Jun 28, 2013 | Comments 0
The art of property flipping appears to have made a wholehearted return to the high-end of the market in recent times, especially in the US.
The Wall Street Journal ran a story this week highlighting the reemergence of the trend which peaked in popularity prior to the
GFC. Flipping, for the most part, has been confined to the mid-market over the last few years, however, soaring prices and declining supply has started to force investors back to the top tier. Across the US, flips of properties priced in excess of US$1 million experienced a year-on-year increase of 35 percent in 2011.
Some new players have also started to turn their hand towards flipping in the hope of cashing in on this potentially prosperous practice. Local purchasers have been joined by foreign buyers and investment groups who are not short of a few bob with which to take a calculated gamble.
But flipping luxury property is not necessarily as easy as it sounds and there are certainly no guarantees. It's not only the funds associated with renovating and upgrading that are essential, but also the far more significant decision of what fittings and appliances boast enough wow factor to impress potential buyers. It's also fairly common for flippers, even those with a wealth of experience, to falter and lose money.
Yet not everybody is a fan of the the quick resale, and a number of high-end developers remain cautious about flogging to flip-happy investors.
Although apartments at Extell Development's One57 – one of NYC's latest luxury residential offerings – have gained a reputation for being abandoned by owners, preferred purely as an investment (read more), even Gary Barnett, Extell's hard talking, former diamond trading president drew the line at pre-development flipping. This was reportedly much to the dismay of fellow developer Nick Candy, whose approaches to purchase and quick-sell one of the eyewateringly expensive units were repeatedly turned down.
Filed Under: Editor's view
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/06/30/flipped-off/
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