Thursday, June 20, 2013

Before and After



Well, it took exactly one month and my little project house is finally finished and back on the market. It went over budget by A LOT, but  I chose a house with a huge profit margin so it would be okay if that happened. I originally planned to put $20k into it in renovations, and the final total was $32k, but that still leaves a profit margin of $30k if we get asking price. So- for a month of supervising contractors, I'd say that is a pretty good deal. Ready for the comparison photos? I am! Check this out.



                           


 

 




1 car garage with odd storage rooms
2 car garage!

Laundry Room
Pardon the bad lighting, it still needs new bulbs.

 


So? Are you as excited about it as I am? I can't wait to meet the family that wants to move in. That will be the best part of the whole process; finding a family that loves this little house. Hopefully it sells quickly, because as soon as we are under contract and past the inspections phase I will be looking for project number 2!




Tuesday, June 11, 2013

50 Shades of Beige. (and Red)

My husband often says I am color blind. I used to laugh at him and remind him that I am an artist- obviously I can see colors properly. But then I have to choose colors for a room, and I begin to think that maybe he is a little bit right.

I. Hate. Picking. Paint. Colors.

It is the single worst part of decorating. I have vision for what I want a space to look like, and I spend hours looking at all of the swatches and paint giant sample spots on the wall and when I FINALLY decide on one and paint the space, I hate it. That happened with my red front door today. I very carefully chose a red called HeartThrob- and well.. Look for yourself.


Agh! Horrible! I bought a new color today.. hopefully it works better. But check out the black shutters!! And did you notice the branch that was covering half the house is gone? 

Things are coming together. The new light fixtures are in, the drywall is finished, ceilings are patched, and the walls are painted- all except the basement.  



The cabinets come tomorrow, and the appliances are sitting in the living room waiting to be installed. The wood flooring should go in tomorrow as well. My contractor plans to be totally finished by saturday.. we shall see. 

We are getting close- very exciting. 




Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Fort Campbell Flip, Week 1 Update

A lot has happened in the short time since we closed on the house but most of it isn't very exciting. We are now mold free, and the house is all but empty. The doorway between the living room and kitchen has been widened, creating a much more open feeling in what was a very closed off space. Many minor plumbing issues have been corrected as well as the new water line installed for the fridge to be moved, not photo worthy but a very important step. All the flooring has been purchased as well as all new light fixtures and fans. I scored some incredible 6" dark walnut laminate planks for $1/sq ft, which is a huge savings from the $1.60- $1.80 I had seen everywhere else. The carpet will also be $1/sq ft. Have you looked at laminate lately? That junky plastic roll out sheet flooring? Well- it has come a long way since I last saw it new. It's crazy nice! I am only using it in the basement laundry room but it is very nice stuff!

The almost empty kitchen- Cabinets and appliances will be in next week. 


This was a regular sized door that closed, it feels much better now!



New roof! These guys removed two old layers of roofing, replaced three sheets of rotted plywood and re-roofed the whole house in about 7 hours. Roofers are amazing. And I LOVE the change!

When I left this afternoon the contractors were about to pressure wash everything from sidewalks to gutters, some damaged wood panelling was coming down in the kitchen, and they were planning to begin painting, though I doubt that happened today. The carport was being removed, but we hit our first bump in the road there. It should have been an easy removal, but the previous owners poured the new concrete parking pad around the existing carport, meaning that removing the bottom support rail will leave a 20' long 2" wide hole in the pad. I'll have to have someone patch the concrete, which was not an expected expense. But we didn't find any rotted joists in the ceiling, so we should still be on budget. 

So- while the progress doesn't make for a very exciting blog post, things are moving smoothly and for the most part on time. The contractor goes on vacation on the 15th and the plan is for everything to be complete by then. Fingers crossed! 

Do you have questions or want me to elaborate on something? I'd be happy to answer, just let me know.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Return of the Mom

It has been over a year since I posted, and we've had several big life changes since then. My latest adventures are drawing quite a bit of attention and I have had several requests for a blog documenting the details for your entertainment. So... I'm back!

Quick update for anyone who doesn't know.. which is who?? I'm not sure. But- for the sake of the blog world, here it is. We live in Tennessee now, thanks to the Army, and could not be happier. We purchased our second home in Adams, another fixer-upper, but the 2.7 acres and stunning hill country views stole our hearts so the house could have been a shack for all we cared. Since we moved in I've done some painting and totally renovated the kitchen, but most of my time has been spent outside. I also got my real estate license and added three hens and two pekin ducks to the family.



The ducks are George and Jemima PuddleDuck and the hens
are Birdie (brown Araucana), Buttercup (Black/white Araucana), and Raven (Black Silver-laced Wyandotte).




Since we sold our first home for a decent profit I've wanted to do it again. We considered flipping the house we are living in, because it does have the right profit margin, but we just love it too much to let it go. So last week, we closed on our first nothing but investment property. I am blessed to have an incredible husband and in-laws who trust me with their money. I looked at more houses than I can count before we closed on this one. Most were wrong for various reasons, one I lost to a bidding war, another I lost to agent errors on the listing side and a stubborn property manager. By the time we had this one under contract I was so jaded I honestly didn't think we would get it- but we did!


She isn't pretty right now. Actually- she's really rough. 1780 sqft, 3 bed/1.5 bath, a full finished basement and a two car garage. But the kitchen and basement are full of mold and the roof is it horrible condition. I see what a house could be when I walk through, and this little lady is a gem. I paid $61,500 and hope to put it back on the market in late June for $129,900. Since I am a Realtor now I only have to count on 6% closing costs, plus the $~20k we are investing to renovate it. If everything goes smoothly we should have a very nice profit at the end and a beautifully renovated happy little house. We closed last Friday, and the mold crew came in Saturday to start demolition and remediation. I ordered cabinets, countertops, and appliances Friday afternoon.

The carport will go, and the second garage will be converted back into a functional garage.

Fresh carpet, primed and painted panelling, and serious mold removal should leave a great bonus room.




This doesn't look terrible, but closer inspection shows water
damage and mold throughout.

That's a lot of mold. But for the age of the house it will be an amazing laundry area!




The house will get a new roof, new paint and flooring, all new cabinets and appliances, new fixtures, and landscaping. This is my quick ipad sketch of what I expect it to look like when we are finished.  I should have pictures with the new roof tomorrow!





     

Until next time.