Some people buy houses in need of repair, rather than move-in ready places, to save money. Others buy fixer-uppers to renovate and resell for a quick profit -- or keep as their own.

If you’re in the former group, though, you may end up spending more money than you saved. And if you’re in the latter group, you may no longer be able to rely on cheap fixes and market appreciation to make a buck.

First, let’s take a deeper dive into the repair-and-hold sector through the eyes of a recent survey, which asked 1,000 homeowners whether they purchased a turnkey house or a fixer-upper, and why. The poll was conducted by Porch.com, a site that matches homeowners with qualified professionals.

The study found that for the 52 percent of those who managed to stay within their home-repair budgets, the savings (over buying something move-in ready) wasn’t terribly great. And for the 44 percent who finished over budget, their “bargain” houses turned out to be no bargain at all. A fortunate 5 percent came in under budget.

Here are the numbers: The average price of a move-in ready house was $250,495, while the average price of a fixer-upper was $199,819 -- a difference of $50,676.

Saving 50 grand is certainly a powerful incentive, even when you consider all the aggravation involved with living in a house while the kitchen is being remodeled, the bathrooms are being gutted and the flooring is being replaced.

But the average spent by buyers who went over budget on renovations was $75,922, meaning they ended up spending $275,741. That’s $25,000 more than they would have spent had they just bit the bullet in the first place and went with a turnkey property.

Those who stayed within budget did better. They spent only $47,072 on repairs and improvements, so their total expenditure was $246,891. But that’s just a few grand less than if they, too, had taken the move-in ready route.

Admittedly, the Porch survey has some flaws, as the service itself points out. For one thing, it was self-reported, and that kind of data is subject to selective memory and exaggeration. For another, responses had to be grouped into certain buckets. For example, if the house need “very few repairs,” it was considered a move-in ready property. If it needed “some repairs,” it was placed in the fixer-upper category, along with those that needed “virtually everything repaired.”

Despite these shortcoming, the poll presents would-be buyers with a picture of what they might be up against if they opt for a fixer when they fail to budget properly and spend wisely.

On average, people who bought a place needing work spent 38 percent more than they expected, the survey found. The most frequent over-budget jobs were heating and air conditioning, plumbing, basements, bathrooms, new appliances, roofs, kitchens and electrical work.

People buy fixers for all sorts of reasons. Money, of course, is the main factor. But many simply like the house, or the neighborhood, and a healthy minority figured they’d enjoy working on the place. Moreover, even though many didn’t save any money, 60 percent of those who broke their budgets said they’d do it again.

But even though the numerous home improvement shows on television make remodeling seem glamorous, you have to be willing to put up with a lot of inconvenience and surprises should you go this route.

Now, in the space we have left, some words on the fix-and-flip set, who tend to make some rudimentary, relatively inexpensive fixes to the properties they buy at deep discount and then peddle them to both owner-occupants and other investors as fast as they can.

“Flip” became a four-letter word after the 2008 housing flop and resulting recession. And with good reason, says Daren Blomquist of Auction.com, an online marketplace for distressed properties: “Speculative home-flippers added little value to homes, relying on price appreciation to fuel their profits.”

Judging by the late-night TV shills hawking their books and videos on how to make a quick profit by buying low and selling high with a few repairs in between -- a slap of paint here, a nail or two there -- a lot of that is still going on. But lately, flipping has become less, shall we say, shady, and more on the up-and-up.

According to a study from CoreLogic, “flippers are shifting away from price speculation and toward adding value to properties.” And Blomquist agrees. More and more professional flippers, not those lured into the field by TV commercials, are employing a high-quality renovation approach, he says.

These flippers are still buying at a discount. But they’re transforming their properties into move-in ready homes through extensive renovations. And in the process, they’re raising home values and helping stabilize neighborhoods.

No matter what side of the coin flippers are on, they should budget carefully, just like those who buy fixer-uppers for their own use. Otherwise, there may be no profit or savings at all.

Case in point: According to Discover Personal Loans, more than three-quarters of the nearly 1,000 people it surveyed were way off when asked what it would cost to remodel a kitchen. They missed the mark by $9,500.

A recent advisory from a federal consumer watchdog agency is shining new light on the growing problem of elder abuse. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging financial institutions to report situations in which they suspect seniors are being exploited financially.

In the housing sector, elder abuse takes many forms, as do its perpetrators. Sometimes it involves a rogue loan officer or real estate agent who creates false loan documents, persuades an unwitting senior to sign them and then keeps the proceeds for themselves. Or worse, perhaps the scumbag takes ownership of the house and forces the rightful owner to move out.

More often than not, though, the culprit is a family member. According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute, some 60 percent of substantiated financial abuse cases involve an elder’s adult child. Sons are most likely to rip off their parents or grandparents -- even more so than a paramour, bogus contractor, fly-by-night handyman or shady lender or agent.

Whoever is responsible, the CFPB reminded banks to be on the lookout for such instances and report them to them to local adult protective services, law enforcement agencies and other authorities. And with good reason: The agency’s research found that elder financial abuse is “widespread and damaging.”

The CFPB says that between 2013 and 2017, the average loss in these cases among adults age 70 or older was $41,000, with almost 1 in 10 losing more than $100,000.

Most lenders, agents and contractors are lawful. But some aren’t. So if there is an elder in your life who is considering a reverse mortgage or other type of home loan, or is hiring someone to remodel a kitchen, here are a few questions you can ask to make sure they aren’t being exploited:

-- Do they understand what it is they are doing? In situations involving reverse mortgages, in which borrowers remove the equity they have built up in the house, it is mandatory under federal rules that borrowers meet with an independent housing counselor for a full explanation of what is involved.

But no such protections exist for other types of mortgages, or for dealing with contractors. So you should make sure your mom, dad, grandparent, aunt or uncle knows what he or she is getting into before proceeding too far.

Of course, this implies that your senior is willing to discuss his or her financial situation with you. Many keep that information to themselves for fear of losing their independence. But if you can get them to open up, you can discuss the pros and cons of their plans to be sure they have a full understanding.

At the same time, the desire to take out a loan they don’t fully comprehend could be a sign that something else is going on in their lives. Loneliness and isolation raise the risk of elder financial abuse, which covers a lot of territory: theft, misuse of power of attorney, investment fraud, home-repair schemes and identity theft. And a higher rate of dementia makes seniors a tempting target, especially when they own their homes free and clear and have good credit ratings.

-- Who is going to benefit? Find out who the real beneficiary will be and why. If it’s not the senior, your antennae should wiggle.

In one case some years back, a 65-year-old woman was coaxed into taking out a $100,000 lump-sum reverse mortgage by her son, who proceeded to gamble the money away in Las Vegas. The son was charged with criminal elder abuse and spent some time in jail, but the money was never returned to his mother, who is now losing more than $3,000 of her equity every month.

More recently, a Montana woman was convicted of bilking her elderly mother out of $120,000 from the proceeds of a reverse mortgage. The mother suffered from Alzheimer’s, and prosecutors argued she did not have the capacity to appreciate or understand the loan. The daughter used the money to pay off her own credit cards, buy jewelry and stable her horses, among other things.

And a Florida loan officer was convicted for participating in a scheme to persuade seniors to refinance their reverse mortgages. He and his co-conspirators fabricated false loan applications and pocketed the proceeds.

Red flags for this kind of abuse include caregivers who isolate elders from family and friends, newfound anxiety about finances, new “best friends,” missing belongings, or the senior no longer receiving statements or other documents from their banks or investment advisers.

-- Is the senior being coerced? Determine if your senior is being pushed into the loan, and if so, by whom.

One elderly couple turned over the proceeds of their new mortgage to their grandson, who had threatened to commit suicide if they didn’t give him the money. It also appeared that some of the loan documents in this case were forged.

Be particularly aware of in-home helpers, including personal care attendants and meal service providers, who have access to the senior’s financial papers and identifying information. Pay special attention to those hired directly from newspaper ads or referral services, who have likely not been screened or supervised by a government agency.

-- Can the senior’s needs be solved in another way? There are several alternatives to reverse mortgages.

If you suspect your senior is being taken advantage of, contact the Adult Protective Services agency in your state. APS programs are typically housed within local or state departments of social services or aging. Further information can be found on the National Center on Elder Abuse’s website: ncea.acl.gov.

Four longtime friends from the Kansas City, Missouri, area don’t know it, but they are on the leading edge of a growing phenomenon in vacation homes. They are buying places collectively: first in Vail, Colorado, and then in Nashville. Now they are searching for a spot in the Tampa Bay area.

“We buy ‘together places,’” says David Vanlerberg, spokesman for the four longtime construction industry buddies.

At one time, Vanlerberg owned a place in Florida all by himself, but rarely used it. “I got sick of paying all that money and it was not being used,” he says. So he and his friends threw in together. They buy new condos -- “they’re so easy to take care of” -- with at least three bedrooms, and they don’t rent them to others.

With the four owners taking turns, “it seems as though someone’s always using (the condos),” Vanlerberg says. “That’s what so nice about them. They’re always being used.”

Broker John Pfeiffer, president of Vail's Slifer Smith and Frampton firm, doesn’t see that many four-family groups like Vanlerberg’s buying places in the Colorado mountains. But he says there are a lot more families buying together than there used to be.

“Multiple buyers, like the guys from Missouri, are not as common,” says Pfeiffer, whose firm sold the group their latest mountain home. “Usually, it’s one or two high-income, high-net-worth families. Sometimes its multi-generational families, or baby boomers who are bequeathing their apartments or houses as their legacy.”

Groups like these want more square footage, the broker reports, usually for entertaining. Massive kitchen islands, sometimes 20 feet long with lots of seating, also are the order of the day. The more bedrooms, the better, and it’s really nice if each bedroom is a suite.

Group-buying is what gave birth to the timeshare business years ago. Under that concept, instead of spending beaucoup bucks on a place all by yourself, you can share in the cost with other like-minded buyers by purchasing a week or two’s usage.

Now, for the most part, the big timeshare developers like Hilton, Marriott and Diamond are selling points that can be converted for time at their properties. But the concept of shared ownership is the same. And after a run of bad publicity and flagging sales, the business is enjoying renewed vigor.

Indeed, timeshare sales increased in 2018 -- the ninth straight year -- rising nearly 7 percent to $10.2 billion, according to figures from the American Resort Development Association. The average price of a timeshare interval last year was just under $21,500.

ARDA counts 1,580 timeshare resorts with some 204,100 units. More than two-thirds of the units have two or more bedrooms and at least 1,180 square feet.

Two other important facts about timeshares: According to ARDA, the annual maintenance fee paid by each owner is $1,000, an increase of just 2 percent from 2017. The average occupancy rate was 81 percent, whereas it is 66 percent for hotels.

That last point doesn’t square with a Lending Tree poll of people who have whole ownership of a vacation property. It found that almost half “feel guilty” about not using their properties as much as they anticipated.

Of course, families buy holiday homes with good intentions. They expect to make good use of them, and some hope to use them to generate income. But Lending Tree found that only 1 in 4 use their places more than five times a year, and 37 percent use them once a year or less.

While about half the respondents bought their homes to rent to others, 41 percent have never done so. A third rent year-round, meaning they never get to use their places at all.

Meanwhile, one section of the shared-ownership business, known as fractionals, isn’t doing so well. According to the latest report from resort-industry research firm Ragatz Associates, sales are stagnating. Last year’s sales dipped to $471 million, the lowest in 15 years.

Fractionals come in all shapes and sizes, and include deeded shares ranging from two weeks to three months of annual use. It also includes private residence clubs and destination clubs, which typically sell 30-year memberships.

Ragatz found that of the 316 fractional properties in the United States, only 50 made sales last year. The rest are either old, or sold out.

A few other vacation-homebuying trends worth noting:

-- Vacation rental company Vacasa says many people are building portfolios of vacation properties. Its survey of 1,700 buyers actively searching the market found that more than half already have one holiday place, and 1 in 4 are looking to buy multiple places.

-- Tiny homes are finding their way into the sector, said Brian Corbett of Inspirato, an outfit that manages luxury vacation homes. Corbett predicts landowners will temporarily place rentable tiny homes, tents or other accommodations on their properties to create a resortlike experience until they ultimately decide what to build. “It’s a creative way to test concepts on land, rather than letting it sit idle,” Corbett told Urban Land, a trade journal.

-- When people think of vacation homes, they tend to think of ocean properties or mountain chalets. But don’t forget lake homes. “It’s not a small niche; sales could hit $40 billion this year,” reports Glenn Phillips of Lake Homes Realty, which has some 87,000 listings on (or adjacent to) a lake.