"What Happens 10 yrs from now is not your problem"

[Angela Vargas]

I was recently on a phone conversation with a fix and flip investor who was giving me advise on rehab costs. I explained that a particular house I was thinking of walking away from was not a good deal because it was too heavy on the rehab costs. As an example, I pointed to one of the expenses being the break-up and re-pouring of concrete for the driveway. --My GC is very thorough and knows that if the concrete is not removed, there could be issues down the road... --however, the investor advised to just pour over the bad driveway as a way to reduce costs. 

One thing the investor said stood out to me: "You're not living there, what happens 10 yrs from now is not your problem." 

This brought a lot questions up for me when it comes to being in business as a real estate investor. Having the business mindset of cutting costs is important, but where do you draw the line on cutting rehab costs? Especially when you are fully aware of the consequences that will fall on your future buyers when making the decision to short-cut costs. 

This hit an ethical cord that I did not agree with... is this the general mindset behind "successful" fix and flips? Are most flipped homes a pandora's box of house repairs just waiting to unravel?? 

[Nick C.]

To answer your question directly - There is no general mindset when it comes to fix and flips. Every fix and flipper has a different mindset, it depends on the person. Some are short sighted and cut corners, some have the long game in mind. I don't pretend to know the ratio of bad to good, but each person's opinion on this is going to vary depending on the limited flippers they've been in contact with. 

@Jim K. What degenerate circle of people have you been hanging around that gave you that warped perception of the American way of life? Sounds like you need to do business with different people, or turn the national news off.