A few readers have pointed out the growing number of flippers that have congregated in Northeast LA, and case in point, just look at what's going on in Highland Park. Better Shelter, founded by Steve Jones, kicked off the flipping trend, and here's one of their newly listed homes on Strickland Avenue. And over on Bamford Place, flipping firm Modern Comfort just listed a home. And look here, this is an Extraordinary Real Estate flip on Irvington Place. If the name Extraordinary Real Estate sounds familiar, it's because that real estate firm is the agency that used to sell homes for Better Shelter. But the two companies parted ways this past Monday. "We split from Extraordinary Real Estate because they started flipping properties AND their homes started looking a lot like our homes," writes Jones in an email. "For me, it was a conflict of interest."
"[Jones] didn't like that I started flipping," agrees Extraordinary Real Estate's Matt Manner, who sold homes for Better Shelter for about two years. And while he thinks his own properties have a different look than Better Shelter's designs, "I do see that there are similarities."
What is the Better Shelter look, by the way? How does Jones do it? Hitting up flea markets*, says Manner. "He has a signature style, and his staging is unique...maybe you’d call it Beach Modern, I don’t know how to describe his look," says Manner. "There are tons of people that are that copying his designs."
Indeed. Manner rattles off a few names of all the flippers that have emerged lately: "Group3, Modern Bungalow, Urban Element, Elemental Development." Don't forget ModOp! But who can keep up?
Amid the flipping wars, Manner and Jones are still friends, by the way. "'We just had coffee yesterday, we hugged it out," says Manner, who also notes: "I helped him make a lot of money in the last two years."
· Flipping [Curbed LA]
*Originally, we stated "thrift stores, but it's "flea markets" Jones shops at, according to Manner. Happy hunting.
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