Is it Fact or Fliption?
Do you spend your weekends watching Flip or Flop or Fixer-Upper marathons? Even though we’re in the home building and home remodeling business, we often find ourselves in the same television trance as we too are amazed at the dramatic transformations that happen on these shows.
It’s almost like they happen by magic.
As much as we love these home shows, they paint a really different picture of what we do on a daily basis. That’s because we are professional remodelers and renovation specialists. These shows detail the art of the flip. Believe it or not, those are two very different things. We’ll explain how—the difference between Fact and Fliption.
We know a thing or two about a televised home remodel. The English Contractor and team led the complete remodel of this Oakley Dutch Colonial for the 2018 HGTV Urban Oasis.
Is it Fact or Fliption?
Fact: A remodel or renovation is focused on changing the house to make it more up-to-date or comfortable to live in.
Fliption: A flip is focused on making changes to the house so that it can be sold quickly and for as much profit as possible.
When you’re planning a remodel or renovation, you’re really taking a look at how you currently live in your home, versus how you want to live in your home. That may mean improving your kitchen work triangle, increasing square footage of your living area, or adding on new outdoor space. Changes like this can not only add to your enjoyment of the home, but can also boost the home’s value over time. A flipper doesn’t have the same focus. You might find a kitchen filled with shiny, new appliances, but with poor workmanship beneath the surface. A kitchen remodel doesn’t just include upgrades to the appliances and the functionality of the work triangle. Workmanship matters in installation of the backsplash and countertops. Plus, there are a lot of hidden features, like the installation of the garbage disposal, dishwasher, drains and more. An odd placement of appliances, for example, may mean that the kitchen makeover was purely cosmetic, and electric and plumbing were not included in the makeover. Workmanship takes time, and quality in these hidden areas make a difference. However, this is time and skill that many (but not all) hobby flippers do not have.
Fact: A remodel can encompass changes and upgrades that are cosmetic, structural, value-add, personal preference or some combination of the four.
Fliption: The focus on a flip is often cosmetic.
Any flipper worth his or her tool belt is going to make sure their house project is structurally sound. Wiring is important. No obvious leaks. A sound foundation. There are things that any buyer is going to expect with a new home purchase. But at the end of the day, a flip is a house with renovations that focus on most amount of value for the least amount of money. Once the house is structurally sound, the extent of the renovation is up to the homeowner and is typically tailored to make life in the house more comfortable and convenient to the owners at the time.
Fact: The devil is in the details.
Fliption: Depends.
As home builders and remodeling experts, we love the details that add special touches to a home. Items like crown molding, wainscoting, and ceiling detail. We love details like a beautiful front door, upgraded kitchen hardware, and cabinets that extend all the way to the ceiling. Custom touches can make all the difference, yet you’re not always likely to find them in a home that has been flipped since these additions take time and money.
Fact: Budget is a primary factor in planning a remodel or renovation.
Fliption: Budget is a primary factor in planning a flip.
Money talks, whether it’s a home that is being remodeled for the homeowner to live or for a flipper, who wants to improve and unload a soon as possible. Budget can dictate the extent of the renovation and the cost and quality of the finishes. However, there is one important difference. A homeowner has the luxury of time. Improvements can be prioritized according to available funds and even staggered over time if necessary. Do you need to update a kitchen, bathrooms and put on a new roof? That can seem like an overwhelming amount of work, but prioritizing projects can help you put together a plan that spans a few years to get the work completed to your exact specifications. A flipper doesn’t have that luxury. Budget over a relatively short period of time is a primary focus here. Once the money is gone, the work has to stop.
Home flipping is both a science and an art. We know many who do it so very well, mastering that delicate balance of time and money to give new life to an old un-kempt home. This is not to say that a flipped home isn’t full of quality work that focuses both on the structural and the cosmetic. A home remodeler, however, just looks at it a different way. Both a remodeler and a flipper may approach a structural issue the same way, although some homeowners may opt for a more expensive or specialty roof shingle. But a kitchen? Probably not. This is a place where the specialty details, that require additional time, money and expertise just aren’t going to pay off for a flipper. The magic of TV does a lot to show the fun of a flip—without even mentioning the behind-the-scenes crew and experts that aren’t factored into the overall budget that the viewer sees. We love those shows as much as you do. They might inspire some great ideas for your own remodel, but the budgets and timelines might be a tad unrealistic for what a professional home remodeler will present to you.
Do you want to work with a builder who can separate Fact from Fliption?