Audacious Flips and Renovations

[Markor]

[Civil Servant]

Speaking of before pics, here is a question I have had. Here we ostensibly see $270K worth of work being done to a house over the course of five months. (Let us assume for the sake of argument that the January sale price and today's asking price are both roughly fair.) Is it possible to do $270K worth of good -- i.e., high quality, will last -- work to your average Seattle house in that amount of time, labor + materials + compensation for the property owner's risk-taking? Because, Markor, when I first saw the house and price I thought what you did: Yeah, that would sell in a flash on the East Side. Then I scrolled down and saw the last and very recent sale price. At work I get involved sometimes with capital projects, I see contractor invoices, and $270K feels like a stretch here. Would love for some of you handymen and handyladies to weigh in.

[Markor]

There's another possibility, which is that the house was in such sad appearance before that it sold for a deep discount. I think it is possible to do $270K worth of high-quality work in five months with a good team. But the actual cost of the work could have been far less, if the flipper bought a great deal.

As a buyer, I'd completely ignore the profit a flipper makes and just focus on the value of the house. If the house is a great deal, then so be it if the flipper makes a tidy profit. The only thing I have against flippers is that they usually choose boring materials or make other design missteps, for my tastes.

Another thing this house has going for it is its age: built in 1925. Probably has good bones then.

[jenseattle]

[ira s]

No, that is not 270,000 dollars of updating and remodeling. And what a strange looking house. Built in 1925. I'm sure they spent a lot of money ripping out the soul of a nice old house. It's a big house in a nice neighborhood, it'll sell. Not for the asking price, and maybe not right away, but I'm guessing for somewhere between 560-600. I love that neighborhood but boy howdy that house is ugly.

[Markor]

I don't like the porch, but other than that I like it better than the looks of most 1925-era houses. (Of course you can tell only so much from pix.) I'm curious how a 1925 house could even end up looking like that. Did they add an extra story or something?

[deejayoh]

[digita6]

Not sure if this qualifies as a flip, but can anyone tell me why this home is worth $2 million? The only real "special" thing I can see about it is a nice view, the house itself is not particularly big, nor very new (or high end on the finish). The lot is also not all that big.

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/1611-E ... ome/150811

John

[rose-colored-coolaid]

[WestSideBilly]

[The Tim]

[femto]

[biliruben]

[deejayoh]

I found a great one this morning...

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/938-21 ... ome/135927

Purchased 12/2006 for $1.5mm
Listed ~16 months later for $3.7mm
On the market 85 days
Listing Price History
May 28, 2008 $3,695,000
Jun 30, 2008 $3,445,000
Jul 31, 2008 $3,045,000



Double your money, not! Open house on Sunday if anyone wants to visit! Who has open houses for $3mm listings? Can you say desperate?

[biliruben]