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.