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Loki005- Thanks for your welcome!

I didn’t buy the property with the intention to flip (bought it as my “home”.) But I quickly found myself loving the transformation process and decided to sell and buy another rehab property.

What would I do differently? A ton of thinks (since this was the project I cut my teeth on.) Since I didn’t plan on this being a flip, I did buy the house after a proper profit analysis – I just sort of lucked out. For my next purchase, profit analysis will be #1 criteria.

The one thing I did do right was set a budget for everything I did and tracked every penny I spent from the beginning to the end – this really kept the reality of spending front and center in my mind. Who ever knew that my tight-wad nature would come in handy!?!

And Rehab702 - Minna (a fellow CT gal) has been a great inspiration - I've been following her posts forever!

Am I correct to think I cannot post photos since I haven't done 10 posts yet? Thanks.

Rehab702 and TPM - thanks for your responses! I just knew people here would be great!!

What type of rehap did I do? What didn't I do!?!!! (The house was built in 1952 and almost nothing had been touched in over 50 yrs.) Luckily, it had good "bones....

Just some background info - Greenwich, CT is a very upscale, expensive area in CT just outside of New York City, so a cheap redo would have been an overall, poor investment. Luckily, I love bargain hunting so was able to do a champagne redo on a beer budget (American beer at that!!)

Summary of my project:

Upgraded old electrical system
Complete kitchen remodel (including soapstone countertops, copper farm sink, stainless appliances)
Complete bath remodel (two)
Removed walls on stairway, so now open stairwell with new newels, ballisters, etc.
All new windows, doors and door hardware
Added/replaced all molding (crown/baseboards/door/window etc.)
Replaced all lights/outlets/switches
Refinished all floors (wood)
Replaced all metal radiator covers with custom wood covers (turned many into great little windowseats)
And finally (of course) every single paintable surface has been painted! (I'm so sick of painting....)

Exterior:
Added shutters and headers on all doors/windows
New cedar fence (surrounds property - put cute white picket with arbors in front!)
New brick paver terrace
Pergola
New tool/garden shed
Removed old landscaping and added all new bushes/plants
Refaced front and back entrance steps with slate tiles

Obviously, I left the electrical upgrade and heavy plumbing to the pros, but I did as much of the rest as I could myself (all the demo, I learned how to install toilets and sinks! all small electrical, like install lights/outlets, etc., all the painting, some of the minor carpentry, most of the landscaping, etc.) I also had great handyman/carpenter that helped a great deal.

I must say, I am quite proud of myself, being a "chick" and all...lol. I am happy to share "before/After" photos if anyone is interested!

Thanks again for this great site!!

Cindy

Hello,
I found this site several months ago and absolutely love it! I've now decided to become an active member.

A bit about myself - own my own home in Greenwich, CT. Recently rehabbed it from "slum" on the block - it's on the market now. Although it's a tough time to sell, it's been a good "laboratory" for me to test my skills, since there has been ZERO market appreciation since I bought 20 months ago. My sweat equity and wise spending on materials/labor has led RE broker to expect it to sell for 30% profit after investment/broker/taxes, etc. (should clear $200K)

I have excellent (800) credit score. When my current home sells (hopefull this Fall), I'll have funds to purchase another fixer-upper and have enough left $$ for rehab.

I absolutely loved doing my rehab (did as much as possible myself) and can't wait to do my next. I work full time, but would like to cut that back to 1/2 time, so I could do two rehabs at once.

Ideally, I would like to be working on two houses at once - the one I'll live in and another house. Question - if I can find the funds for another downpayment (will be tough!), will a lender give me a loan to purchase a 2nd property to rehab and flip? In this part of the country, homes are not inexpensive. Fixer uppers start at $500-700K.

I'll easily qualify for the mortgage for my next home, but can't imagine that a lender would give me another $600K mortgage! But again, I'm a newbie and am unfamilar with any loans besides the fairly traditional home mortgages.

Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks!!! Cindy