First Time House Flippers

All you have to do is watch an episode of any poplar house-flipping TV show to get why it’s so appealing. Practically any thirty-minute segment makes it look pretty darn easy to flip a house in order to make a huge profit. As a longtime fan of HGTV over the years, I’ve enjoyed watching Chip and Joanna from “Fixer Upper,” or mother and daughter duo Karen and Mina from “Good Bones,” or designer Hilary and realtor David from “Love It or List It,” or the talented identical twins Jonathan and Drew from “Property Brothers,” or Alison from “Windy City Rehab,” or one more husband and wife team: Ben and Erin from “Home Town.” There’s plenty more TV shows that I didn’t mention, but they all have made buying and flipping a fixer-upper look so easy. The goal is to buy a run-down home, put money into renovations, list it on the real estate market, and then profit—big time! Seems simple enough, right? Flipping a house can’t be that difficult, right?

Our customers, Alex and Vlad, who actually live in Germany, wanted to fulfill a dream. Vlad supported his father’s dream of becoming a first-time flipper. I’ve often heard that half of the work of flipping a house is finding the right house in the right place. Alex got lucky when he nabbed a house with good bones in sunny Port Charlotte, Florida. 

It was hard not to smile when I first met the father and son. They held such faith in the future of an undertaking they’ve never undertaken before. I’m not knocking their optimism, mind you. In fact, I appreciated their visions of how they wanted to breathe life into this dated home. I loved their can-do attitude. “This won’t take long.” Or their exclamation, “How hard can it be?” But I did have a hard time understanding the father’s heavy accent. It was sexy and strong…so strong that I had to listen very closely. I soon discovered “ve” meant “we” and “dat” meant “that.” “Dat is vhat ve vere going to do,” said Alex. I found myself apologizing, again and again for my lack of understanding. In some instances, Vlad was my interpreter.

Alex was all about spending his money wisely. He wanted to select the right renovations, ones that would catch buyers’ attention and add value to the property. He focused on paint and new waterproof wood-look plank flooring throughout. He did cosmetic changes in the kitchen and bathrooms as potential buyers focus on these upgrades the most. The father and son team wanted to make sure everything looked fresh and new.

I’m a big fan of fairness and giving credit where credit is due. The home was practically done being remodeled by the time I met them. Learning as they went, the father and son team devoted three months working diligently to fixing up the twenty-five-year-old house.