Does a "Fixer Upper for Sale" Sign Make You Want to Flip?
by Wendy Croix
Home Improvement Ideas Columnist
"Flipping" houses is a hip new trend that popularizes the age-old practice of investing in a fixer upper house for repair and resale—hopefully at a substantial profit. Shine the spotlight of reality television on this form of investing; mix in today's "creative" mortgage options, and voila! The networks have a hit concept, and we viewers have the itch to invest.
The Foundation of the 'Fixer Upper for Sale' Story
A&E airs "Sell This House" and "Flip This House," The Learning Channel has "Flip That House," and HGTV offers "Designed to Sell." However, these reality shows are more show than reality. Why? Because each show must tell a story about flipping a fixer upper house. Each show has a plot and teaches a lesson; an MBA mom and newbie flipper learns not to be a prisoner of her upscale tastes—next time. Each story also has a beginning, middle, and end: the buyer-protagonist finds a fixer upper for sale, then the buyer wrangles home repair help, both reliable and less so, thus adding conflict. Finally, the real estate appraisal provides the grand finale.
Now That's Creative Finance!
Real life fixer upper flipping can get stranger than the televised house sales fiction that mirrors it. Low or no down mortgages and balloon payment options (cash outlay on the front end) encourage fixer upper house purchases. Last summer, NPR explored flipping by unemployed actors who turned to real estate for back-up income. One, Ms. Gray, paid someone to "borrow" a line of credit and got an investor to front the cash for the remodel. Luckily, everyone made out just fine—the fixer upper version of the Cinderella ending. However, our house sale story addiction may be a harbinger of shaky times to come, according to journalist Teresa Wiltz: "These shows are just a beat or two behind real time, a case of pop culture bringing up the rear in what economists like to call your classic lagging indicator: The bubble's bursting, and now we have a slew of television programs coming at us, after the fact."
Sources
- "It's hip to flip real estate," USAWeekend.com.
- "Profile: Unemployed actors find new riches 'flipping' houses in Los Angeles," Day to Day (NPR). Jun 8, 2005.
- "TV shows feed buying, selling obsession," Toronto Star (Canada). Jan 21, 2006.
- "TV's Hot Properties: Real Estate Reality Shows," The Washington Post. Dec 28, 2005.
About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a creative writer, freelancer, and self-confessed home improvement junkie. She's also a professor with more than twenty years' experience in the field of education.
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