5 Benefits to Buying Ugly Houses
Buying ugly houses is great. Seriously! When we buy extra crazy properties on Flip or Flop, you might think, “Christina and Tarek have got to be crazy to work on that!” But, in the end, you see an ugly oyster reveal a beautiful pearl. And what do you think the buyer is going to think of it? They’ll love it!
And why do I love to work on ugly houses? Why do I keep going back for more? Here are five reasons:
1. THEY SIT ON THE MARKET A LONG TIME — WAITING FOR A SMART BUYER
Ugly houses sit on the market a lot longer, even if they’re short sales. Why? Because they look like they need a lot of work and TLC. Even people going to foreclosure options might not touch them. They don’t want to do the work.
2. HIGHER PROFITS!
Ugly houses get surprisingly low bids at auctions. People aren’t interested. Well, sometimes we get competition at auction, but the other people give up before we get to our maximum bid. We know that getting a house for a super low price allows us to put more into fixing it up and flipping it for a bigger profit!
3. OTHER HOUSE FLIPPERS AVOID THEM
We usually have no competition on really ugly houses when they were just listed or are about to be listed. Most flippers want something quick and easy. They don’t want hard work. But Tarek and I love a challenge. We want to see a dramatic change for our hard work.
4. IMPROVING CURB APPEAL IS EASIER THAN YOU’D THINK
I always think about a few ways to immediately improve curb appeal. It might be repairing the roof, some landscaping, and a paint job.
Of course, we usually do a ton of work to the inside of the house. But we like to fix up the outside right away to make it gorgeous for passersby — and to start attracting potential customers — while we still work on the interior.
5. CREATING SUCH A BIG CHANGE IS REWARDING
Lastly, I love seeing a really ugly house get transformed. It’s so cool to take a house that probably everyone wants to be demolished and be part of turning it into a beautiful home that someone will love to live in. It makes my year every time.
The houses that get on Flip or Flop have been some of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on — even though I my first thought when we buy them is, “OMG, how are we going to do this?” So, if you want to get into real estate, my only advice is, go for it! Take a Real Estate Elevated workshop. Maybe, instead of thinking, “Christina and Tarek have got to be crazy,” you’ll want to buy and flip ugly houses, too! It might be the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do.
