I gave my dog fleas....

[Seshat]

Who'd want a house like that? A flipper.

So long as the structure was sound, or could be made sound within a certain budget, places like that can be a good way to get rich.

Strip -everything-. Bug-bomb the place six ways from Sunday, then go in and rip up carpet, underlay, everything but the sub-floor. Strip the walls - maybe even strip off the actual wall lining and leave the structural parts. Yank out the old plumbing fittings, and anything that isn't sound about the plumbing itself.

While you have everything exposed, get your mates the plumber, the electrician, and the architect to come in and check things out, and sign off on the structure as solid (or quote you what it would take).

Scrub everything with sandsoap, sugarsoap, vinegar, baking soda, and nilodor.

Then rebuild, make the place gleam, and sell for the highest price in the region.


The trick is to buy it at the lowest price possible, and to need minimal structural repairs or changes.


Why don't I do it?

I don't have the necessary friends, and I don't have the necessary health. You need to be able to do most of the labour yourself to get the most money from it.

[Chromatix]

My parents do that - but they do it for a cheap house to live in themselves, not to re-sell. It's a really good way to beat a bubble market, IF you have the wherewithal to follow through.

Personally, I'm just too lazy. :-(

[ZeoViolet]

Oh my god. EW EW EW EW....

[candyshopgirl]

Reminds me of the story a few weeks ago. About the guy who locked his wife and kids in a trailer for 3 years. He refused to let them take the trash out even. It was so flithy and roach filled that they will have to tear it down. The reporters got attacked by roaches and other bugs. The people were sleeping on mattresses filled with roaches.



http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1556534.ece

[hecubus]

When I got to the part about the moving "carpet," even though I'm alone in my apartment, I stated aloud the following well phrased comment; "Guhhhhhh!!!!"

[Snowbird]

You all should try having to grin and bear it while visiting a relative who's house is in that state, with flea traps set out like party favors. It was a progression of filth for this person and by the time I moved away, I refused to sit down no matter how dog tired I was and spent as little time there as humanly possible. It was a descent into mental illness, and as I've heard, they are receiving treatment now. That was just sad to see though.

My dad and brother tried flipping houses. I won't argue for or against but I will say that they learned the hard way that there is much, MUCH more to the process than they were led to believe or had the funds to recover from.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

ugh, and fleas are so hard to get rid of too. I remember one summer when I was a kid, we had an infestation so bad that fleas would assault me everytime I went into my room(where all of the animals hung out...coincidence? I think not). So, I got into the habit of wrangling the cat and tossing him into my room before me so that the fleas would jump on him first.

Then I would take him out side and comb him out, it was a terrible summer. But, because of experiences like that, not much freaks me out anymore.