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Cunninghams_right t1_itwfs78 wrote

generally, you can tell what is a cheap flip in the city because they will use the cheapest/builder-grade materials for everything. light fixtures, kitchen flooring, siding if there is any. some things you can look at the finishing, like trim and edges of flooring to see if it is done well. laminate floors in the kitchen can either be good or crappy, depending on whether they went with the cheap stuff or not.

avoid tiled floor showers as they will leak if not done right. if the house is really well done with higher than builder-grade stuff, then I would be less worried. don't be wowed by fancy Jacuzzi tubs. it might be nice, but it's not a sign of a high-quality remodel because they're actually not much more expensive than a regular tub.

check the HVAC to see if it is newish. ducting is hard to do correctly, so if it looks like someone cut corners in places, chances are your house will heat/cool unevenly because of poor duct design. personally, I hate ducted heat/AC and think no old house should ever have it retrofitted, but it's not necessarily a problem

the roof is a big one. if they replaced the roof, you're probably in good shape. if they made everything else nice but left the roof alone, they may have been really pinching pennies.

I guess the short version is: if it looks like a house in the suburbs on the inside, it's probably a crappy flip. a good remodel will accentuate the 100 year old architecture, not hide it behind fiber-board and plastic trim.

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