a Hasty Renovationīefore a buyer even steps foot inside a home, they can do some research to get a sense of who’s behind its renovation-and whether that developer did their due diligence. More: How to Create a Standout Space with Geometric Shapes This means the challenge for buyers is to identify the signs of a high-quality renovation-as well as the red flags indicating a poor one. “An individual renovating a house or apartment for their own use has a different objective: They are not thinking about selling it immediately upon completion, but rather about living in it for the next seven to 10 years or more.” “A developer’s interest is to make money, and also possibly develop a reputation that will invite investors to support their next project,” said Paula Del Nunzio, a broker with Brown Harris Stevens in New York. Homeowners, on the other hand, know the property better and are more emotionally invested in it, and are therefore more likely to take the time to carry out a thoughtful upgrade.

“Time is money, and they’re more willing to overlook things.” “If you’re comparing a homeowner renovation versus an investor trying to flip a property, the latter is all profit-driven,” said Christopher Totaro, a broker with Warburg Realty in New York, as well as a former contractor and renovation expert. More: Decorating With the Pantone Color of the Year: Classic Blue Renovations overseen by homeowners rather than house flippers are generally perceived as more trustworthy by buyers, and more attentive to actual issues that come up when living in a space. In New York, for instance, there have been several cases in recent years of developers and investors attempting to drastically alter historic properties and leaving only the facade intact, a trend that preservationists are pushing back against. In other cases, the problem is less about cheap fixtures and finishes and more about the unique character of a home getting lost in the process of renovating.

Some developers, whether professionals or hobbyists, will flip a house to sell quickly, which means undertaking a hasty renovation that may look great initially, but prove to be shoddy work after some time has passed (and all the contracts are signed). But it’s not always easy to tell whether a property has been upgraded in a thoughtful, thorough way that will retain its integrity. There’s plenty of appeal in buying a home that has been recently renovated and is move-in ready.

House flipper buyers