Flipping a house is a game of budgeting, relatability, and intuition. To know if a property is worth flipping, you have to be able to see its potential, but structurally and domestically. One of those elusive qualifiers sour out by home buyers is ‘charm’. What makes a building charming and whether or not charm can be added during renovations is up to you to determine. If you have successfully tried your hand at flipping older homes and enjoyed the challenge of updating the utilities while maintaining that delightful ambiance of the past, you may find even better luck renovating unique old buildings that were not originally homes. People love to live somewhere that has a history, and unique spaces are incredibly appealing to younger, trendy new home buyers.
Majestic Old Barns
While the primary housing trend is leading people toward the major city centers, many people are feeling overcrowded and are seeking more remote abodes. Old barns are an incredibly popular target for residential renovations and provide a massive amount of space to work with. Decide when you check out the property whether or not you want to separate the floors or create open, dynamic loft space instead. Barns have been transformed into everything from glass and steel retreats to cozy country estates and your imagination is the only limitation. With a beautiful renovation, a historic barn might be the perfect flipping project for the upper price range.
Red Brick Fire Stations
There are hundreds of sturdy old municipal buildings that provide unique curbside appeal. When you choose to renovate an old fire station, post office, or police station, your buyers will never have to wonder which house is theirs. These charming brick buildings are often already fairly well insulated, indestructible, and already hooked up with power and water. All you need to do is partition the inside into appealing living spaces and update the fixtures. With your flare for interior design, buyers looking for something special will flock to the undeniably unusual listing.
Cozy Historic Chapels
One of the primary benefits of renovating an old church is that most chapels were already built to be beautiful. The familiar lofted ceilings and decorative windows will create an enchanting backdrop to your final decor. Like the fire stations, churches are already built with habitation in mind, and some will have kitchens, living quarters and even showers integrated into their design. There have been many successful and incredibly attractive examples in the past that can serve as inspiration. If you have a flare for either the cozy or dramatic, flipping an old church could be a fantastic project.
Everything Else
The possibilities for creative flipping are nearly limitless. All you need are properties already reasonably insulated and hooked up with water and power to get started. There have been all sorts of neat examples of flipped structures that were definitely not initially intended as residences including missile silos, water towers, and old factories. Each has been intuitively re-purposed into unforgettable addresses. When choosing an unusual structure, your best prospects will be those with sturdy bones, dynamic architecture, and accessible fixtures. The less you need to replace the more of profit you can make on these distinct properties.
Home buyers are constantly looking for a change from the cookie-cutter housing developments. Flipping any property involves enhancing what is special about it to enchant potential new owners. When you start with a unique property, its special nature is inherent and your biggest challenge is preserving the original charm while updating the structure to modern residential standards. There’s no need to limit your property search to already residential structures. For more information and news on flipping properties, contact us today!