My first thought… It had better not be MY bottle of champagne!!!
I don’t think it is a ‘party’ per se. I think it is Mom/Dad and all of their sons, wives and grandchildren. With the agent I hope
I also thought about your champagne! Hope the didnt think it was a gift to the buyer!
I did the same thing when I bought my new house, while it was in escrow. Pestered the agent to schedule a showing so that I could stop by with my mom, two sisters, brothers-in-law, two aunts, an uncle, and cousin and her husband. The owner-builder stopped by and gave us all a tour of all the little details I hadn’t even noticed. I was downsizing from my truly beloved home after a divorce and that day was super important to my getting at least a little excited about the new place. I was very grateful to the owner and the agent for facilitating that. It was nice of you to allow your buyers to do the same, CB
Well, it sure doesn’t sound like they’re planing to back out!! This is awesome!
Speaking of premature celebrations: We got the key to our new house the day before closing & stopped by in the evening without realizing we probably shouldnt have been there. The listing agent stopped by and thoroughly chewed us out not knowing we were the buyers. She was rude and mean even after she knew were the buyers – and did not show up to the closing the next morning. Although she was youngish (40s) she passed away in her sleep a few years later and i just couldnt muster up too much sympathy. It’s been so long i’d forgotten all about that until now.
anyway; CB it all sounds good so far.
We are moving fast. Because I feel confident that the house will sell, whether these buyers or one of our backup buyers, I asked my agent to remove the For Sale sign. It always makes me uncomfortable to have that sign up in front of a vacant house. It’s an advertisement saying “I’m vacant” and everyone starts looking through the windows, wandering around, etc. You never know what might happen.
Today at 2pm the staging furniture is being removed. I feel it is important that all the furniture is removed before buyers do their Home Inspection, if possible. I want them to be able to see and access everything. The ‘inexpensive’ staging company is so swamped right now it was the only day they could schedule. Turns out that she staged 15 homes last week. Crazy!! I think a lot of the flippers/agents in town have discovered her… she is at least $2,000 less than others. I cannot figure out how she makes enough money. For our staging it was obvious that she had to buy major pieces of furniture. She bought a brand new couch and love seat for downstairs, two end tables and 6 dining chairs. I know this because she showed up at the last minute with a bunch of boxes of new furniture that she assembled on the spot. She is madly buying a lot of inventory
We are pretty confident that we will not need to do any more Open Houses in the future.
The buyer not-party at the house reminds me of the guy who bought our house years ago. The closing was mid-December. His agent let him into the house before closing so he could set up a lighted Christmas tree, and put a box with an engagement ring gift under it. I almost flipped when DH said he drove by the house before closing and saw the tree through the window. But it all worked out, and yes, we did know he wasn’t going to pull any fast ones at closing.
Wow, that’s gutsy to leave an engagement ring in an empty house that has a lockbox that any agent can use (hoping that the lockbox had already been removed!)
We have just received a request that the original buyers would like to submit a formal written offer for backup position. Yes! bring it on! We don’t know what price they will put in the offer, but it is always good to have an executed backup. It helps with any petty negotiations during the Home Inspection period.
Checked on my champagne - still intact in the refrigerator! House doesn’t look any worse for wear, just some plastic cups in the kitchen trash 
This is what I am so grateful for right now…
I have been watching the Newell house flip and the Byron flip that were done by the same company/person. I was so worried that they would sell first and all I cared about is that I sold before they did. I just didn’t want to think that all the attention to detail, overdoing it, over spending… was not worth it. It would have proved that I should just slam through everything, install a kitchen from off the shelf, etc. I would have been resigned to the fact that it doesn’t pay off and I just need to give up and go cheap.
These properties have not sold, have not received any decent offers that I know of. And, today, he has dropped the price on both the properties. Can’t help wondering whether he saw Nipoma go Pending and realized he needs to get his price down.
Doncha love it when the good guys win? :)>-
ETA: CB, what were those addresses for Newell and Byron?
Haven’t those properties been on the market for months? Your flips sell very quickly, and a lot of that is because of the quality.
Besides, like I said before, I don’t think you are in it just for the money, you seem to get a great deal of satisfaction from the design/artistic side and from creating a quality project. It’s not just about boxes and paint.
And even if those properties had sold first, all it would prove is that some buyers are idiots. I don’t believe that you would “give up and go cheap”. Not your nature.
Multiple price drops is small increments on both:
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-150053493-3230_Newell_San_Diego_CA_92106
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-150053508-3221_Byron_San_Diego_CA_92106
BUDGET UPDATE
I believe that these are final numbers. Just the renovation costs. Does not include carrying costs, taxes, selling costs, etc.
Demolition/Dump = $4,000
Plumbing = $6,100
Electrical = $6,900
Kitchen = $13,250 (excludes plumbing, electrical, flooring, patch and paint)
Roof = $6,500
Landscape = $17,700 (includes hardscape, decks, fences, irrigation and drainage)
Flooring = $13,000
I was not good about trying to keep track of the exact costs for converting 800 sq ft because a lot of painting, patching, and general stuff blended in. For example, the plumbing and electrical costs above are for entire house but obviously there was a lot of work involved for the new addition.
Conversion of new area = $42,000
Existing bathroom renovations = $11,000
Other (permits, general materials, doors, windows) = $27,423
TOTAL = $147, 873
Original estimate = $86,000
Updated Estimate with addition = $131,000
I guess it’s not that bad!!! Only $16,000 over and it’s mostly in landscape/concrete costs
cb, even though the renovation wet over budget, it looks like you’re going to make a good amount on this investment. If you do two of these a year, you’re doing well!
ETA: I’d like to know the carrying costs, closing costs, etc., to see overall how this went.
I’ll share the final costs when we close. It’s a moving target until that happens.
And… it always looks like a huge profit but it really isn’t when you factor in closing costs and carrying costs. So, when you see these on TV they will look something like this:
Sold = $999,000
Renovation = $147,873
Purchase = $701,000
and then they show a big profit of $150,000!!! I don’t think so… you’re going to be very surprised on how small the profit really is
And, I don’t know any competitors that would have spent the same $147,873. They would probably get it done for somewhere around $75,000 to $100,000 and in 4 to 5 weeks. I have no idea how they do it (unless they lie all the time on the true cost and schedule). They also are better organized and just sweep through with teams on top of each other. Never seems to work for me… we’ll have the painters come through but half the rooms aren’t really done. Then they have to come back, and then they have to come back and it keeps going. Lots of drywall patching going on until the very end.
CB, it really seems to me that you just LOVE creating a beautiful finished product that you know your buyers will LOVE! The satisfaction from a job well done and developing a place of beauty–polishing the diamond in the rough, if you will, is priceless! You sleep well at night, knowing your labors are so greatly appreciated and that you are doing more than a job. Your satisfaction shines through in all your posts and is infectious. If you can bring your super-carpenter and do some work here in HI, I’d be most grateful! 
I have received the official back up offer in writing. Once again, I’m a little amazed at how sloppy the offer was written. They didn’t even bother to call my agent and ask what terms or conditions should be in the offer to make it clean.
For example, if you are making an All Cash Offer there are boxes where you have to specifically check No Loan Contingency and No Appraisal Contingency. They didn’t mark them and, even though it’s marked ‘Cash’ Offer, if something went sideways they did not technically mark no loan contingency/appraisal contingency. A novice seller and/or seller agent could be stuck waiting for someone to get a loan or go through an appraisal.
And, even though they threw a big number out in an email during the flurry… this backup offer is less than they said. I don’t care because it’s still over asking price and I don’t expect to need the backup offer.
Exciting! Can’t wait to hear all the details about the various offers after the property closes!