Personal Mistakes House Flipping

[homealone]

I was just curious as to what some of the personal mistakes that you have made while flipping a house or even making repairs on a home.

I know that making mistakes is something that always happens and they are easy to make, I am just curious as to what are some of the things that you all have done or have seen done.

The things that you tell us about will surely help others who could possibly be doing the same kind of work that you made the mistake on and you could help save others not only time but a lot of money in the process.

So please go ahead and tell us your stories.

[DynoFlip]

I have definitely made mistakes in home repairs, but haven't tried house flipping and don't plan on it for quite a while.

Something easy that is required in most states while changing a water heater; be sure to buy your bottom drain pan before adding your new water heater.
Most homes will already have a small pan that fits at the bottom (under) the water heater...ours didn't .

Another small possible mistake you may incounter before the air conditioner is turned on for the summer; be sure the coil's 'moisture collecting pan' drain hole is not clogged before you turn the air conditioner on.
This is usually located near the top of your inside blower unit; a pan with a drain hose connected to it and the hose is going through the floor.
We managed to ignore the fact; you should clean this drain pan, and drain hole, before you turn the heater on for the cold months.
(We use a quarter cup of Oxi Clean mixed in a gallon of hot tap water; it will usually do the trick for cleaning the excess gunk and rust in the pan, and help clean out the drain hose too.)

Well, after a day of the air conditioner running on a hot day, we found a soaked carpet in our hallway.
This was caused by the drain hole being plugged and the water was not draining properly (basically slow dripping).
It took us a couple days to soak up the water and dry the carpet, plus the fact that our floor boards may now be destroyed (from who knows how much water that drained onto it).

I hope this helps someone keep from having a couple minor problems, turn into major ones in the future.

[homealone]

These are good tips for everyone to know. I have always had someone do these things for me, though this isn't the case anymore. Glad I saw this so that I will know what I should be doing.

[troubles74]

My biggest mistake when flipping a house is not checking behind the installers of the ac unit in the house.They charged an arm and a leg to instal the thing and then on top of that.

They left the trash in the attic,they cracked the block that the unit sat on outside,they cut the holes in the ceiling over beds that had furry blankets on them.they had to be replaced.

Then they had to come back seven times in the first six months to fix little things that hey had screwed up.I even lost a set of furniture in the living room because of the drain line stopping up because they did not put a slope on it.

[flip_it_fast]

I have never personally flipped a house but I do know a thing or two about it. Here are a few of the most common mistakes that people tend to make when starting out flipping houses.

1. First of all some tend to buy up too much property at once. The problem with that is they end up spreading themselves and their funds too thin. Then you have serious troubles.

2. Another thing people sometimes do is look at the house, estimate remodeling costs and don't plan for the unforeseeables. Once they start into it they run into problems and then they go over budget because they weren't prepared.

3. Something lese people do is they try to make money on the back end. They buy a really dumpy piece of property thinking that they can fix it up and make a ton of money on it. What happens is they put a ton of money into making the house livable and the house only sells for the amount of the purchase plus renovation costs. They make no to little profit.

4. Taking on projects that are just too big is another common mistake. If the house needs an upgraded kitchen and paint on the walls, cosmetic things, then great. If the house has foundation problems, major mold problems, walk away.

[house flipping coach]

I have been flipping and wholesaling houses for 25 years. One of the first mistakes people make is they haven't a clue how much to pay for a house when buying it. This isn't a number you pick out of the air; it's a formula that is used so you know how much you will make after the sale. You can use the same formula for flipping or wholesaling

[coach]

One of many mistakes I made is when I was buying houses in Fort Lauderdale. I met a guy that own about 3000 houses. He said he always has something to sell. We worked out a deal were I would buy five houses from him. I met with his people and he had a list of 200 houses they were selling. I picked five I wanted and he showed me the houses. I contracted all five and we closed on them.

I rehabbed all five houses and rented them. At that time around 2003 the houses values were going up so fast I would rent a house for two years and then flip it.

A year went by and all the houses were rented and I was up to date on all the mortgages. I got a letter from the bank and said they were foreclosing on one of the houses. To make a long story short one of the houses I bought and closed on was on the wrong street. I was showed the wrong house. I closed on the wrong house and got title insurance and survey on the wrong house.

After a year I went one street over and the house I should have been showed was still there empty.

[homealone]

Coach how can such a mistake happen? I mean I know mistakes do happen they happen all of the time, but man this is a whopper of a mistake!


What ended up happening to the house? tell us all about it. I am interested in knowing all that went down.

[coach]

The house on the other street was a better house than the one I thought I owned. I told the renter that I would move her to the other house. I took everything we put into the house and moved it to the new house.

l contacted the title company and after researching they told me that they also put the title insurance on the wrong house. After about a year everything got straightened out. I didn’t get any money out of the title insurance company but the new house appraised for $15,000 more than the house I thought I owned.

[coach]

Another thing that was funny I could see the house on the other block that was vacant. I kept saying to myself I have to see who owns that house, and all the time I did.