Ugliest house of the year? You are kidding, right?

I'm printing this article from today's Inman almost in its entirety. This is the worst this company has seen? Ok, it looks like they cooked meth in the bathtub, but it in no way is the ugliest or worst condition house that I've ever seen.  Actually, the living room appears to have lots of character.  This flipper did do a nice job, though.  I always wondered who was behind the "We Buy Ugly Houses" flyers on telephone poles.

See the 'Ugliest House of the Year' and its glorious renovation

The 'We Buy Ugly Houses' company gave the award to a 1,700-square-foot Tudor-style home in Queens, New York City that underwent a serious makeover

BYTEKE WIGGINStaff Writer

HomeVestors, a nationwide home-flipping franchisor that’s also known as the “We Buy Ugly Houses” company, has announced the 2018 winner of its annual The Ugliest House of the Year award.

The honor went to a property purchased last fall by HomeVestors’ franchisee Nyath Properties, as a run-down 1,700-square-foot Tudor-style home in Queens, New York.

HomeVestors reported that the home won the most votes from the American public out of thousands of home makeovers completed by HomeVestors franchisees.

The Queens home had a giant hole in the bedroom ceiling, “destroyed bathrooms, and less-than-habitable conditions throughout,” HomeVestors said.

Performing a resurrection of sorts, the HomeVestors franchisee gutted the house while salvaging the wood floors and exposed beams. It then replaced “everything else,” including sheetrock, windows, electrical wiring and panels, bathrooms, basement floors and the kitchen.

A bedroom of 2018’s The Ugliest Home of the Year when the property was first purchased by a HomeVestors franchisee.

The same bedroom after renovations.

The home’s living room after its purchase.

The living room after renovations.

“We purchased this house from a seller who had been struggling with a sick family member that had lived in it for years, and who was grateful to find a way ‘out’ of dealing with the property,” said Steve Papadakis, who runs Nyath Properties with Michael Gatzonis, in a statement.

“The seller didn’t have the time or resources to improve it to a condition that traditional sellers would consider. But, we were able to give her cash to get her out of her ugly situation, and were beyond thrilled with the chance to work our makeover magic.”

The home’s kitchen pre-rehab.

The home’s kitchen after renovations.

The pre-rehab bathroom.

The post-rehab bathroom.

More than 1,000 HomeVestors affiliates operate in 168 markets across the country, typically hawking all-cash offers with the come-on “We Buy Ugly Houses,” and vacuuming up thousands of properties every year.

5544 Ventura Canyon in Sherman Oaks finally closed last week

5544 Ventura Canyon is a beautiful flip done by colleagues/friends of mine.  It closed last week at $888,000.  That was the third time it had been in escrow.  Yes, it fell out of escrow twice, which is a record for me.

Why? The house attracted very well-educated buyers who expected the home to be structurally pretty. They wanted the bones and guts of the house to be as top-notch as the finishes and top-off.  Alas, there were items that were just not up to that standard.  The flippers wound up fixing and redoing a lot of the structural stuff.  Finally, we got just the right buyers and the house closed last week.  The obvious moral of the story is that flipping houses can be very un-lucrative.  If you are considering flipping a house, make sure that you inspect, inspect, inspect beforehand.

4484 Stansbury in Sherman Oaks is listing on 7/25.

If this address sounds familiar, it is because I've already blogged about it.  I listed and sold it this year to the folks who have now beautifully refurbished it. I'm thrilled to be listing it again. There are three units on the property.  The front house is a delightful 3 bed, 2 bath with a redone kitchen, hardwoods, remodeled bathroom, tons of closets and french doors to the side patio/"beer garden."  The pool and backyard lead to a unit over the garage with a full kitchen and 3/4 bath plus open beam ceiling and private entrance.  Plus, there's an adorable pool house/office with a 3/4 bath, too. This is in the heart of Sherman Oaks and is very close to Westfield Fashion Square -- the neighborhood is called Library Square. Listing price: $799,000. The house will be open from 2 to 5 on Sunday, July 28.  You'll find more photos on my website at www.JudyGraff.com after tomorrow.

229 N. Beachwood in Burbank closed last week

This is 229 N. Beachwood.  It was a flip, and was purchased by my wonderful clients Scott and Robin.  The escrow went off without a hitch (what a nice change)!

You may remember Beachwood when it was on the market in 2012.  That's it, above.  It was, uh, fanciful.  Whimsical.  With halls leading to dead-end rooms.  Everything was painted a different color.  There were lots of cats (my fave!).  The flippers who bought it opened it up, redid the landscape, kitchen and bathrooms, and flooring but kept lots of the character features.  My clients fell in love when they saw it.  

The flipper group were also very willing to address all issues that came up during the inspection (not uncommon with a flip).  Thanks, Mike Toledo, for being so heads up.  And Scott and Robin, how will you decorate all that new space?

Seen in Echo Park: this tree! What is it?

I showed property in Echo Park yesterday and spotted this tree.  What is it? A poinsettia tree? Whatever it is, it's beautiful.  Yes, Echo Park is still a bit edgy but it's coming around.  I wanted to buy the rehabbed property I saw with my buyers -- it was that cool, and staged perfectly -- I'll publish the pic and address once I know whether or not my clients want to make an offer on it.

Lots of "flips" in the San Fernando Valley - what you need to know

If you're a local San Fernando Valley home buyer, you've no doubt noticed a lot of "flipped" properties for sale lately. (A flip is a property that somebody bought cheaply, fixed up and is now selling for a profit.) Buying an already-fixed up home can be a great choice, especially if you don't have the time, money or talent to do any fixing up yourself.  Trust me, remodeling is nowhere near as fast or easy as it looks on HGtv.

However, here are some things to be aware of, if you'd like to purchase a flipped home. First, not all lenders will fund a loan on a flipped purchase.  Second, loan approval may take a little while longer than normal.  Underwriters usually scrutinize the chain of title, especially if the house was previously a foreclosure.  And lenders will also want to see proof of the cost of the upgrades over the previous purchase price.  Third, the flipped properties still have to appraise to market value and can't be priced considerably over similar recent neighborhood sales (this is good news for buyers).  Finally, even if the house looks great, get a professional inspection.  As an old colleague of mine used to say, "A coat of paint can hide a world of sin." You'll want to know that corners weren't cut on home systems that you can't readily see, like plumbing, foundation or HVAC.  Along those lines, professional contractor-flippers usually do better with repairs and upgrades than individuals.  Happy hunting.

LA Times is a little behind on their front page news re flippers

Today's L.A. Times headline (in the SFV print edition) is Professionals moving into house flipping.  The reporting is spot-on -- and about six months behind.  I reported in this blog some time ago that I'd observed that the pro's were buying up many/most foreclosures.  And what the article only briefly touches on is that many of these professionals are losing money now in a big way.  Prices aren't soaring, loans (especially on condo projects) aren't easy to get, and many of the flippers didn't research the properties they bought.  But I'm sure most professional flippers have calculated their risks/rewards.

If you're thinking of buying a distressed property, rehabbing it, and selling it for a profit, trust me: it's not as easy as it sounds (I've thought about it myself), and nowhere as "easy" as it looks on HGtv.  Leave it to the pros.