IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a blog slacker, but if you know me at all you already knew that. The house has actually been done for a couple weeks now and it is currently listed for sale so that'll give you an idea about how long I've put this off.

It was near done for a while actually, but that would have made for monotonous posts. We were doing yard work (well, the Husband was doing yard work), I was painting, touching up paint, mopping, installing hardware, cleaning gutters, planting stuff...etc.

It's lovely! I would live here if I didn't already love our house, property and neighborhood so much! Being able to walk to get coffee and not have to live in an apartment or townhouse is such a luxury on this island...who wouldn't want this house?

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for:

Front BEFORE

Front AFTER

We painted the house & trim white, painted the door emerald green, got 2 new large windows in the living room, cleaned the roof and took out a bunch of trees/shrubs that were blocking the front of the house.



Dining Room BEFORE

Dining Room AFTER

Dining Room AFTER

We took off all of the paneling, opened up the wall to the kitchen, sheet-rocked over the brick that had a bizarre, small opening into the living room. Everything got a fresh coat of paint and the entire house got new trim.


Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER

Kitchen BEFORE (after a little demo)

Kitchen AFTER

Kitchen AFTER

We put in new tile, new soft-close cabinets and drawers, reconfigured where the fridge was and added more cabinets, installed a granite counter top, removed sliding doors and added a single, glass panel door leading to the back deck. We also added can lights and removed the soffits.


Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

We had the floors refinished, painted all the brick bright white, added white trim and 8 can lights. We also put in 2 new windows in this room for better insulation.


Bathroom BEFORE

Bathroom AFTER

We pretty much gutted this bathroom. We replaced the floor and shower tile, removed the soffit and giant, old cabinet. We took out the old mirror and added something more manageable. We replaced the bathtub and all the hardware and installed a water saving toilet.



Small Bedroom BEFORE

Small Bedroom AFTER

We painted, added all new trim and doors (throughout the house), replaced all the baseboard heating (throughout the house) with a smaller wall unit and added a new light.

Large Bedroom BEFORE

Large Bedroom AFTER (before cleaning)

We painted, new trim, new doors, etc. We took out the French doors that were leading to a window well and made a solid wall to accommodate a large bed. 

Rec Room BEFORE

Rec Room AFTER

Rec Room Kitchen Area BEFORE

Rec Room No Kitchen AFTER

We took away the kitchen and incorporated it into the small bedroom making it a very large bedroom. We removed the hallway door to the bathroom giving the large room an en suite. We put in new carpet, paint and trim and added can lights. 

Laundry Room BEFORE

Laundry/Bathroom AFTER (before painting window trim white)

We added a toilet, moved the sink over, painted the pipes and wall storage and cleaned and double-strapped the hot water heater. We also added energy efficient appliances and 2 new lights. 

Downstairs Bedroom 1 BEFORE

Downstairs Bedroom 1 AFTER (that was the kitchen area)

We merged the small bedroom and kitchen to create a "master" of sorts. New paint, carpet and trim. We also added a walk-in closet with pocket door.

Downstairs Bathroom BEFORE

Downstairs Bathroom AFTER

We gutted the bathroom totally. Removed the window, added a double shower, new floor & shower tile. Added a new vanity, mirror and hardware. The shower floor is river rock and it's AWESOME.

Downstairs Bedroom 2 BEFORE

Downstairs Bedroom 2 AFTER

We cut the concrete to make a legal window, moved the door, painted, added new carpet, lights and doors. We also created a cool nook under the stairs...this would be a cool kids room for sure.

Backyard BEFORE

Backyard AFTER

We moved the hot tub and giant, awful shop/structure. We pressure washed the patio, deck and swing set. We planted plants and trees and painted the deck & small shed.

So, we changed pretty much everything in this house. Yikes!

My advice:
1) Get your act together when it comes to listing a flip. This is now business. You aren't selling the home you live in to buy another home to live in...this is about making money. If you do list, your team should understand that time is money.
2) It wouldn't be the end of the world to keep a "flip" as a rental. I don't want to be anyone's landlord, but you only have to own the house for 6 months before you can take your profit out of it. So, you can keep it, get a big pay day after 6 months and then own an investment or sell it and get one big pay day and not have to be a landlord. Good luck making that decision.

Thoughts??

There IS a light at the end of the tunnel!

Will we actually be done with this house by the end of December? I feel like it's a real possibility...I mean, we might squeak a little into January, but I'd say we stuck to a pretty tight timeline.

So, what is done:
Exterior Paint
Interior Paint (minus my brick in the sunken living room, which I'm going today to work on)
Kitchen Tile
Kitchen Cabinets
Trim
Upstairs bathroom shower tile and floor tile
Downstairs bathroom shower tile and floor tile
Downstairs carpet
Downstairs laundry room utility sink & floor tile
Crazy giant, ivy covered monster tree removed from front
Hot tub GONE
Concrete pressure washer
Roof pressure washer
Bark spread
80% landscaping done

What do we still need to do:
Electricians need to finish installing lights and switching outlets
Plumber needs to install laundry room toilet
Home Depot needs to install all new appliances (including washer/dryer)
Paint brick wall
Put hardware on cabinets in kitchen
Install bathroom mirror and trim it out
Mop hardwoods and apply wood oil
Paint stair trim & hand rail
20% more landscaping

I know our list seems long, but if you break it down it really isn't that much! What do YOU think?

Painting the fireplace brick white

Painting the dingy brick wall white

Soft-close cabinets and new back door

Larger opening into kitchen from dining room (granite slab will create a bar)

Our "transition" tile (see, we need to clean the hardwoods)

Large upstairs room (minus random french doors leading to a window well)

Downstairs room with a real window and carpet

Downstairs double shower...I love this shower!!

My flipping advice:
1) Try to make it nice, but not super expensive. I'd like to think we made some really great, but super affordable choices. We didn't cut corners, we either found a cheaper option, did it ourselves or took money from somewhere else to make things happen. I guess this goes back to my previous advice of looking for your own subs...if you don't like the price, keep looking.
2) Know your end plan at the beginning. Me and the Husband are having a rent or sell battle on a daily basis.

Our painter is AMAZING!!

It's been awhile, huh? We hit a lull...then work got busy...then there was more fighting about the lull...then people got to work and shit got done.

We went with our own painter, not the one the contractor wanted to bring in, because our friends used him and he did a great job AND his bid was significantly less (think about what YOU could do with an extra 10k)!

So every sub-contractor has their own timeline because they all have other jobs. Makes perfect sense to me, which is why people hire a General Contractor in the first place...let them juggle all of the subs and different timelines. Our GC needs some coaching and his guys definitely need a little work ethic, but I digress. Our painter needed to be done by December 16. The way things were crawling along there was no way this was happening so the Husband had to have a little chat with our GC. His sheetrock sub really came through in the 11th hour. There was one guy working from 5:30pm until who knows when. Not sure why they didn't send him with...I don't know...HELP, but he busted ass to get things done. HIS boss came a few days into the sheetrock project and was profusely apologizing to the Husband because even he thought it should be further along. Magically, the sheetrock, taping and mudding was done the next day. If only our GC got that mad about the lack of progress.
 
So, our painter came in later than scheduled (because of our GC) and worked 4, 16 hour days. Ceilings, trim, doors and walls are all painted. Done and done. He's amazing and pretty much got us back on track to be done by the end of December. We didn't add a lot of color because we wanted to keep it easy for our painter and we wanted it to be bright (aka white). I'll add more pictures of paint when my phone cooperates with me and my constant photo demands.

Downstairs Master closet (pocket door)

Downstairs Master closet (and bathroom door) Paint color: Sand 

Downstairs hallway (DOORS!!)

Downstairs laundry/half bath (toilet on left, w/d on right)

My flipping advice:
1) I know I've already said this, but see if your GC will let you get some of your own subs. We just got an invoice for $4,000 for our GCs guy to tile the downstairs walk-in shower. That doesn't include tile...just labor. What does that man make a year???? If your GC says no, I'd find another GC.
2) I would also have a weekly check-in about budget with your GC. If they don't have any overages in writing that I've signed off on, I'm not paying it. They cannot make those decisions without your approval. 

And...they're back

I'm referring to the laborers. Yes, folks, they took a little hiatus, which is why I had nothing to post. Sure, I could've written about how frustrating that was and how many not-so-nice conversations the Husband and I had, but where is the glamor in that? I still want you all to believe that flipping a house is fun and exciting. I mean, it is fun and exciting, but we're still pretty green so working with contractors isn't exactly a skill either of us possess.

According to our GC, his guys were at another job busting ass to get it done so they could have "all hands on deck" at our house. After a pretty heated conversation with the Husband, albeit one-sided, our GC got a text reminding him that not only are we on a budget, but we're on a tight timeline. Would you believe the very next day they were at the house putting up every last bit of sheetrock until 7pm? I'm still grinning as I type this.

We think it looks awesome, but I guess that depends on your perspective. We brought a friend and her husband over (he helped with demo) and she looked frightened...like straight up American Horror Story house frightened. Well, at least he thought it looked great compared to where we started.

Kitchen with added can lights

Dining room with sheetrock

Upstairs bathroom (minus the soffets and giant cabinet)

Downstairs Master (walk-in closet on left, bathroom door ahead)

Master bath - double shower

Downstairs bedroom with new, larger closet (he kept following me)

Laundry/Half Bath

The Husband planted 2, 500lb trees to fill in that space and one day block that house

A little landscaping

Oh, and all the kitchen cabinets

My house flipping advice:
1) Stay on top of your GC. You are paying them to manage all the subs. They work for you! Remind them of your timeline.
2) Don't have a heated conversation at Starbucks about your income property. The bitch behind you WILL be listening.