Flip That House!

We recently embarked on an 'adventure' together with my parents and brother and bought a house to flip. Daniel's been urging me for over a year to use my real estate license for something like this, so after getting some 'help' on board, we decided to give it a try.

After a couple months of searching a house came on the market which we thought would be ideal to flip. It was a foreclosure, but unlike most, it had not been intentionally destroyed. Don't get me wrong, it was filthy and in pretty bad shape, but it hadn't been stripped of appliances, door knobs, and cabinet doors; and there were no holes punched through the walls (which seems to be a pre-requisite for foreclosures... why do people do that!?!) Anyway, it's in a good neighborhood and the price was right, so we made an offer, went under contract, and closed in less than 3 weeks!

In the meantime, Derek packed up his truck with all his tools and his adorable cocker spaniel, Cosmo Kramer, and headed our direction. We bought tons of Lowes coupons on eBay and did one huge shopping trip the day before closing. We knew there would be other trips (though I'm not sure we realized we would be going about 3 times each day!!), but wanted to get as much as possible with one coupon. The van was FILLED TO THE BRIM, as was Daniel's trunk, plus we had to send Derek out the next day to pick up the large items in his truck.

The first 2 days were largely about tear-out. Out came the floors, counter tops, carpet, vanities, switch covers, light fixtures, ceiling fans, mirrors, appliances, etc. We listed everything salvageable on Craigslist and used the earnings to pay for the other junk to be hauled off to the dump.

After we had a 'clean' slate, Derek started tiling the bathrooms and working on plumbing. By the end of week 1, we were ready for the painter to come (we decided to hire a painter, because a) it looks so much better when a pro does it, and b) all of us absolutely loathe painting... especially trim!) Week 2 was a little chaotic because we also had a carpenter out there working on the exterior doors, which had some serious wood rot. Between Derek, 2 painters, and 3 carpenters, it was getting awfully crowded! However, by week's end, everything had been painted (I'm still amazed at how a coat of paint can completely transform a space!), and the biggest repair items had been addressed.

That weekend Megan (Derek's wife) flew in for a visit and the 4 of us tackled the yard, which was, a bit, um, neglected and Jumangi-like. It was H-O-T and we worked our tails off for hours. We saw one snake, had 2 cases of over-heating, and 2 cases of poison ivy. Other than that, I guess it was a success. The neighbors were circling around throughout the day and going on and on about how thankful they were that someone was finally fixing it up! By the time we finished we had spread 10 cubic yards of mulch, planted hedges, flowers, and bed cover, trimmed and cleaned pine straw out of 15 feet of bushes, watered everything that needed to grow and "Rounded-Up" everything that needed to die... the place looked great!

Week 3 was all about the 'final' touches... which are the most annoying! Derek and Daniel laid the hardwood floors, the carpet was installed, the bathrooms grouted, the vanities set, the light fixtures hung, the countertops replaced, the new appliances moved in, the receptacles and covers changed out, and all the 'little' repair items left over from the inspection report addressed. The repair items were probably the biggest pain, I think because they have nothing to show for themselves! Still, it had to be done, so Derek (and Daniel, as he had time) slowly but surely crossed them off the list.

The weekend after Week 3 we had it staged, and it was ready to go on the market 4 weeks exactly from the date we closed. Whew. It didn't actually go 'live' until 3 days later, last Wednesday, because we were waiting on photos and one last electrical issue that an electrician had to fix.

Anyway, here are some pics of the before pics and work-in-progress-pics: (forgive the quality of some of these... most were taken with my phone :)

Front of house (before):

We got a letter from the HOA that said we needed to replace the mailbox, because the old one had been "demolished"!

From one of our massive Lowes Shopping Trips:

Guest bath: Groovy toilet seat.

This is the (before) view from just inside the front door. There was a weird half-wall to the right which we took out, but that was the only 'wall' we moved in the entire house. The layout stayed exactly the same.

In this room, we replaced the fan and chandelier, removed the blinds and the naaaasty carpet, then painted, and laid hardwood floors. The floors were a bit of a debacle because we had planned on nailing or glueing them down, but then discovered that the subfloor was particle board rather than plywood, so in a ninth-inning game-change (read: the morning we started installation), we had to return all the flooring we had previously purchased and get a floating floor. Needless to say, they got started later than they planned!

Hardwood floors about 1/2 way complete:

The kitchen had old, dingy appliances and dated cabinets/counters. We got an awesome price on granite for the counters, so those plus Craigslist appliances and a coat of paint on the walls and cabinets and it looked SO much better!

Here's Baby Campbell on one of our many visits to Lowes... they loved riding on the plant carts! (Anything to keep two toddlers happy while you pick out door knobs!)

This is in the master bath (before):

Light fixture ca: 1986

The vanity area in the master was 80" long but only had one sink. Derek re-plumbed it in a jiffy to accommodate 2.

Laying tile in the master bath:

Grouting tile in the master bath:

Here's all the mirrors we took from various places in the house: You can see in the reflection what a mess it was during construction!

The "before and afters" from the bedrooms aren't that dramatic. Other than a fresh coat of paint, all we did was carpet, and change the light fixtures. This picture was taken when the painter had gotten on his first coat.

OK, so now for some "afters"!

View from just inside the front door.

That door that you see was rotted through the frame!

View from the dining room:

(In case you're wondering, yes, that's my couch! We are doing without temporarily and hoping the house sells quickly!)

The kitchen has a ton of light because it opens to the great room and back deck plus it has a skylight.

We turned the extra space in the kitchen into a breakfast nook:

View of kitchen from deck door. New floors, paint, counters, appliances, hardware, fixtures and painted cabinets:

Guest bath. New tile, sink, light fixture, mirror, and hardware.

Bedrooms (I told you they were boring!)

Master Bedroom:

Master Bathroom:

That's all for now :) If you know of anyone looking for a great starter home in Durham, send them our way!!