it for "fun".

[dysfunctional press]

14. o.k, i'll bite- how so..?

nt

[democracyindanger]

15. The only one I've seen in its entirety

is the 20-something that works at Starbucks. During the show he:

- Was shocked to discover that banks didn't think a 20-something guy who works at Starbucks is a good risk for a loan, so he had to borrow from Mom and Dad;
- Didn't know anything about carpentry, etc. so he relied on a friend who worked for free;
- Couldn't afford the various brass fixtures he envisioned, so got a rattle can of gold paint. He like how it looked so much, he painted the entire utility sink gold;
- Was so tired, decided to take a week long vacation instead of working;
- Was lucky Dad flew in to help, otherwise the cheap roofer he hired would've completely screwed him;
- Ended up just barely breaking even.

What a tool. I was laughing at him the whole time.

[ComerPerro]

18. that would have been hilarious to see

[Hand]

16. Ever see "The Property Ladder"?

It might be better called "How to jump on the house flipping bandwagon, destroy your mental, physical, and financial well-being, and wind up with your ass in a sling". Showed amateur attempts at flips that invariably went over time, over budget, etc. and often left the flippers with an unsold property. Incredible gullibility and bungling--e.g., one guy installed the cabinets himself and all the doors opened in the wrong direction; he decided to hope no one would notice.

That macho asshole in San Antonio is my least favorite on Flip That House. Have to admit, though, he knows his business. I'd never buy a house (or anything else) from him, though.

ON EDIT: I may be thinking of "Flip THIS House" in the above reference. Damn, there's a lot of those shows around.

[ComerPerro]

17. yeah, they are pretty much all the same. And I agree,

I would never ever buy a home from one of these assholes

[fidgeting wildly]

23. I think I saw the one with the San Antonio guy.

House wasn't done in time so he moved his family into a fancy hotel. Problem was they had a couple of dogs, lizards, and birds. The birds were kept in the hotel closet and at least two of them died. (Presumably from the stress.) I was utterly disgusted. These were people with money; they could have boarded the birds until their home was ready, or let a friend or family member care for them. I was so angry!

[MysticalChicken]

21. Wow...

Never seen an episode of Flip that House (I try to avoid "makeover" shows in general, whether they're making over buildings or people), but when I first read the subject line I thought you were talking about House. With Hugh Laurie. One of my favorite shows (although I'm really just getting into it, it will make me laugh quite loudly), and I'm thinking :wtf: "How the hell is House vile and predatory?"

Must learn titles of shows that I don't watch... :eyes:

[ComerPerro]

22. Haha. I couldn't get into House, the Fox Show. My brother liked it

it seems like they try to go more and more over the top each week.

But then again, I could probably say that about any drama nowadays.

Maybe I should sit down and watch it sometime.

[blondeatlast]

24. I couldn't agree more. Fortunately, I know a greedy jerk who's made

a practice of "flipping" and is regretting it right now.