It's been a couple of weeks and it was a slow start but we're off to the races now. We got the permits for the plumbing, electrical and framing and there's been many changes and some surprises...(BTW, I apologize for the sideways photos but I just can't find any button anywhere that will allow me to rotate them. Anybody have the answer???)

The first thing to happen was the floor in the kitchen was gutted. It was quite a shock to walk in and see the crawl space underneath in full view! I wasn't expecting that so yeah, I had to catch my breath. But some of the joists underneath had to be replaced for leveling. The bathroom was also gutted down to the studs (but the floor remained). 

The living room ceiling has been taken down. Initially I was told that the bowing down of the ceiling was caused by the heavy coats of spackle that were put on it - likely to cover up water stains from a previous leak. We had the same issue in the master bedroom. However, it was discovered that the joists were uneven and the ceiling hadn't had proper support thereby causing a huge bow in the center. I guess at some point it would've all just come crashing down! So the plan initially was to cut out the parts of the ceiling that were damaged and place sheetrock in the bare areas for a smooth ceiling and call it a day. Surprise! The entire ceiling had to be demoed, joists replaced and ceiling replace. In the LR, as of this afternoon, the new vaulted joists had been installed and the MBR ceiling had been knocked down. At least I'm getting a beautiful new high-ceilinged LR out of it! 

A new awning also went up 

And my most favorite part up to now is the fireplace. The lovely gas heater fireplace. I tore it down myself so it was extra gratifying!

Here's what it looked like at purchase:

When the wood came off I found this red brick with an interior of white brick. The top of the back wall is actually caving towards us. I guess it would've crumbled at some point. There were also several corpses in the 4 inches of black dirt on the floor of the fireplace. 

When the red brick was removed, I saw that the bricks had covered up the original fireplace, which is the arch-shaped brick you see in the photo below. So weird to have been covered up, right? Also, the white brick side-walls jut out past the walls on either side now. The only reason I could come up with as to why the original fireplace was covered up by a white and red brick monster then by the ghastly gas heater is because it wasn't up to code and was a fire hazard. You see how the wall was heated up? There's black burn marks all around the fireplace on the plaster of the walls!!

So all in all, I'm still very excited about this. It's a real construction zone there! HVAC has come through, plumbing has begun, electric is still needed. Unexpected expenses were the ceiling joists and I have to get a new hot water heater because the one there won't work. I'm sure there'll be more. But I've found myself a great team and I can't wait to get back there tomorrow to see the ceilings!

More soon!! 

It looks like you'll learn a lot, make a little money and didn't need to waste money on a guru.

@Bob B. I've definitely learned a lot already...!

Love the styling on the houses! Looking forward to following this :)

@Alex Boeger Thanks!!

Myyyyyyy goodness!!! I really didn't think that this project was going to take this long!!!! I have been so busy with trying to get things done that I haven't had a chance to post anything but now I'm going to let anyone who's interested know what's been done to this point.

As a reminder, here's the sexy gas heater "fireplace" that was there. Doesn't it just make you wanna curl up next to it with a great book and something to sip on? Yeah. Me neither.

After several layers of demolition:

Here's the final look (why is there not an option to rotate?????): 

The kitchen has a black pearl granite countertop with arctic white cabinets and ORB handles & pulls. Appliances are being delivered and installed on Sunday and the floors are currently being worked on!

Please ask me anything!

More to come soon!!

Following along.  Curious how your costs are stacking up to your original estimates so far?

My costs are exceeding what my original estimates were, unfortunately. I continue to discover issues that I didn't know about before. I just spoke with a neighbor yesterday who said "there were about 5 groups before" I got in there and each one was there for very short periods of time. (I'm going on month 6 now) My guess is, they found an issue (or several), covered it up and flipped it to another. I'm the only one who's stuck it out this long - for better or for worse.

I can say that I have learned a tremendous amount from this never-ending project. I thought we would be staging & listing yesterday/this week (week of 6/10/19) but we got hit with another round of downpours starting last Thursday which slowed down the drying of the floors (stain) which delayed delivery and installation of appliances and also delayed staging (obviously since floors aren't complete). Siigggghhhhhh

Thanks for sharing and being vulnerable. This has been a fun post to follow. I've been looking into investing in the Atlanta area as well. 

When do you expect to finish all of the rehab work and list the house? How big of a difference was this date from your original date?

What have been your top 3 things you've learned from your first flip?

How did you find this deal?

How did you calculate your numbers - your ARV, rehab costs, how long the rehab would take, etc.?

This post is fantastic. 

Granted you're not complete yet, but do you have any opinion on HML after this? Something you would use again?

I'm sure it will come eventually, but I will be interested to read your summary "take away" post from this. 

Awesome thread! Congrats on sticking it out through those hurdles, as you've mentioned it sounds like you've learned a lot throughout this entire process. It's also really nice to hear your genuine enthusiasm coming through in your posts. Can't wait to hear out this turns out, sounds like the end is in sight! 

@Alex Sanciangco I've been thinking that the end is in sight for two months now! lol But seriously, it has taken much, much longer than expected. 

@Evan Parker   hard money was the only option I had at that time so I'm glad it was available but it was a very confusing process because the lender I used was very unclear as to what the process was. The explanation from their rep didn't give me all the details I needed and I was constantly having to email/call asking for more information. And because I had never gone through the process before I didn't know what I didn't know so I would discover things after the fact that really threw a wrench in my plans. On top of that, the one person they had dealing with buyers (that I had so much trouble with) was fired/quit in the middle of the purchase and the new person was brand new and didn't know anything! So every time I asked a question, she would "have to get back to me". Which is not so great when you're in the due diligence time crunch!! 

My opinion is, hard money is useful but I have other options now so I would only go to it if it made sense. And I would definitely shop around for a different HML!

@Wyatt Buttars and anyone else interested,  I am going to be posting all the numbers (ugly as they are!) within the next couple of weeks. This pill I'm swallowing has lodged itself in my throat and I'm working to get it all the way down ;-)  

In the meanwhile, here are some photos of the floor as they enter phase 1 - sanding.

Talk soon! 

@Melissa Dinas

It’s been a little over a month since your previous post. What updates do you have to share?? I’m anxious to see or hear about what’s happened! Thanks