Flip This House #3

Parent Cafe
681

<p>cb, the house at 4667 Niagara, 92107 is, IMO, not nearly as nice as yours will be, and I’m not saying that to flatter you. For example: </p>

<p>The cabinets in the kitchen are very 1990s. They’re dark-ish wood. I’d much prefer to see paler cabinets. And the counters need replacing too, to be more current, as do the appliances.</p>

<p>Note that in the 11th picture (I think it’s the 11th – ) that there is no nearby “landing spot” for the fridge and the ovens. </p>

<p>The bathroom is very 1980s. I hate hate hate the tile – those little white tiles with the dark grout, all over, in the shower and up the walls is not at all attractive. And the brass on the shower door is also very 1980s. A frameless shower door would have been better.</p>

<p>(All that said, was this house re-done before being put on the market?? If so, they didn’t do a good job. If no, then they’re just working with what they had, and the house could use updates.)</p>

<p>The furniture in the LR is just plain wrong. It’s big and overstuffed and there are way too many pieces.</p>

<p>I do like the wood plank ceilings. That’s kind of neat, as long as it doesn’t make the house feel too enclosed.</p>

<p>Some of the outside areas appear too small to be useful. </p>

<p>And in the second-to-last photo, the one with some gym equipment, is that a dehumidifier?? That shouts “Problem!!” to me. </p>

<p>Because you’re redoing the entire house, everything will be new, modern, contemporary, fresh. As we all know, that makes potential buyers very happy, knowing that everything works and nothing at all needs to be done. I think you’ve got a winner!</p>

<p>ETA: The real estate agent’s description of the house is lovely, and you could do worse than to steal portions of it – e.g., “CREATED WITH AN ARTISTIC FLAIR SHOWCASING PANORAMIC SIT DOWN VIEWS FROM INDOORS AND FROM THE MULTIPLE PATIOS AND DECKS. THIS UNIQUE HOME PROVIDES A TRANQUIL RESORT LIKE FEEL THAT IS SIMPLY INCOMPARABLE! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL AND LOVE OCEAN VIEWS THIS IS IT!”</p>

<p>(Why do agents have to SHOUT in all caps??!!)</p>

682

<p>The house was probably remodeled in the 70s or 80s and is still stuck there. I agree that it needs ‘updating’. So, in a buyer’s mind that house needs about $50k to get updated. I didn’t see any evidence in the photos (or my driveby of the house) that there are ‘sit down’ views from that house. I believe that you probably need to go out to the patios to get the full effect of the views. </p>

<p>It did take 21 days for the house to go into contract, and they were listed at $925k which was ridiculous. I just cannot figure out how someone paid $900k for that house, but I’m not complaining!</p>

<p>I didn’t even notice the pendant over the stove - that has just got to be gross to try and clean</p>

683

<p>OK, went back and looked at kitchen photos in detail. Those pendants are not actually hanging over the stove, the photo just makes them look like they are. The pendants are kind of hanging out in the middle near the sink. If you walked into that kitchen it would feel strange trying to ‘dodge’ the pendants hanging in the middle of the kitchen. Even though they are probably high enough, it just looks strange to have pendants hanging in the middle of nowhere. There actually doesn’t seem to be any direct light over the stove, maybe a recessed can up in the ceiling.</p>

684

<p>Milk Door</p>

<p>I started to try to re-mount the Milk Door into the kitchen because we are going to be closing up with drywall soon. I realized that we were going to have to perform some kind of surgical operation to cut off the back part of the box. I would have to cut off the recess box and outside door to get it to fit into the wall. Also, there is a lot of old paint on the doors that would have to be stripped off. Too much work… it’s just going to be displayed on a shelf somewhere and it ‘comes’ with the house’. </p>

685

<p>cb, if they were asking $925K for that house and it’s in escrow for $900K, I feel like you could put yours on for, say, $969K and be happy with anything around $925K. From looking at the values on Zillow in that neighborhood, it doesn’t seem at all outlandish. </p>

<p>But you’ll have to see what’s what when you’re finally ready to put it on the market.</p>

<p>Fingers crossed that the house at 4667 Niagara actually closes at that price.</p>

686

<p>Cb, you might want to introduce yourself to the new neighbors and casually mention that you are a seasoned remodeler who knows local codes, has a dedicated crew, the whole nine yards… That kitchen if theirs will need remodeling… ;)</p>

687

<p>The house on Niagara did close escrow at $900k, it is sold.</p>

<p>Here is another comparable sale that has steep driveway to one car garage, stairs to front entrance. But, at least their garage is on the same level as house. This one has same square footage. It sold in one week with a bidding war that caused price to go up to $867,000 from asking price of $859,000. Sold all cash, although for some reason all of the legal documents show sale price at $845,500. Either way, it sold for over $800k!!</p>

<p>1815 Froude, 92107</p>

<p>For some reason the listing photos are not on Zillow.</p>

688

<p>I figured out why recorded sale was $845k. The buying agent did not take the 2.5% commission. So it sold for 867k, but Sellers only received $845.5 cash.</p>

689

<p>^^Makes sense. Even at that price, good news for you.</p>

<p>Do you usually show some of the work progress photos to the buyers? My biggest concern with any flips is that the person who did the work cut corners on the stuff that is not visible on the surface, but the “solid bones” are very important to me, if I were buying. IMO, your big advantage is that you do a very solid job, both structurally and cosmetically. There is, of course, no need to show the trash photos… Just the progress showing new subfloors, studs, plumbing, etc… Stuff like that.</p>

690

<p>That is a very good idea. I have plenty of photos showing structural things. I usually only show some photos and discuss the details after I have received an offer. Before I accept an offer or let the buyer finalize, I always send about a 4-5 page document detailing everything that was done, disclosing everything they need to know about (the bad). I ask them to sign the document as part of their final acceptance of the contract. Part of the document makes it very clear that they are purchasing the house ‘as is’ and there are no warranties inferred (except those clearly stated).</p>

<p>This way I know they are going into the transaction fully informed.</p>

<p>Not going to show the trash photos… no way!! Everyone would run for the hills even though I have torn everything out and we are down to studs to inspect for any issues. As I said before… it is amazing that all of the studs and interior wall structure in the ‘wet’ areas of this house are solid and intact. No issues whatsoever.</p>

691

<p>Our closest neighbor behind has been wonderful about all of our construction and he is totally on board. I have talked with the one across the street also. The guy behind us is very very guilty of dumping a lot of broken concrete and dirt into that alley. He knows that it is causing issues for our drainage. I’m pretty sure he does not have a ‘permit’ for the giant hole he is creating in his yard for his ‘natural pond filter’ system. I’m not sure what kind of permit you would get for that kind of thing. </p>

<p>He even encouraged me to make our eaves longer in the back of the office building to help minimize any water coming behind that wall. Those eaves are at least 8" over into his property. He is allowing us to put a gutter across the back and a gutter onto his shed which will direct all roof runoff through a downspout and out to the alley.</p>

692

<p>cb, should you get something in writing from him? I’m worried that if he sells, the next owner could come after your buyer to change those eaves. </p>

693

<p>This guy isn’t going to sell for awhile - he’s spending a lot of money doing stuff to his house. It will not be the end of the world if someone has to shorten eaves in the future.</p>

694

<p>Photos Loaded</p>

<p>I loaded photos on all of our structural work doing the office / laundry exterior this weekend. I tried very hard to take some good some photos of the views out the office windows.</p>

695

<p>Gas Stove Decision</p>

<p>I have already purchased my stainless steel range hood which has a bit of extra power and ultra quiet fan with LED lighting.</p>

<p>I am now trying to decide on my gas range. I want it to have a ‘professional’ look but also be extremely functional. I have found two stoves that I like</p>

<p>Samsung with 5th burner that comes with griddle cover or Wok inset. Large convection oven, but I love it because it uses the bottom drawer as a ‘warming drawer’. I liked it before but it was always about $2,500 everywhere. Just found it on sale at Lowes and I love the new price!</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&productId=50266969&cId=list”>http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&productId=50266969&cId=list&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Or this Frigidaire which has more of a ‘wow’ professional look but not as many nice features. Smaller oven, no 5th burner, no warming drawer</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.lowes.com/pd_551685-2251-FPGS3085PF_1z0ynwt+1z140t3__?productId=50080878&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar|1%26page%3D1&facetInfo=Frigidaire”>http://www.lowes.com/pd_551685-2251-FPGS3085PF_1z0ynwt+1z140t3__?productId=50080878&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar|1%26page%3D1&facetInfo=Frigidaire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

696

<p>My experience has been that buyers don’t seem to analyze stove features very much, they just like the ‘wow’ of a kitchen</p>

697

<p>Is there really a payback for a $2000 stove? Do people buying million dollar houses actually cook? ;)</p>

<p>They both look pretty fancy to me, so I’d go with the cheap one. Or find a fancy looking one for $1000 and take an extra vacation with the difference.</p>

698

<p>Get something from the owner that you have an easement or something. Please. </p>

699

<p>I kinda like the Samsung more. It looks higher end than the Frigidaire. But the Lowe’s site isn’t showing a price, because they say it’s not available on Lowes.com, so I could be swayed if the Frigidaire is significantly cheaper. </p>

<p>Also, a five-burner stove that’s only 30 inches wide is pretty impressive.</p>

<p>The two new windows in the office are awesome!!</p>

700

<p>For me it shows $1619 for the Samsung and $1999 for the Frigidaire. I had to put in my zip code to see the price so it may vary by where you are.</p>