should real estate ‘house flipping’ be outlawed?

Not outlawed cuz there are laws on disclosure now and you can find out when it was bought prior to you buying it in records.

No, it should not be outlawed.

That is why there are house inspectors.

actually it is something i hope to do in the future.. i believe a buyer should have an inspection done before buying any property..if they don’t it is theri own fault..sure it might be morally wrong…but so is almost everything else in the money making business these day!

sound to me like you didn’t do your home work and were wronged!??
Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situations- some fact of life- UNACCEPTABLE TO ME, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thng or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. unless i accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changes in the world as on what need to be changed in me and in my attitudes..

If that were the case, then all car dealers should be outlawed, along with any retail outlet, ebay……….etc.
Free trade rules

In real estate it is not a buyer beware situation.
There are strict laws defining disclosure and real estate.
If defects are found and you believe you can prove that they reasonably knew about the defects, then the previous owners can be held liable for the repairs and/or the purchase contract can be null and void, resulting in recoupment of the purchase price of the property.
Also, no one is making someone pay a stupid price for the property. If the person/persons want to pay an idiotic price for the property, so be it. It doesn’t mean they will be able to sell it for a profit in the near future.

Hi there!
I understand your point of view, but if we outlawed everything that was being done illegally, by some people, and legally by others, we would just be sitting around doing nothing, I think house flipping is a perfectly resonable thing to do, and the house prices are high, because the economy is up, not solely because people flip them and sell them for higher prices, also when they flip the house the increas its value, and make it nicer, so there not just reselling the same house for more money.
But also when you do this, it makes the neighbourhood better, which makes the prices go up, but still, you cant just make it illegal, I dont understand what you mean by it should be illegal.
Regards,
Fiona
Also when your buying a house if your half way intelligent, you will get it inspected, and you will see all the faults in the house, hidden or un-hidden, the inspector knows what to look for.

I think house flipping is a great idea, I wish I had the money to do it. However, the housing market in my area doesn’t support it. You’re right there are shysters out there but as you said ‘buyer beware’. Anytime you buy a house it’s important that you do everything you can to protect yourself. Inspections from a qualified inspector and finding out the history of the home are two of the most important things to do. Many ‘flippers’ will actually go into a house and update, upgrade a property that has lost value and then sell it for a profit because they’ve made it more appealing. There’s nothing wrong with that.

I agree, it ***** because it makes it even more difficult for people with real jobs, and lower incomes, to purchase a home. But I don’t think it will ever become illegal.

No. They are benefitting the seller who has a problem house that he needs to dump, he benefits the new buyer by providing an updated and well thought out remodeled house at a market price, and hopefully benefits himself with salary for the time spent (profit).

If you don’t like that, then you have the problem.

Unsuspecting buyer? Do you mean the buyer who was so cheap he tried to save $500 on a $250K purchase by not hiring his own appraiser/inspector? You know, the one who also tried to save another few bucks by trusting the sellers attorney to do the paperwork instead of having it read by one his own?

I’ve never understood why people blame others because they were too cheap/lazy/stupid to properly research a purchase…especially one as complicated as a real estate transaction.

I understand what you are saying. My husband and I have bought a couple of houses to flip. We complete gut them, do new wiring, new insulation, new plumbing, new sheetrock, new carpet and tile, and everything else. I think there is nothing wrong with doing it this way. But then there are those who buy the house and don’t fix any of the real problems that are underneath the coat of paint they put on it, but they sell it for a huge profit. I think something should be done about this. But at the same time I feel like if the buyer doesn’t know to look for the types of things like new wiring and plumbing before they buy the house, maybe it’s their own fault. Mostly I think hatred for these house flippers stems from jealousy, that someone made a huge profit for very little work and being dishonest. I guess it’s a free country and people are going to get away with what they can, maybe these buyers should just be better educated by their real estate agents. But then the real estate agents need to be less greedy and educated first. That’s my opinion.