Flip or Flop?

I'm on the edge of my seat here guys.  I'm hoping that by the time I get on a plane this evening I'll know whether or not I'll be coming back from France with a house to flip.  Honestly, it's not looking good.  After our accepted offer, we went in for a home inspection.  There was nothing drastically wrong that we weren't half way expecting.  The biggie here is knob and tube.  We knew there was some there going into the inspection... but dude it's everywhere.  Like rewire the ENTIRE house everywhere.  whomp whomp.  We need them to come down a lot on the price to make this project worth it. So I figured I'd just tease today (both you and me).  IF we can work this project out- and that's a big IF right now- this house has charm busting at the seams!

Even an original, maybe workable pocket door.

If I can get my hands on this kitchen, I WON'T be gutting it.  Gasp!  Nope, I'll be reworking and fixing up the existing cabinets.  I can totally see it, can you?

If this house hasn't charmed you already, these details will send you over the edge:

Oh yeah, and there's a delightfully not original to the house blue bathroom.

If only the ridiculous charm of this house made up for the mouse infestation, knob and tube and updates needed everywhere.  Cross your fingers for me that the seller agrees to the revised deal but it's a super long shot.  This would be a fun (ridiculously nerve-wracking) project that's not just another mid- century ranch.

**UPDATE** The sellers agreed to lower the price even more!  We've agreed to go forward with the sale, and as long as I keep a tight watch on the budget, this'll be a great project!!!

Flip Potentials

It's Friday and I don't have a flip progress update to share.  I don't know what to do with myself!  Hopefully you saw the big Grover news hidden in Wednesday's DIY post- WE ACCEPTED AN OFFER!  YAY!  And the big cherry on top of this week is that we're closing on Frankie today.  Finally feeling like a professional flipper! So on to finding #4!  We didn't have the next lined up yet since Frankie was still lingering.  There's only so many mortgages we can handle at once and it turns out that 3 is our limit (counting the house that we actually live in).  BUT with Frankie closing today, the flip hunt begins!!!  I'm actually headed out this AM with our realtor to check out the potential.

The current short sale front-runner I've already checked out and we've already put in a lowball offer that was rejected, so I'll be meeting with my contractor, analyzing the numbers and putting in another offer.  Me likes this one.  But it does have one gigantic red flag- basement fire damage from 50+ years ago.  You know what that translates to?  50+ years of structural damage.  Yay!  or not.  BUT if the price is right here, he could be a gem.  This one's all about location location location- less than a mile from our own humble abode in a very desirable neighborhood.  The listing photos almost hide the fact that the kitchen's a complete gut and the entire dining room is experiencing a fun-house tilt (just look at the built-in's drawer for illustration).

I'm off to see quite a few today, and according to the listing pictures, this should be interesting.  I'll be looking at (not all in one house thankfully)

PINK trim

paneling paradise

charming and not at all dated wallpaper/carpet pairings

and bathrooms straight out of the spa

My sledgehammer is just itching with anticipation.  Fingers crossed that we find one that the numbers make sense on!  With Grover's success, I'm excited to jump into the next!

DIY Tassel Key Chain

Before I get to the promised DIY..... I knew there was a subconscious reason why I was putting off blogging this morning.  After waiting a day and a half for a counter of our counter offer on Grover, we JUST ACCEPTED AN OFFER!!!  We've been listed under a week, didn't allow any showings until Sunday's open house and received the offer on Monday.  So essentially we sold the house without a single showing!!!  I'm in disbelief right now.  Especially considering how long it took us to sell Frankie.  I'm going to be holding my breath until the inspection and appraisal come in, but I don't anticipate any issues.  Dude- staging sells.  Who knew??? Ok, now I'll get back to what I planned to share today!

I had this idea back with the first flip, but it just didn't end up working in.  With Frankie's closing on Friday, I wanted to leave the new owners with a little something: a hand made keychain and touch up paint for their new house.

I know I'm not reinventing the wheel here with a leather tassel key chain, but it was a quick, fun DIY that I hope the new owners will appreciate.  And it cost me nothing since I already had all the supplies- even better!

All it took was 2 small rectangles of leather and a key ring.

As you can see, I marked out where to cut my tassels on the back of the leather.  I find that a rotary cutter is the easiest for cutting leather like butter.  After that it was as simple as hot gluing on the loop, then hot glue and roll the rest.

Does it get much simpler?

For the touch up paint to pass to the new owners, I didn't want to leave them the whole cans since there's enough for me to use again.  Enter $1 mason jars and printed labels that I whipped up in 5 minutes!

I really hope that the future owners appreciate the personal touch.  No heartless flippers here!!

I'm still happy dancing about the accepted offer.  :)  What a great treat for the middle of the week!