Flipping

Nessie the Flip House: Week 4

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Check in each Friday to see weekly update of how this house progresses!  To catch up on the progress on Nessie, check out her previous posts here.  If you’re new here (Hello!!!),  or just enjoy walking down memory lane, you can see my 6 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!!  

My apologies for the late post- I've been sick for the past several days.  Stomach flu is sooo fun to begin with, but it's especially fun when your baby chooses that same time to decide to wake up every hour at night.  It's hard to be mad when he greets you with a smile each time though.  Anyway, now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

 

Remember week 3 when I hoped that I would have lots of fun things to show you this week?  Apparently I lied.  We got structural notes from an architect friend so that we could submit them officially to the town, now the town has all the permit application forms, floor plans, etc, and a big fat check.... and now we wait.  The downfall of a small town is that people generally wear several hats- in this case, they don't currently have a dedicated building inspector to deal with the permits, so the building commissioner has to do it all.  And for me, that means we may have to wait a week or 2 for the building permit to do any of the fun work.  Until then, I'm giving the landscaping the green light and hopefully we can start improving the curb appeal!!  I'm super disappointed that this is the second week in a row that I really am at a loss for anything fun to update you on.  I haven't even ordered the kitchen yet!  I know what I want, I just need to figure out where I can get it within my budget!!

 

 

Here's a sneak peek, although not the final layout:

 

 

Thanks to a neighbor (Hi Cheryl!) I learned that Nessie's neighborhood has quite the interesting history.  The neighborhood right by the pond boomed in the first couple decades of the 1900s as a vacation destination for those from Boston and the surrounding towns.  Prohibition and the Great Depression was rough and the neighborhood supposedly became overtook by bootlegging gangsters with properties getting exceedingly rundown.  Luckily, the 50s and early 60s brought a new life into the neighborhood and the area was cleaned up and renovated.  A lot of the original properties were beyond help at this point and destroyed, so the fact that Nessie was built in 1920 and renovated (on my estimation) in the early 60s, this is one of the lucky houses that was fit to stay standing.

And on that note, I'm off to call the town and see how its looking for a permit this week.  Wish me luck!!

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Nessie the Flip House: Week 2

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Check in each Friday to see weekly update of how this house progresses!  To catch up on the progress on Nessie, check out her previous posts here.  If you’re new here (Hello!!!),  or just enjoy walking down memory lane, you can see my 6 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!! Let the smashing begin!!!

 

I had my planner hat on this week, while Hubby actually put on his demo hat.  He may not be the one to build anything, but he can wield a crowbar and sledge hammer with the best of them.

 

 

Handy Dad got in on the action a bit too and helped Hubby tackle most of the kitchen.

 

 

The stove is actually new- still with the protective film on parts, so were shockingly keeping an appliance for once.  Now, the really question is what should we do with this state of the art Lady Kenmore???

 

 

Meanwhile outside, we have a brand new septic system, and a totally cleared, nicely graded back yard to go with it.

 

We didn't realize how much of our overgrown landscaping would be taken care of by the septic fix!  It really takes care of half of the landscaping that we were planning to do already.

 

 

We're still getting quotes for the rest of the landscaping though, including retaining wall, patio, those little stairs, and the walkways to the front and side doors.

 

I'm still working on planning the design and figuring out what we need to do for the town to approve our plans.  Because this house is pretty neutral style wise to start with, just a nice kitchen isn't going to cut it.  I'm thinking blue cabinets, wood accents, and white walls.  This IKEA kitchen is actually what sparked the inspiration for me.  This particular one is just a bit too modern, but it got my wheels turning.  I'm thinking more mid century modern- I REALLY am fixated on the idea of blue cabinets!

 

Aside from septic, this one's starting out a little slower while we get all of our ducks in a row, but I have a feeling once the major work starts, it's going to fly!

Have an awesome weekend!!!

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Nessie the Flip House: Week 1

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Check in each Friday to see weekly update of how this house progresses!  To catch up on the progress on Nessie, check out her previous posts here.  If you’re new here (Hello!!!),  or just enjoy walking down memory lane, you can see my 6 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!!  

Ah, week 1.  The week where I start getting quotes and face the reality of where my budget meets my dreams for the house.  Don't get me wrong- still going to be epic, I just need to focus my epic into certain areas.  For a designer, it's always a little torturous to spend the bulk of the money on things like septic systems and electrical.  Speaking of septic, that's one way to get some landscaping done!

 

 

Getting a new septic system installed is a very literal way to watch money go down the drain.  Luckily for us, the sellers had done the 'dirty work' and had a new septic system engineered and approved by the town.  All we had to do is make a few calls and write a check.

 

 

Surprisingly, this will be done in less than a week and then the dumpster and porto-pot will be delivered.  Probably more surprising, however is that we actually haven't started smashing anything inside!  Only planning has begun.  This house is getting the most layout 'tweaking' of any of the flips with walls getting demo'd, built, and moved.  My challenge is always to try and make the house make sense- and this one is definitely a challenge.  The original living space of the house was only about 25' x 20' with additions onto it.  Finding a way to incorporate both kitchen and dining in a logical way was this house's biggest head scratcher.  After trying about 10 different options, I think I landed on the ideal kitchen layout for the space- one that eliminates the long galley feel of the space and adds a banquette dining area

 

So I have a layout that I think will work, now I need to decide on what style this house wants to be.  Even though the house was technically built in 1920, I'm totally feeling the vibe of the renovations that were done in the 60s.  I'm leaning toward making the style of the interior very min-century inspired with a modern twist.  Such a different house than Shorty, which was also built right around 1920.  That's the fun I have with flipping- each house has it's own personality.... it's my job to make it visible to everyone else.

 

Next week, I'm hopeful that the interior smashing will begin and I'll start pulling together design plans for each space.  I can't wait to show you what I come up with!

 

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