What are red flags when buying a flipped house?

Look past the fresh paint and staging. No Permits: If they moved walls or added a bathroom but there are no permits on file with the city, run. Inconsistent Finishes: New cabinets but old, ungrounded electrical outlets? That means they spent money on what you see and ignored the safety systems you don't see. "Lipstick on a Pig": uneven tile work, doors that don't close right, or gaps in the trim suggest the work was rushed by amateurs.

Flippers are looking at the bottom line profit and often spending extra money to replace roofs, electrical, plumbing or fixing structural issues are not top of mind. Look at these items primarily. Flipping a home often is focusing on making it look esthetically nice.

Often flipped houses will have the cheapest materials installed, flooring, appliances, cabinetry, lighting, etc. Poorly done carpentry work include but not limited, trim, walls. Often you will find a home freshly painted with a strong oil based primer which could potentially indication mold was in the property and further testing should be done. Uneven floors accompanied often by vertical cracks on wall and ceilings point to foundation issues. Freshly painted basements and/or carpeting should proceed with caution, there could be foundation/structural issues. Check for expansion foam in basement walls, sill plate. Check prior listing of the home to see what was done or not done.

I would always recommend an inspection, but as you are walking through a flipped property, take special note of the materials used, the quality of the workmanship, and details like moulding (does it match up or is it roughly pieced together?), mechanicals (do they turn on and off?), the roof (are shingles lifting or buckled?) and plumbing (does the water turn on and off? Leaking faucets?).