Some have a reputation of putting lipstick on the pig, then selling it as a premium product.

If I find something that will be simple "lipstick", I will be in and out quickly, and I don't personally have to do much in the way of labor other than choosing colors, ordering supplies, writing checks, and then marketing - then I'm okay with $10K - my earnings per hour invested are great. 

In some parts close to downtown Atlanta there can be a dumpy old house that had lip stick put on it and tax can go 3k to 4k a year etc.Property tax is just one component to look at. 

And if you are being a rental ready to rent or just needing lipstick, we can also do a purchase loan up to 80% LTV starting @ 6.25% for 30, or the 5/1 ARM above. 

I flipped several properties with a partner, full gut rehabs in south philly, not lip stick flips.

Total Home Depot lipstick job on the place but didn’t matter , it was cute and nice enough and close to the beach and the main strip.

I put in 1 offer (terminated after inspection found poor foundation) before getting laid off then started working again and put another 2 offers in (one needed all tenants evicted and a total remodel and the other was a lipstick remodel with scary inspection findings).

I knew that if I could find a condo that just needed a little lipstick, and that was within a 10 minute walk to the subway, that I would always have a place in a primary rental market and with exceptional equity growth.

If you're doing homeowner type lipstick, then stick to things that are really cheap like paint and some flowers out front.

I see many investors do lipstick job for turn arounds.