House Flipper: Community Helper or Carpetbagger?

If you ask people their opinion of house flippers, you will receive a wide range of perspectives. Some people believe house flippers are the new world "carpetbaggers," who are out to make money at all costs. Some people see them as savvy business people who are making the most of an opportunity. Does anyone see them as community helpers? Probably not, but they do contribute to the community in a way few people realize.

Most house flippers take on properties that are abandoned, in disrepair and in general a blight on the neighborhood in which they are located. They take an eye sore and turn it back into a home. However, the affect of what they do goes way beyond the house they have flipped. The affects are sometimes amazing and often unexpected. This author has seen the complexion of an entire street change, once a damaged or abandoned property has been transformed through a flip.

On one particular street, the home renovated had been neglected for years. The grass and gardens were overgrown, windows were broken and boarded, trash of every kind was in and around the house. Other homes on the same street were in varying states of disorder and neglect-a few very well kept. As the flip progressed and the trash vanished, the windows came back and the lawn was manicured, other homes on the street began to follow the trend. Yards were cleaned up, trash removed, fresh paint went on shutters, mailboxes were repaired, flowers were planted. Pride came back.

It is an interesting phenomenon to watch how a single event can evoke change in so many. People who had given up, because of what they saw every day as pointless, were suddenly filled with hope and purpose. They remembered how it was and they wanted that back. They saw that it was possible. One flip, changed an entire street.

If you are a house flipper critic, maybe you should rethink your position. Flipped houses help to restore value to the neighborhood and improve the salability of other homes in the area. If you only saw house flippers as business people, look again. Flippers many times give as much as they get, even if they don't know it. If you are a house flipper, good for you! Even if you didn't intend to make a difference on the street, in the neighborhood or in the community, you are.

Note: If you are a house flipper you can make a further difference in your community by partnering with local schools. Go and talk to kids about home repair, house flipping, money management, budgets, time management-whatever you know. Share your knowledge and spread it to the next generation. You could make a difference in someone's life.