Here are the 15 most common – and costly – errors both professionals and non-professionals make when flipping a house.
First Big 5 below
1. DIY and not getting professional design help. Professional design help can be free or cost very little. Don’t be stubborn! Many kitchen and bath dealers offer free design help or very small deposits to measure a home and create professional designs. When you are flipping a house take all the free or low cost professional help you can get.
Why would someone not avail themselves of free expert design and budgetary advice when flipping a home?
It’s possibly just human nature. As kitchen designers we know that customers can insist on implementing bad ideas simply because they thought of them. Worst of all when you are embarking on an expensive home renovation, not for yourself but to sell a property, your style, color, and design preferences should never enter into decision making. What’s a good value, what’s popular, and what’s fast and easy to work with should be the top priorities.
2. Keeping the footprint. There are ALWAYS better layouts that experts can share with you.
3. Buying expensive cabinetry. Just about every homeowner can NOT tell the difference between expensive and inexpensive brands (the difference is in the selection, not the quality. Best of all the MOST popular styles are always mass produced and available in the less expensive well made brands. Don’t throw money away!
4. Choosing your taste and not what’s popular especially if it costs more money. Spending more on what’s less popular is not good business.
5. Expensive professional appliances. While expensive appliances like Wolf, Viking, and SubZero are great, the difference in the cost of the appliance package can be $20,000 or more above very nice and similar looking brands. There are far better investments that can be made flipping a house.
Next 5 mistakes flipping a house
6. Adding a powder room in the wrong location. Powder room doors that open into an eating area are not only unappealing – they reduce a home’s value. Experts will find a better solution.
7. Choosing French doors over sliding doors wastes interior and exterior space. Get French style sliders if you want that look.
8. Different colored top and bottom kitchen cabinets. This is not as popular as many think. 80% of buyers will not buy a home with this feature. If you want two colors, have the island a different color. And remember no. 4 – you’re designing for a new buyer, not your own taste!
9. Not leaving enough space. Do NOT spend more money to jam more stuff into a kitchen or other room. Leave rooms functional and spacious. Remember – there may be 4 or more people viewing a home together. Having them bump into each other is not a selling point.
10. Solid quartz backsplash. This is a very expensive way to do a backsplash and the combination of all the different grains running into each other in any corners could look terrible. Get an expert’s advice before splurging on something that could backfire on you.
Below are the final 5 most common errors both professionals and non-professionals make when flipping a house.
11. Not enough LED lighting. Over lighting is a good investment. This provides for the options of the kitchen – or any other room, looking both bright and romantic as needed.
12. Keeping out of style cabinetry, molding, and wainscoting. These authentic but out of date and worn pieces may look good to you, but professionals will tell you they aren’t worth saving when flipping a house. To be really honest most pieces are just junk! I needed to coerce my wife to give up a beloved ‘vintage’ China cabinet when we did our kitchen!
13. Sanding pieces other than floors to refinish. Like the pieces above, pro’s don’t try to sand and refinish stained wood. It NEVER looks good. Paint everything – it is more popular and won’t look half-assed.
14. Repairing windows and adding storm windows. Vinyl replacement windows cost less, are more energy efficient and an easier solution.
15. Not doing enough landscaping. Impressions start before the front door. Don’t skimp on first impressions.
Once you have done a great job and the home you are flipping is listed for over a million dollars, stage it!
Let professional stagers show off your good decisions in a good light. This can an 10’s of thousands of dollars in value when flipping a house and help a home sell in record time.
