Haven’t you noticed that many of the people who buy those flips let them go once they move in? I’ve lived in working class neighborhoods before, and the typical FHA 3.5% buyer does not maintain the house once they move in, whether it was flipped or not. Within 3 years or so, it’s back to the overgrown landscaping or dirt lot with 5 cars parked in the yard, trash everywhere, dirty, falling fences, etc. These flipped homes are often the first to be foreclosed on, too.
The very WORST were the absentee landlords who would literally let the homes rot.
I’d still rather have affordable housing for owner occupants. That should be the priority. Of course, I agree that people should at least maintain their properties — and the standard for that varies from person to person, of course. You and I both like neighborhoods without HOAs specifically because the Nazi HOA rulers cannot tell us what plants to plant, or what color paints to use, etc.; but that also means we have to put up with some neighbors whose homes will be eyesores. I don’t like it either, but still prefer it to flippers infesting the neighborhood and pushing up prices beyond what owner-occupiers can truly and easily afford.
