I like the idea of doing that, but I wouldn't really know what I could buy for what I want or how much I shouldplan to spend.

You set up a budget for initial purchase price and then another budget for renovation costs. You then talk to realtors, designers and builders to help you meet your goals.

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2014/ It will cost you more to do it correctly than it will a flipper to do it poorly. But you will end up with a much better result.

But how much are we talking for a whole home renovation? I'm just worried it be super expensive.

It depends entirely on yor wish list and quality level desired. A flipper will slap paint on existing crap kitchen cabinets, put in a cheap, horribly fabricated granite, and call it done at 5K, with 2K worth of low budget appliances. Someone who has to use the space will think about how it works, and try to fix that. They'll buy decent to above average quality cabinets, a pretty granite or quartz. They'll spend 25K to 125K to do it right.

It all comes down to flippers care more about costs first when renovating a house. It's a business so it's a total math equation to them. Quality doesn't enter the picture. Homeowners generally care about quality and looks equally, plus have an emotional investment in it as a home. That translates into higher costs.