Flip this House
Recently, my husband Jeff, tried his hand again at flipping houses. He started this undertaking about a year ago with this house with “lots of potential.”
This was Jeff’s first flip of higher price range home, and it was a lot to take on. The house needed pretty much everything. A new roof, new floors, new appliances, windows, counter tops, lighting, pluming, and that’s just the inside. I’m the photographer at DeFoor Realty, so I was called in to take the “before” pictures.
When I drove up the driveway covered in pine straw, I could see the house indeed had a lot of potential. You had to look past the overgrown front yard and the amazon jungle that was the back yard. I entered the home through the side entrance that led into the kitchen. I was trying to look past the hodgepodge of decorating styles and the mess. There was random stuff everywhere. The home had obviously been missing some TLC. The tiled floors were cracked. It had laminate counter tops that were supposed to look like wood. The dark blue wallpaper was holding up remarkably well and the old appliances and space maker radio could probably qualify as collectors items. The smell of the home reminded me of somewhere I’d been when I was a child. Perhaps someone’s home who had a mothball addicted grandma and her eight cats living with them.
I moved into the great room with floor to ceiling wood paneling on all four walls. It brought me right back to 1980-something and suddenly I had Lionel Richie’s ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ going through my head. This room was large and my mind started trying to envision it with modifications. Mainly, taking the wall out between the living room and the kitchen to open the house up.
While I don’t know a lot of the details that went into the process of making this home look fabulous again, I do know that it took a lot of time, hard work and learning. Jeff was on the phone with his partner, contractors, painters and yard guy… a lot (There was also the pool guy… but that’s a whole other story). Jeff was spending many nights and weekends at the flip. By the end of the process, he was spending so much time there, I began to joke that he was going over to the house to sit by the pool and get some peace and quiet away from our two small children.
I took the first photos of the home in August of 2015 and it was finally ready for me to photograph to list in April of 2016. I have to say that Jeff and his team did a great job. When I went back to the home it looked brand new. I could even see myself living there. I had this funny feeling inside my chest as I took the after pictures. It was pride. I was very proud of Jeff for taking on such a feat and making this house live up to its potential. While we didn’t make money on the ordeal, he certainly got an education in the house flipping game and I’m proud that he was able to take a leap and try. So, even though we’re not running to the bank with the amazing flip (like they do on TV), he’s learned a lot. Maybe next time. Until then, enjoy these before and after photos.
