All Forum Posts by: Jonathan V.

Thanks a lot for the feedback Aaron!

We are planning on replacing all interior and exterior doors. The roof is in good shape, it's ~5-10 years old, just there is one area in the back where there is a small leak from someone sticking something through the roof.

Labor is very cheap in this area, including good labor. $1,250 a week will get you 2 workers and the contractor overseeing the project.

For the skill intensive ones my contractor knows everyone in town and will pick the most cost-efficient, reliable one.

Flooring is all laminate hardwood, except the kitchen and bathroom, we've already purchased it for $2.39. (After tax) I did not include labor in the $/sq ft as the labor is all done by the contractor and his workers and is done by the week.

There is a layer of plywood over the old original pine floors. They had put carpet on top of the old floors. It is not rotting.

Thanks for the rest of the advice.

I'm in Arkansas

I'm not sure about the windows, I'm guessing they are much older, they are the kind with ropes on them, so I guess by "everything" I mean "a lot".

And there are enough outlets, my wife just happened to not get them all in the pictures.

As for rewiring, I'm going to go with what the contractor says to do.

Everything is pretty easily accessible and when they get everything torn out it won't be too bad getting everything redone.

The electric panel has been upgraded in the last twenty years (I'm guessing when they installed the HVAC) and has enough room for more breakers.

The door is off, it actually fell off the hinges last time we were in there.

Everything was updated in the early 80's. The roof is about 5-10 years old.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtKJIUDSMuNCdDJEeWlIeS1hQV9tcDlJNzdIaDNzS3c&hl=en&authkey=CPjViVg

See if that works, it should be open to anyone, you can't make changes, but you should be able to see #'s and formulas.

I have zero experience other than personal home renovations.

I will have a contractor doing everything except possibly some landscaping. The contractor has been a father figure to me for 17 years (since I was 11) and has been doing this for a long, long time.

From seeing his work, and knowing how much personal renovations have cost me, I know he is affordable and reliable.

Six months is the timeline I would like to have it completely sold by.

With that being said, I do have a question in regards to old windows. They are all structurally fine, they do have a bunch of dings and old paint. What is the best way to tackle these things? There are a few storm window panes missing and interior window panes missing but nothing screams "replace me".

Should we just putty, sand, and paint them all?

Last week I put under contract a real fixer upper. 140 year old all cypress framed ~1250 sq ft. 3/1.

I have it under contract for $16,500. Comparables in the area are selling in the $80-90,000 range, average listing time is ~2 months. However our's has a fireplace which is not normal for this price range, so I feel we will sell quickly.

Here are the pictures.

http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii132/bigbadjonv/House%20purchase/

The house had been updated in the early 80's, and is being sold by the same owner. She rented it out to some people who demolished it.

So far, we've already had an inspection, everything came back fine except some outlets are grounded, and some aren't. Also the hot water heater's and furnace's pilot lights aren't turning on.

The furnace has a lot of rust because it hasn't been turned on in two winters. I'm hoping a service person can come out and clean it up and it will magically start working again, if not we are going to have to replace it. The HVAC was put in 1996.

We are closing on this coming Tuesday, we are basically re-dry-walling everything and reflooring as well. I have setup in our budget a "minimum" and "everything" column and we will assess the best option as we go along.

Here is my current budget, it's kind of rough atm.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtKJIUDSMuNCdDJEeWlIeS1hQV9tcDlJNzdIaDNzS3c&hl=en&authkey=CPjViVg

The neighborhood has had sales directly across the street for $150-180,000 but they are larger houses (+2,000 sq ft.). It is a safe family friendly neighborhood in small town America.

I've also posted this on another forum. I look forward to talking about this flip. As long as my wife and I break even, we will be ok as we've wanted to do this for a LONG time.

It also helps that the neighborhood is the same that I grew up in, and I REALLY want to make this a good home that will attract a family that will help retain the value of the neighborhood.

The agent is the owner of the real estate company by the way.

We have nothing in writing, we did put an offer on another property that was rejected.

In other words, they are just showing us houses. They've showed us like 3 so far, so haven't shown us much.