House #3: Flipping Homes Continues  

I’m pretty excited about my next project in my flipping homes business. This next property is in a very good zip code and is surrounded by properties worth five times what I paid for this one! This flipping real estate venture will require a moderate amount of work, which is good because that will allow me to throw in there some improvements.

When flipping homes area selection is crucial so I had been looking in this area for a long time. The first time this house came up someone else got it. Apparently that offer fell through and the house came back on the market.

First, the pictures. Unfortunately I caught these pictures after repairs were under way but flipping homes, specially multiple homes, is busy work so I am still nailing down the timing of things:

A very generous lot size with a large backyard and even a playhouse in back.

The main level has hardwood floors that are pretty beaten up but I intend to strip and re-finish because they are thick hardwood so they have at least a layer left in them.

Basement. I always prefer houses with basements because they make a house more sellable and the fact that this one came with a finished basement was a major plus. I am just going to have to finish one room in the back.

Cut copper lines all over the house. Apparently this house was vacant during the commodities boom of early 2009 and someone hacked all the copper out of it so they could sell it.

For this flipping real estate project I have become much better at creating a scope of work that I can give to my contractors and better yet getting more accurate on my cost of repairs. Some of the major items of work will be:

• Full kitchen replacement including all appliances and adding a new pantry closet. Fortunately the house had a working dishwasher that is about a year old so I am saving about $300 there
• Re-finish hardwood floors in main level, carpet all bedrooms and tile bathrooms.
• Full window replacement. This one was a tough choice because it will cost about $2,000 but the reason I am doing it is because the house had about 10 bad window panes (broken and/or fogged) which costs about $75-$100 each to repair. So if I was going to spend about $1,000 fixing windows I might as well put in new ones which will make it a stronger selling point.
• Lots of plumbing work. Because of all the cut copper lines, plus a new water heater.
• Finishing the basement. There was one room in the basement that was not finished plus there were no doors in the basement. By adding doors we will technically be adding a fourth bedroom to the house which is always a plus from an appraisal standpoint.
• The other stuff: full paint job, drywall repair work, replacing trims, doors (interior/exterior), bathroom cabinetry, lights throughout the house, electrical repairs and major cleaning.