Figuring out the next step

So, my house is rented out. 2 year lease, and the tenants are interested in purchasing, possibly after one year (but I imagine it will be 2 years.).

So - this is good. However, my cash is tied up in the house now, and I can't refinance for 18 more months without a 6 month interest penalty payment.

What I need to do is crunch the numbers to see if it is worth it to take the penalty hit in order to get my next house and flip it.

I have decided no more 2 bedroom/1Bath homes unless there is room enough to add a 3rd bedroom.

House is rented out

Got my house rented for the amount I need, which is good! These tenants have a 2 year lease, and they want the option to purchase, so this will probably work out quite well.

Once I get my finances righted around, it will be on to the next house!

Still not sold

There has been very little activity in this market. My tax assessment came in quite high, so am in the process of fighting that.

I will give it one more month and then rent out the house.

Price change

The market has been dead, dead, dead. So - I am lowering the price on the house. Hopefully that will increase some action.

2nd Open House

Had my second open house on Sunday. 5 couples came through - they all liked the house, no takers, though. Seems only one comment on the house being too small. Encouraging - people are starting to shop now.
More snow scheduled - 6-12 inches tonight. That's always good for showings.....

I have decided on no more 2 bedroom homes for flips. Unless the square footage is enough so that a 3rd can be added.

weather finally clearing up.

Well, the ice is melting. Looking to hold another open house this weekend. No snow in the forecast - so maybe things will look up. Nothing has gone under contract in my price range in the last 2 weeks. At least I feel better in some respects because it's not just my house! LOL!

I had my eye on another property, but that got snapped up already - thought that might happen.

Challening market

Well, the open house had only one couple come through. They said the bedrooms were too small. They are larger than most, so that comment surprised me a bit. The snow didn't help that day, either.

And again - about 10 inches of snow expected tonight. This really puts a damper on showings, don't blame people for not wanting to go out! After 3 months, I might try a lease option on the property, or just rent it out.

Open house this weekend

Having my first open house this weekend. Not too much activity in the market right now. I don't know if the crappy weather has been keeping people away or what. Lots of rain and slushy stuff, then a few inches of snow today. Sigh.....

I think I have found my next house - so I really, really want this one to sell now!!

slow

Well, this time of year is slow. Not much activity on the house, but that is what I expected at first. I ordered sink clips, hopefully they will be in early this week.

Hoping to have an open house soon.
I need to talk to the county about my taxes. The assessment on my house is way higher than it should be for the area. Not sure what is up with that, but I need to get it straightened out.

I am on the lookout for the next house now. :)

House is on the market!

The house is on the market and ready to go. Of course, we are supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow, and we will be leaving town. So no one to shovel the driveway for the next week. Sigh..... Who knows if there will be any showings in the next week anyway.

Here are a few more pictures:
Living room before:


Living room done. Didn't need too much except paint, switch plates, curtains and a new ceiling fan.


The staircase before - nice industrial grey carpet.

Stairs after. Runner matches the color of the door and the curtains. Really helps pull everything together.

Just about done

Finishing up detail stuff like paint touch up, moldings and cleanup. A few things will have to wait until we return from vacation, like sealing the countertops and finishing the sink install.

Kitchen before:



Kitchen today






Bathroom before:


Bathroom today:

Rehab week in review

Wrapping things up at house.
This week:
- Installed granite counter tops and grouted them
- reattached all baseboard moldings that weren't broken
- touch up paint upstairs
- cleaned up both bedrooms
- installed bathroom fan grille
- installed shower rod and curtain
- put up some curtains

I have the sink ready to install, however the sink came with these tiny little clips. I need longer/adjustable clips due to the depth of the underlayment. Grrrrr...
My last flip I used an Elkay sink, and it had long adjustable clips. I didn't realize that the sink I bought for this flip would be different. Hopefully I can get those locally and won't have to order them, but will have the sink at least in place to put the house on the market next week. Always seems like there is something that puts the brakes on when you are cruising!

Curtains and counters

Here is a pic of the curtains. They need ironing, but I like the color. I don't even know where my iron is, so who knows when that will get done.


This is the kitchen preview. The backsplash still need to be grouted, and the sink is just dry fit into place - but looking quite nice!

Tile system

Okay, I checked the name of the tile system I used. Schluter - http://www.schluter.com/4677.aspx
They have some pretty cool stuff for tiling.

I got the granite part of the backsplash up today, will do the last of the mosaic tomorrow. It looks nice!

I also put up some test curtains, and really like how those look. They match the door color almost exactly. I do need to iron them, though :)

Tomorrow I should finish up the rest of the tiling and then do little leftover projects like paint touch ups and moulding replacement.

Granite tiles

Spent the last couple days cutting and laying the granite tiles. I had to rent a tile machine that could handle granite - and boy, they gave me a huge one! It took 2 people to move the cutter, but it worked great! Cutting was a breeze.
This is the new tiling system I tried. Of course, I can't remember the name of it - will have to find that and post.
It consists of metal tracks for the edging, and you cut strips of tile to fill it in. There are inside and outside corner pieces - so no mitering has to be done. It was quite easy to use, and really looks different.
I also used ditaset between the underlayment and the tile. This is a cushioned material that is designed to keep the tiles and grout from cracking if the substrate expands and contracts.
This is top of the system. It comes in different metal colors, I chose brushed chrome - since it matches stainless steel. You can see the ditaset, it's the orange stuff (this is dry fit for these pictures). The ridge slips underneath the tile and is mortared down. The tile then butts right up against the edge.


This is the front view, with the channel empty.

This is how the granite strip looks. You just use silicone to hold it into place, and grout around the edges.

Since the tiles come right up to the edge of the counter, there is a 1 inch gap in the back. I chose a mosaic to fill it in. There will be a backsplash as well, not shown here.

Rehab week in review

This week the work done was as follows:

- finished grout removal
- regrouted kitchen tiles
- installed bathroom light fixture
- got all pieces cut for counter top underlayment (attached all but one piece)
- got dishwasher installed and test ran
- installed new hand towel ring and tp roll dispenser
- replaced the upstairs baseboard molding

I picked up my granite yesterday (I love it!!), and got the metal edging pieces laid out so I could measure how much to build up the rest of the counter top. I then went to Lowe's and got more underlayment to put on tomorrow. I am going to rent a tile saw. We have one, but it is a small one, and I don't think it can handle the granite. I am going to measure for all my cuts, then get the saw and cut everything at once.

Grouting done

Finished grouting the kitchen floor today. It looks good. The grout ended up a shade or 2 lighter than I would have liked, but it is much better than the old stuff.

Old grout



Grout removed



New grout




Also got a call that my granite tiles are in! They were supposed to come on Tuesday, but got here early - so I will go pick those up tomorrow.

Grout removal done

Goodness - glad that is done. Even with the dremel tool, grout removal is tedious boring work. After finishing that - I got the rest of the loose and broken tiles up and then replaced them. Spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning the rest of tiles in preparation for grouting.

They actually look good all cleaned up! Tomorrow I will work on the actual grouting.
My granite tiles will arrive on Tuesday, so I have a few days to get most of everything else finished before then.