Before they were Royal Oak Realtors, Matt Bazner spent 25 years as a licensed contractor, and Justin Bercheny was an interior designer.
Together, the two Max Broock agents bring something most real estate professionals simply can't offer: they've seen inside the walls. Literally. That backstage access makes them unusually, refreshingly candid about house-flipping myths that are costing buyers and investors serious money.
Myth #1: Renovations Are Fast, Cheap, and Mostly Cosmetic
HGTV's greatest lie is about what a renovation actually involves. "Renovations don't happen in a 30-minute episode," Justin points out. "And if you're renovating a kitchen, there's way more involved than taking a cabinet out and putting one back in."
What the cameras skip: the electrical panel that can't handle a modern kitchen load. The galvanized plumbing that will get your buyer denied homeowner's insurance. The sagging subfloor that takes three days to sister and level before a single cabinet goes in. "They don't show you the forty-five other people working 24/7," Matt says. "Or the month of living in dust while you're fixing structure nobody's ever going to see."
Justin frames it as a foundation problem. "The foundation of the home needs attention always. Most people would rather DIY and make something pretty. But the scary things for buyers are the roof, the windows, the furnace, the plumbing. Those are the things that matter."
Myth #2: "Newer" Means Valuable
Few words bother Justin more than "newer." In real estate, "newer" too often means "done within the last decade," which is a far cry from what appraisers, insurers, and buyers actually value.
"A house built in 2000 with 2000 design aesthetics? That house is completely out of date," Justin points out. "It's the same cost to renovate as something done in 1970. It does not matter if the cabinet is newer, if I have to remove it.”
Matt puts a number on it: "If you redid your kitchen ten years ago, you're still thinking it's new. But the guy next door who just did his kitchen and listed his house? That adds more value." Appraisers and banks see it the same way.
Myth #3: Every Upgrade Adds Value
Justin draws a sharp line between "emotional value" and "financial value.” While both are crucial, Justin warns that confusing the two is one of the most expensive mistakes a flipper or seller can make.
"Application matters,” Justin notes. “Every single person who pulls up has an expectation that the house will have a roof. So when you redo a roof, you lose some of that financial value automatically — because every house has one."
Matt and Justin also agree that the upgrade’s “function” is key. Justin explains: “How people will live in the space is vital to the design. Focus on the project as a whole… do not get caught up in the value of every dollar.” Matt nods: “Just because you spent the money doesn’t mean you spent it wisely.”
Over-renovating for the neighborhood is a related trap. Justin recently watched a friend plan an addition that would make his home 700 square feet larger than anything else on the block. "They will never be able to draw all of that money back," he says. Matt nods: "I can tell you a bazillion people who said this was their forever home. Life happens."
Myth #4: Flippers Are Doing You a Favor
Both men carry visible frustration about what Matt calls “lipstick-on-a-pig flipping.” He describes walking through flipped houses as a contractor and spotting the shortcuts immediately: "Everything was pretty, but I know they didn't do anything underneath the pretty."
Justin turns down listings regularly — "almost every week" — when the product doesn't meet his standard.
"If you are using this to profit off of the backs of my friends and neighbors, I have a stake in that," Justin points out. "If something goes wrong, they don't remember who their loan officer was. They don't remember who the inspector was. The renovator, the contractor, their subcontractors — they are nowhere to be found. I am their point of contact."
"Flips are the scariest things for us as agents," Matt says. "Six months after the sale, stuff starts falling apart because everything they put into this house cost five dollars. And if you're trying to grow your business in a community, you can't be listing properties that are subpar."
Myth #5: The $29 Faucet Is Fine
The cheap faucet. The refrigerator conspicuously absent from an otherwise renovated kitchen. Both see these as warnings.
"If you’re spending $150,000 renovating a property, please spend $1,500 more on the refrigerator," Justin says. "Your profit margin should not be so low that you can't do that. Because every buyer who walks through is going to add the cost of a new refrigerator to their list of bills."
Matt takes it further: "When I see no refrigerator, it raises a flag. Did they run out of money? And if they ran out of money, what else did they cut corners on? As agents, we can look up what they paid for the property. If I only see a $50,000 investment and there's a new kitchen and a new bathroom, I'm going to check whether permits were pulled."
What Good Flipping Actually Looks Like
Neither man is anti-flip. They're anti-bad-flip. And they're clear about what separates the two: the willingness to do the invisible work.
Justin attends appraisals on his investment properties, bringing documentation that shows not just the new cabinets, but the ripped-out plumbing and updated electrical behind them. "I want the appraiser to understand this wasn't just a pretty makeup job," he says. "I can make a kitchen look cute with some paint. I cannot restore longevity with paint."
His builder agonizes over details most buyers will never consciously notice, like shelf heights in a wet bar calibrated to fit a Grey Goose bottle, with progressively shorter shelves above so taller bottles don't get placed on top. "That," Justin says with a smile, "is a real give-a-d*** attitude."
He also invites the surrounding community to see completed projects before they list: a well-done flip lifts comparable values for every neighbor on the block. "Tide raises all boats," Matt says. "But only if it's actually a good product."
The bottom line, from two people who have seen more walls opened and closed than most: real estate investment isn't something you wing from a tax-foreclosure website in another state. "There are much easier things to do with your money than invest in real estate," Matt says. "And unfortunately, people go into it with blinders on."
"Human beings will be living their lives in these houses," Justin points out. "They deserve a wonderful place for their laughs and their tears. Please keep that in mind if you're getting into this business."
Matt Bazner and Justin Bercheny are Realtors at Max Broock (248-548-9100) on Woodward in Royal Oak