u/lisbethborden

I bought a broken-down house for $25,000 cash in 2012...bad foundation, sagging roofline, and probably also has termites (never confirmed)--But it was livable for a time. Because of the foundation problems, all the wood floors are wavy, tilted, and unsalvageable. Long cracks in every wall, 50-year-old siding, and 100-year-old drafty-ass windows.

I did not have the money or the ability to accomplish the 6-figure remodel that ol' shack needed. So we saved our money for a nice down payment on a newer, already remodeled home.

I was really dreading selling that shack - cleaning it enough for photos, dealing with tours and inspections, etc. I had been receiving texts from flippers for years and always ignored them. But once we had the new house, I decided to engage one of these flipper texts.

I offered the house at a ridiculously high price via text, and lo and behold, they wanted to look. After a 5-minute walkthrough, they asked only maybe 3 questions. They decided they couldn't pay my ridiculously high price, and apologized for wasting my time. haha I was just baiting the hook.

A few days later, I texted them that I would lower my price to $100,000. They countered at $70,000. I almost took it, but one last text I asked for $75,000 to close the deal. And they paid it! Deal closed in like 20 days, and I didn't have to clean at all! We left so much junk behind!

Little do they know, that I was hoping for MAYBE $60,000 for that house if I got very lucky. The house itself is so broken-down, I expected to basically sell the place for the location/lot.

So, yeah, it IS possible to get the best of flippers. And every time I pass that ol' shack, I just laugh and laugh that I offloaded potentially the worst house in Springdale for more than I hoped. And they basically have done NOTHING to it yet. I like to believe they firmly regret that purchase. hahaha

It IS possible to get the best of these people. Fuck flippers!