The search

It all starts with a search. I had been on a house hunt before. Actually twice and both times I ended up very pleased with the outcome. However, those searches were very different from this search. Those searches were for a family home. A house to live in and actually call home. This new search was for a project. A money maker. A challenge. A new endeavor.

Amazingly enough it was not hard to like a house because it was just that. I just needed to like it. I did not need to fall in love with it and see it as a home for myself and my loved ones. I just needed to see if I could improve upon it. And lucky for me, I am an optimist and a strategist and I think that I can help just about anything. So I made an offer on the first house I saw. Yep, the very first house I stepped foot into, I made an offer. And it was not accepted. So I looked at more houses and put in more offers. Guess what, those were not accepted either. Yes, some offers were less than asking price because let’s face it, some people are asking way too much. Some offers were exactly asking and some where even over asking price. One house I put an offer on was on the market for one day, I offered $22,000 over asking and I did not get the house. That is crazy, right! That house received 24 offers. In one day!

But my search as hopefully come to an end for the time being because someone finally accepted my offer! Well, at first they did not but their first offer fell through so we said our offer still stands and then they accepted it. Kinda crazy but that is how the market works in my home town. Oh, I guess I should tell you that my home town is Austin, Texas.

So currently, I have two more days in my option period. The inspector was at the house yesterday and wrote up a 37 page report about the house. These reports can be very scary but I am an optimist and refuse to be scared off from a project. The inspector suggested we have the pipes looked at and the HVAC looked at as well. So tomorrow two more inspections along with a visit from my contractor to start the estimations for all the work.

I think I failed to mention that my mother is my silent, not so silent, business partner in all of this. So when I say, “I bought a house.” what I mean is we bought a house. However, my mom is great and I think trusts me with the project. Which I am not sure why because honestly I have never done this before. But really what could go wrong? With a hot market like Austin, we are bound to come out ahead! Right?

So besides starting a new endeavor of trying to flip a house, I thought why not start a blog at the same time. This will be a great way to chronicle my adventures, my ups and downs with the project. Then when this first house flip is done, I can read back over this and decided if I really want to try it again or if this crazy hair brained idea as passed.

It looks like a go!

After the inspectors report, we decided we wanted to have additional inspection of the plumbing and the HVAC system of the house. Yesterday, we received good news from both inspections! Plumbing looks to be in good shape and so does the HVAC system.

We also had a contractor out to see the property and discuss the projects we have in mind for the house. He is a realist and cautioned me about trying to do too much, like move walls to expand the two bathrooms which included rearranging all of the plumbing. I understand his perspective and will think it over. I am just not sure how we can get top dollar for a home that only has one full bathroom and a half bathroom in the master bedroom.

Here are Mom’s sketches of the house. The first sketch is how the house is currently and the second is our proposed renovations.

Here is a sketch of the house as it is currently.

Here is one option with the bathrooms extended and reconfigured.

The house is only 1,270 square foot. It was built in 1971. The kitchen needs all new cabinets and that would mean we would need to replace the counter top. Which is unfortunate because I like the current counter top but it is just not enough and it would look like a patch job. The house also needs all new windows and doors. Even bedroom and closet doors.

We, of course, will also be putting all new flooring in throughout the house and painting the full interior and exterior of the home. There is also wood rot along the back of the house that must be replaced and we will be converting the garage back into a garage. It is currently a storage room where they have removed the garage door and replaced it with a regular door. Lastly, we would like to add a front porch and extend the gable out to create an inviting and updated look to the house.

We still have not yet closed on the house. That is still a few more weeks away. So no work to be started yet and no pictures of the interior of the house until I am actually the owner. So check back again for more details on how my first flip is going.

Flipping a house and starting a blog

Hello. My name is JC Sanders and I am a first time house flipper. This blog will chronicle my experiences with flipping a house. I will share photos, experiences, costs, decisions, and all the in-between.

I am not a professional contractor or real estate agent. I am also not a professional writer so pardon the grammatical errors, the run-on and fragmented sentences, the missed placed commas or forgot punctuation. Just read it for fun and maybe for inspiration.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Here is some light reading that is trying to change my mind and bring about doubt. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/08/house-flip.asp

I do know this is very risky and will be hard. I am not looking to make a fortunate or even a quick buck. I am hoping to learn some lessons and skills. My goal is to make a profit, be inspired, try something risky, and come out the other end.