Real Estate Flip Gone Bad

Jane Dough of Boston Gal's Open Wallet linked to a great LA Times article about a fellow blogger's less-than-profitable experience with remodeling for profit. I'm glad to hear more realism than what HGTV would tell us about the California market. I'm enjoying the occasional episode of "Designed To Sell" while I'm dying on the gym treadmill, but I've always found the results--multiple offers above our asking price at the first open house!--highly unlikely for the rest of the country. I agree with Nina's conclusion that the money is made in the buy, not in high-end remodeling.