House of the Day: 392 Waverly Avenue

So did anyone go see the house?

6:42–

Do you really mean to suggest that a buyer shouldn’t think about these things? While it is true that any old house may have problems behind the walls and that a homeowner may cut corners in a renovation, it would seem that the incentives are different. Would a homeowner who plans to live in a house after renovation have the same personal and financial incentive as a flipper to splurge on a high end finish while ignoring more basic problems? Different people may come up with different answers to that question, but I am hardly ashamed for thinking about it and discussing it.

Nonetheless, you misinterpret my thread. I did not and do not suggest that such is the rule, rather than the exception, in a renovate to flip situation. All I did was pose several possible meanings behind a heavily styled high end finish in a flip situation, one of which was the possibility that the flipper wanted to create an impression of higher end work across the board than was actually done. Are you prepared to swear up and down that that never happens?? I also suggested in one of my posts, as others did, that maybe the flipper got a deal on those particular fixtures (a good thing, if you like the fixtures, with no negative implications for the reno job), and I did suggest the possibility that the bathroom is reflective of an overall quality job. All of these, including the impression management possibility were posed by me as exactly that — possibilities. All of us discussants on this site — whether owners, would-be owners, contractors, brokers, developers, flippers, etc. — are using this site as a way to understand the meaning of events in the Brooklyn market. Do you mean to suggest that it is dangerous for someone to suggest that a buyer look at the choices a flipper made and try to interpret what those choices might be telling them about the house??

Anon 1:12,

I am not casting aspersions as to the renovation of this particular house, and I make no claim whatsoever as to the quality — good or bad — of the renovation. In general, a flipper has an incentive to get the most return for the least investment. I’m sure many do the right thing when confronted with old wiring, dry rot, etc. But there is much that can be wrong/go wrong in an old house that a buyer cannot see and wehich an unscrupulous flipper may choose not to remedy upon discovery.

I began in this thread by posting a query as to why a flipper would make such individualized and unique (ok, in my view, slightly weird) design choices that might turn off buyers. It clearly stands out and yells “this is a renovated house!” Given that the fixtures and look are fairly high end, I, and others in this thread, batted around questions concerning the purpose and value of such choices. Other posters commented on the quality of the building at earlier points in time. My comments simply go to the question of what should a potential buyer make of the finish and why would the flipper commit to it. Is it part of an overall high end reno, or is it merely there to suggest to the buyer that a high end reno was done when the flipper may (I say this generically, with no knowledge as to this specific case) have taken a bunch of shortcuts with bad implications for the buyer down the road. If true, it wouldn’t be the first time that a buyer was in for a nasty surprise that was not evident upon inspection prior to closing.

Sorry to get all legal with the disclaimers; I just wanted to be clear in response to the query. Please, everyone, if you are interested, go see it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. I have no personal interest whatsoever in the actual outcome and make no — I repeat, no — representations whatsoever about this particular house, which I have never seen in person, and my comments are not meant to suggest an opinion as to this house to the contrary.

Whew.

I’m anon 4:56 and the “do no weird” oath proponent above. I think the reason people are jumping all over the waterworks bathroom is not out of fear of having to do the same with their own homes, but the suspicion that the high end design finish of the bathroom is meant to suggest an overall high-end renovation when the risk remains that the inmportant stuff was done poorly or not at all. It’s cheaper to put a high end sheen on what’s visible while failing to take care of ancient plumbing, electrical, and anything else suspect behind the walls, in the basement, on the roof, etc, then it is to do the important work right and put up a more moderately priced finish. Bear in mind, a home inspector is generally not responsible for what s/he can’t see. If I am buying a new renovation, I would like to be fairly secure that I’m not goin gto be reopening walls within a year to fix all the stuff the flipper couldn’t be bothered with. Conversely, if I need to rip open the walls, I don’t want to pay the renovation premium; I may as well buy a house that needs TLC, put the savings into restoring/renovating and pick the finish details myself. So the issue with the aterworks bathroom is whether it is a mask or a true representation of the care that went into the overall reno, because it’s priced as if it underwent a quality reno of the kind one would expect based upon the bathroom and kitchen finish.