8 Ways to tell the house you’re buying is a flip

Source: Devon Thorsby.

The housing market is certainly hot these days, but so are the houses going on the market. Even in tight seller’s markets, it appears sellers are upping their game by updating kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and backyards to appeal to more buyers and encourage them to offer top dollar at a chance to win the bid.

There’s good reason for that: The sellers are often real estate investors. Property information company ATTOM Data Solutions released its Year-End 2017 U.S. Home Flipping Report in March, which revealed that 207,088 houses and condos were flipped last year, an 11-year high for home flipping.

The increase in flipped houses is an answer to demand. Bobby Montagne, CEO of Walnut Street Finance, a private money lender focused on home flipping in markets in Virginia, North Carolina and surrounding the District of Columbia, says homebuyers are, on the whole, looking for move-in ready…