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9 Investigates: Flipping homes for profit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After 14 years of owning a rental home in Huntersville, Bonnie Szymczak decided it was time to sell.

She received offers from companies including We Buy Ugly Houses and Cash for Homes, but didn't think the offers were good enough.

[IMAGES: How much local homes are going for]

“They were really lowballing. They wanted $129,000 for our house. That was way under what it was worth," said Szymczak.

Szymczak decided to check with a relatively new company in our area, called Offerpad.

She never had to hold an open house and was able to close quickly.

From the time she contacted the company to the time she had a check in her hands only took 15 days.

After the sale, Szymczak saw a flurry of activity at her old house.

Contractors painted and put in new floors, countertops and appliances. It’s back on the market, for $215,900.

"They had done the upgrades that we thought we were going to have to do before we sold the house," said Szymczak.

Channel 9 went through records and found that Offerpad has purchased more than 60 homes in the Charlotte area so far.

Its signs are popping up everywhere.

A house on Woodknoll Drive was purchased by the company for $170,000 and sold two months later for $208,000.

A home on Four Acre Court was purchased by Offerpad for $298,000, and now it’s on the market for $332,900.

Just a few doors down, the company scooped up a home for $284,000 and, after some upgrades, there is a pending sale for $319,900.

A Channel 9 review of records shows that, on average, Offerpad charges 14 percent more than what it paid for the home.

"We've certainly noticed it," said Richard Buttimer, the director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate at UNC Charlotte.

Buttimer’s been curious about the relatively new companies that are essentially flipping houses in the market.

"If you think of the traditional model of flipping you see on HGTV and some of those other places, it’s typically small contractors renovating a home and trying to flip it,” Buttimer said. “I suspect what these folks are doing is a little larger-scale than that.”

Channel 9 asked if this kind of flipping could affect prices in an area already going through an affordable housing crisis.

"I don't think -- at the current levels of activity they're doing around 100 homes. They're not going to impact prices that much," Buttimer said.

As these companies gain a foothold and more houses are flipped for a profit, that could change.

Not everyone likes the idea.

Mary Kay Hudom, a realtor for Wilkinson ERA Real Estate, said the sellers are leaving money on the table.

"When you're working with a realtor, you can get the same services and earn that money yourself," Hudom said.

Not every house is turning a profit.

A house purchased by Opendoor in south Charlotte this year for $401,000 is now sitting on the market for $387,000.

But the companies are also acting as the realtor and get a commission on the purchase and the sale of each property.

In Szymczak's case, Offerpad got an $11,000 commission on the sale.

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