There are two separate types of gameplay in House Flipper available as far as the game has been developed as of update 19.05.2018.
Local Handyman[]
Being a handyman has its upside, in the base game there are jobs that come in via email to your work computer, each having it's own (somewhat amusing) backstory. Completing jobs for others will be your initial money-making path, allowing you to build up capital to buy your own houses and also unlock new tools - though don't fret; in the first hour you can have every available tool unlocked. Each job has a list of tasks per room set out for the player to complete, a minimum of approximately 70% of these tasks must be completed to finish the job, however this percentage does change between jobs.
Tasks range in complexity from cleaning up a garage, to painting and refurbishing every room in a nine-room house. The customer will instruct which furniture they want, but the player can choose the material for each piece. After completing a handful of jobs, players can take advantage of perks that increase the payout, and reduce the list of requirements. Jobs can be replayed from the archive section on the laptop.
House Flipping[]
In 'house flipper' mode you spend your time buying dilapidated houses in varying states of disrepair and selling them for profit once they have been cleaned and renovated. This is the closest thing to a sandbox mode the game has, though you will only have the hard earned cash from jobs and previous house sales.
Faults range from a few broken appliances, such as the radiators in the bedrooms and a couple of dirty windows, to the insane abandoned house that squatters have been using as a party house. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours to fully fix a house.
To fix the broken toilets and blown light bulbs you will use a variety of Tools aiding you in your quest to make a house beautiful again. Potential buyers antagonise you about your style decisions in regard to their wants, for example, some prefer there to be no kitchen, and others desire stylish and lavish computers in their office. The game doesn't currently implement any type of timer, and it doesn't seem likely this will be added in the future.
Once you have repaired the house, buyers will all fight it out in an auction for the right to own the house. How close you are to fulfilling their demands influences how much over your original buying price they will be willing to pay. The player is then able to negotiate the price (once unlocked through Perks).