Fun article in the NYT today:

For House Flippers, Reality Meets Reality TV

"Watch enough HGTV and flipping houses starts to look easy."

The first sentence sums up the rest of it-- with an invisible "but" at the end. :)

Anyhow, it's interesting-- and slightly horrifying-- to see the scale at which some of these people are jumping into the biz for the first time. :)

"He and Mr. Blundell won the house, paying $318,000 in cash and hiring a locksmith to let them in. And so, with a cashier’s check and a leap of faith, Mr. Levitt joined the growing ranks of small-time real estate investors who model themselves on spunky TV personalities...

"Mr. Levitt and Mr. Blundell sold the South Orange house in February 2016 for $650,000, making an $80,000 profit. Their next purchase, of a $196,000 four-bedroom in Bloomfield, N.J., did not go nearly as smoothly. They underestimated transaction fees and financing costs, walking away with only $20,000."

and

“I certainly thought it was going to be easier,” said Mr. Weissman, 51, sitting in the living room of his latest investment, a seven-bedroom colonial in Maplewood on the market for $1.7 million after a gut renovation.

"Mr. Weissman bought the dilapidated house in November 2016 for $710,000, invested more than $700,000 in it and hopes to net a six-figure return."

and

"So when she found a dated one-bedroom in the East Village, she saw an opportunity to reimagine it with an anti-HGTV look. She would expose the brick walls and reveal the beams and joists in the ceiling. Her parents, both real estate brokers, agreed that the property was a great investment. In 2014, she bought the 650-square-foot space on East 12th Street for $749,000, and planned to continue living with her parents on East 11th Street during the renovation.

"Four contractors estimated the work would cost around $120,000 and tried to steer her toward a more traditional look, raising concerns that creativity could cost her buyers. The fifth contractor, however, shared her creative vision and offered to do the work for half the price.

These people who thing flipping is fun and easy and profitable ruined several deals that I was trying to get. To the best of my knowledge, not one of these flipper wanna-bes actually was able to do the rehab and sell for a profit.

I am lurking like a lion in the long grass with my eye on 2 properties that will be receiving low ball offers when they realize that HGTV ain't reality.

I hate these idiots they have ruined a number of deals for me.