Yeah, I would say that it is almost socially beneficial to flip if you are going to do repairs and upgrades. If someone buys an investment property and then flips it in a year, that seems OK to me as well. Unethical things I have seen include employees of homebuilders with inside knowledge buying multiple properties in early phases and flipping them. Also, I once saw a realtor who bought 4 x homes in a Centex community here during a hot market with waiting lists and she lived in one, flipped it, moved to the next, flipped it etc.