Long Distance "Turnkey" Deal, Poor Inspection Report

Long Distance "Turnkey" Deal, Poor Inspection Report

Architect · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 36 votes

I'm under contract with an out of state property, which will be a STR. This would be my 3rd house purchase, but my 1st long distance deal.

The inspection came back with many items that need repair. Way more than I'd like to be dealing with for what should have been 'turnkey'. They include:

-Various gaps/openings in soffits, improperly installed roof flashings, a few other building envelope items

-LEAKS from: hot water heater, showerhead, cast iron pipe from toilet, HVAC. 

-over-fused, poorly labelled electrical panel. several ungrounded outlets.

-one of the three bedrooms does not have dedicated HVAC, or an operable window. major Code/Egress issue

-water spots in the basement from 1.all these leaks, and 2. the earth grades down towards the house on one wall. Not to mention there's no gutters or downspouts.

There's other items, but you get the idea. I'm aware that if you buy turnkey, you're buying a flip. I'm OK with that, since in this case it would cashflow really well.  But having a laundry list of items for the seller to fix(who couldn't properly rehab the house in the first place, so why should I trust him) seems counterintuitive to the point of the strategy. 

Is this common in most turnkey operations? Am I being overly picky? 

Thanks all.

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    • Realtor · Denver, CO · Member since 2018 · 227 posts · 241 votes
      4y

      @Matt I. All properties will have issues that show up in the inspection report, and turnkey properties aren't the exception. Depending on the flipper, the flip may be a POS or really well done. Sounds like yours might not be done so well haha. If the seller is a chuck in a truck and he jumped into flipping because the market has been extremely forgiving, you might be stuck with these issues plus some more after closing. Could you ask the seller for seller concessions? Doing so will give you more control over the quality of the repairs. 

      I was in this situation a year ago and the property is still giving me issues. However, it's beautiful and cashflows well so I don't regret it. 

      There are some really amazing flippers out there, so don't let this turn you off from flips. You're allowed to be picky up to a certain extent. It all come down to numbers, right? So be picky where you need to be, but if the deal works it might be work sticking with. Good luck!!

    • Greg H.Pro Member
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      Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
      4y

      I assume you are not going to look at the property prior to closing?  There are many horror stories on BP about people buying property sight unseen.  Personally, in well over 1000 deals there are only a handful of properties that I did not see.  I cannot stress enough, take a one day/same day turnaround and go see the property and make sure it passes the "eye ball" test

    • Architect · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 36 votes
      4y

      @Grace Wang the seller agreed to fix everything, and provide receipts as well as sign offs from licensed plumbers/electricians for the work. I think this will be my insurance that the stuff gets done properly. 

      @Greg H. I was planning to purchase site unseen. I did a thorough FaceTime walk through with the agent, and my thought is the inspection report likely caught most red flags. 

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