Flip This Old House

Staining an interior concrete floor

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:01:00 +0000

This is three different colors of stains used to create a mottled effect.

Whole House Fan (1)

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Here is the standard version of a whole house fan.
It is cut into the ceiling so it can vent into the attic. Then in turn the air is forced out the attic vents.

Some confuse an attic fan with a whole house fan. An attic fan is only in the attic and is usually on the roof or at a gable vent and moves air through the attic. A whole house fan is located in the ceiling of the house, it pulls air through the house and forces it into the attic, cooling the attic.

Things to be aware of: You need proper attic ventilation, the air that is being forced into the attic must have a way out of the attic. The whole house fan is to be used when the outside temperature cools down in the evening and it is still hot in the house. It is not to be used when it still hot outside, it will only pull in hot air.

It cools down outside, you open up a few windows, turn on the whole house fan and the cooler outside air is drawn in and pushed up into the attic cooling the attic at the same time.

Vessel Sinks

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Vessel Sinks...what was done here was a copper vessel sink. It had a 3/4" flat lip all the way around so this vessel sink could be recessed.

Now with that being said...here are some things to look out for.
Being a hammered out copper sink it is not exactly level or even, but you probably bought it for the character anyway.
Vessel sinks do not have an overflow. If the water is let running it will overflow into the bath and house. Just something to be aware of.
Now the tough part...the drain! You need a vessel drain. It is not a standard drain assembly. Now if you install a vessel sink that sits on top of the counter top like most vessel sinks, you will buy an appropriate faucet that stands tall and comes with the appropriate drain. But...if you recess it as in our photo, finding a bronze vessel drain is not simple. The faucet came with a standard drain which will not work. Home Depot, Lowes and ALL the local specialty shops did not have one. A few are available on line but they are rare. It was surprising how many if not most were not even aware of the special drain required.
So before you get to far along with a vessel sink, make sure you have the drain that goes with your sink in the finish you want!!!

Travertine tile in the bath

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Everything is travertine tile, on the floor, in the shower, on the counter top. It is very important to seal not only the grout but the travertine tile. Travertine is very porous and must be sealed. Being a natural stone you may have holes completely through the tile. It is also important to grout all of these holes.

Bathroom remodel continued

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:43:00 +0000

Putting it back together

cement board and getting the shower pan ready, no more tub!

the shower pan is set

various shots of tile

Bathroom remodel

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Bathroom surprise. First it was the tile and then the cast iron tub. We attempted to cut the tub but then we went back to the sledge. Now the surprise...there should be no dirt in the picture!! What you see if from termites!

Paving with brick

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:04:00 +0000

Currently used brick is a better deal then pavers and I like the look of it better then pavers for small areas. Note, the used brick sold at Home Depot is not really used brick. It is not previously used and it is not brick. It is 'painted' to look used and it is really formed concrete. The importance of this is in cutting the brick. It will not cut conventionally with a chisel, it best to rent a wet saw for your cuts.
That being said you're ready to start. Here we used a herringbone pattern to create a small sitting area. The outside edges were set in concrete to 'hold' the sides. All interior brick are set in sand and grout used between the bricks to help hold them in place.

A brick paver pathway was then added to connect to the back of the house.

Renovating a yard

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Most of the hard work came from bringing in a load of top soil and a load of composted manure and spreading a thin layer over the entire yard. The next step was seeding it and raking it in.

Water and fertilizer are the next key ingredients. Don't skimp on the water, it's a difference maker.

Not mowing it too short is the next key issue. I can't tell you how many lawns are cut too short. It's not bent grass and a putting green, it's tall fescue and a lawn.
Note the flower bed by the walk has also been reworked.

A non conventional fence

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:43:00 +0000

A fence was added that had a non conventional look. Be sure to check code requirements in your city. Here we have 6′ to the front of the house then drop to 4′. 4′ can continue to 12′ from the curb.

Starting right to left it starts out as edging and grows to a 6′ fence in a rolling fashion.

Mad Money's Jim Cramer

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Jim Cramer from Mad Money has predicted the bottom of the housing market. The date is June 30, 2009!

Here is the link to CNBC to see the original broadcast.

Concrete Stain

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:24:00 +0000

Concrete stain can do a lot for that same old concrete look. It is easy to apply but take care on picking a color because you cant go back.
Before the stain

and after

If dealing with old cracks in the concrete it is sometimes to just let them alone. It's a stain not a resurface application. Patching the crack can look worse then the crack itself with staining.

Refinish Porcelain Sink

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:50:00 +0000

Not much is going on currently for us. I can not foresee any action until the start of 2009. Way too much has to happen to take on the risk of a flip. It is a great time to buy and hold though. But to resell...we need to feel comfortable that buyers can access credit.
In the mean time we can take a look at some projects that you can do yourself.

Porcelain Sink DYI refinish.
Here is what a kitchen sink looks like refinished with one of those kits that sell for around $35.
They supply you with some cleaner, gloves and 000 steel wool.
It really is not too bad. I believe professionals use acid to etch the porcelain.
The only complaint I have it that they do not warn you or suggest a way to handle heavy wear or deep scratches. It appears to be for light wear. Other then that the process is very simple. The paint sprays very evenly, I like the way it goes on and holds it's place. Here are some pictures of what it looks like. How does it hold up over time? That's what we all want to know.

Where do we go from here?

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:30:00 +0000

After all the whining and complaining...where do we go from here.
Well, It's a GREAT time to buy. It's a GREAT time to buy and HOLD.

In the midst of all this news is one report out of Riverside County California.
mydesert.com
September home sales for September 2008 are UP 106% over last year.

According to the Los Angeles Times home sales are up 65% in Southern California but due the fact that home prices are down 33%.

It goes on to say half the homes bought are foreclosures being bought up by bargain hunters.

No matter what happens it is now trendy to put a bad spin on everything. Personally I am happy sales are up, I am happy that contrary to all the news, someone has money and or credit to buy homes.
It is as if we are not allowed to have any good news. It could be sales are down, or sales are flat, we were able to say sales are up...but...

funding process

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:17:00 +0000

We made it through the funding process on one. Start to finish took 6 months. Can you believe that!
Let's cross our fingers on the second one.

The housing crisis

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:48:00 +0000

Last week we were threatened by the lender, telling us we should have a check by Monday at the latest (6 months later). Well it's Thursday and we still have no check.

I could go on and on, oh yeah I already have. It is incredible. This is the same lender that sent out their appraiser and would not honor their own appraisers figures. What? If a contractor does something like this they are sued, if a financial institution does it...you're screwed. See articles"
Appraisal system broken
Or how about my favorite article from CNN
Let's look at it:
"many on Wall Street and in Washington are pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame.
But in the end, it all comes back to one issue - housing"
There you see, it's no ones fault, it just housing.

They go on to say:
"None of this would have happened if the housing market had not imploded"
""The housing correction poses the biggest risk to our economy," Paulson said the day he announced the Fannie and Freddie seizure"

One more time what we have gone through:
Lender sends out their appraiser
They tell us they will not honor that appraisal
They say that it must be 13% under the appraisal
We either start this whole process over or go with it
The problem with starting over is losing the buyers
So, who caused the price of the house to drop?
The seller, the buyer, the appraiser, the house? The lender. Hmmmmmm

Plunging house prices are such a disaster and they are running around looking for the culprit.
The lender artificially caused the price of the house to drop.
Does anyone care.

Maybe the house will fund this week, after all, it's just housing.

Housing loans

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:17:00 +0000

It is September 4, 2008. Have either of the houses funded? What do you think? No, of course not. Keep in mind the lenders are not saying that no one qualifies, or it can not be done, they are just dragging out the process.

Let's look at 1035 11th street. The process started way back in the spring. The goal was for a May 31st sale. We buy it, fix it up, start the loan process early so the sale could be final May 31st. It is now 6 months total. 3 months since the May 31st sale goal. My best guess is that it will fund in the next two weeks. BUT...what is going on? Could you imagine buying a car this way, yes that is the car and we will have the loan money for you in 6 months. What do you think that would do to the automobile industry? Yes you are correct, it would kill it. So, what do you think this is doing to the housing industry, yes your are correct again, it would kill it and is killing it.

Are buyers creating this? No.
Are sellers creating this? No.
Is the house creating this? No.
Are lenders creating this? Yes.
As we go forward and try to "fix" the housing situation via government intervention, who is actively working and lobbying the government with fixes?
The buyers? No.
The sellers? No.
The houses? No.
The lenders? Yes!
Yes, that's correct, the inmates are running the asylum.

So housing prices continue to fall here in Southern California. Still buyers can not come up with loans to purchase the property or endure the 6 month seesaw ride. Again, keep in mind, they qualify for the loan! It is not a "bad" loan.

Bad loans. My favorite new term. What is a bad loan? Did it get a life of it's own and then was approached by Darth Vader and turned to the dark side? People are out there looking for loans, who is in charge of matching them up with the proper loan?
The buyers? No.
The sellers? No.
The house? No.
The lenders? Yes. Hmmmm.

If a contractor builds you a home and it falls apart in two years, who is responsible? Correct, the contractor. The contractor is in the home building business. You are not. The contractor has the license and knowledge to build a home that will stand the test of time, you do not. It is the contractors responsibility to build it correctly. 2x3's can't be used where 2x6's are required and it is not the home owners responsibility to know that.
If the lender builds you a loan and it is not the proper loan for you, it's your responsibility to know that. Yes I know the lender is in the loan business and has the license to go with the knowledge to prove it, but it is not their responsibility to see that the loan is "built" correctly for you to stand the test of time. If houses were built the same way mortgages were built I think we would have a lot of contractors out of business for legal reasons. So now what, I know let's drag our feet on all the loans right now and try not make to many loans to try and over correct what we have done.

Who is now buying these homes at these new lower prices? Cash buyers. People who have cash and will then rent the home. Now that in itself is not bad but the first time or lower end homeowners are few and far between. It depresses the market (on purpose?) and creates mini Pottervilles. What? Potterville? Don't tell me you have never watched the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"? Well someone has to play George Baily and I guess it's us!!!

Still waiting on funds

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Last Friday we were told. One house we were at the 99% point. What does that mean?

And the other...We had to "fix" what the inspector pointed out. All we need to do is supply a written statement from a licensed contractor and we are good to go. OF COURSE Monday came and that was not the case. Monday they said we had to have the inspector back out to verify. What if we constantly miss lead the public. We would probably be in jail. But the lenders can just say anything they want. So...the inspector will be out on Wednesday.

The question is. Will that be the last thing required to release funds? They say yes, I say no. I say they will come up with something else, and keep in mind they are saying no. What do you think?

Hall of Records

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:54:00 +0000

So here is the deal on the property. The piece of property in question is on the other side. The original property had 50' of road frontage, sometime between 1940 and today an additional 25' was purchased for a total of 75' of frontage. It was on the complete opposite side that we thought. It does make sense that it was added. Now we should do a rough measurement to see where we really stand.

Where have we been

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Well, we have been right here. The wheels turn slow, almost backwards at times. Here is where we stand.
1035 11th: Still not funded. Keep in mind, on June 30th we said we give up, we will do it your way, we will sign loan docs today. Now today is August 3rd, we still have not signed loan docs! This process started in March, funding is running 5 months. Friday afternoon they came up lead based paint and termite inspection. We only found this out by calling them. We could have had this done in April, May, June, July...you get the picture. We feel as if we are chasing them down an alley and they keep knocking down trash cans in hopes we stumble on them and they get away. Being in our shoes it appears that they are doing everything they can not to fund. It truly seems that they have their secret "code red" orders (movie: A few good men) and that order is to do everything you can to make the buyers and sellers go away but do not admit to it. I GUARANTEE they are not doing what they can to make it happen. How are these people getting paid? There is something odd going on in the funding industry.

1024 Williams:
We now have people in this house too! We will get all this accomplished even if we have to do everything ourselves. It appears that we will.
An interesting development has just come up with this house. Our attention was turned to taxes. We are going to attempt to get them lowered, they are just too high based on the new lowered housing values. Of course the county will fight us on this, saying it is worth what they say, and of course any lender will say it is worth next to nothing. We call that the loose-loose. So we were getting the forms together for that appeal. Becoming familiar with the taxes. It just so happened we received a re-assessment in the mail and said it was not being lowered automatically. Interesting enough we received two. Hmmmm, Back in April a real estate woman stopped and looked at the property and mentioned to us that we may own the lot next to us. According to what we now see we may own more. But, and there is always a but, no one seems to be aware of it. The area in question has always been maintained by the neighbor. It clearly states we own half that lot and have to pay taxes on it, and previous owners have always paid taxes on it. Well now, this is sure going to be an interesting investigation. This is something to stay tuned for.

Another weekend another open house

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:52:00 +0000

1024 Williams: So we did another drive by open house this past weekend. No ads in the paper just some balloons and signs. Talked to more people, now it is time to decide what to do. I believe the thing to do here is carry paper, owner to finance. Those wheels are in motion. Even with this it is a waiting game. I guess our goal is for someone to be in by August 1st.
1035 11th: Collecting rent. We will sell it as soon as the lender is ready...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Yes it is a verrrrry slow process.

In the meantime...down at 1035 11th street we have a backed up sewer. Runs slow, will back up into the shower. The to be owner had a plumber friend out, root problem between the house and street. Wants to get a sewer camera and then dig and replace pipe!!!! Yikes. Days and thousands of dollars later....today I call the local rooter company, they suggest the hydro jet. OK, lets to this thing...10 minutes later a few hundreds dollars and we are in business with a one year warranty, done.
We had a thought of renting a power auger with cutting blades...good decision not to...

And back at my own place the city water line is leaking right in front of my driveway, they got that fixed by 3 pm.

Open House

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:24:00 +0000

We are down to one house sitting empty. Not that everything is worked out on the others but at least they are occupied.
1024 Williams: So today we decided to do an open house. Let me clarify what that exactly means.
We will be there most of the day
So we will put up balloons to get attention
print out some info to hand out
throw up a hand made sign
and told some people to stop by if they had an interest
then sit out front in shorts and flip flops and see what happens
No ad, no extra signs down at the corner, that's it.

Well, it went fine. Received a couple solid leads. I would not be surprised if we sell it based on what we did today!

We will go act stupid again on Sunday and then see where we stand.
I will wrap up where we stand on this weekends 'open house' Sunday night.

Bogging down in financing

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:21:00 +0000

This is absolutely the toughest part of the flip. Financing!!!

Buying, doing the flip, all not that hard.

Buyers trying to get financing is just nuts. It is as if the lenders are now just looking for excuses not to loan.

We have now seen lenders renig on their pre-qualification letters to borrowers. Lenders really should not be allowed to do what they are doing right now. I am now convinced that the housing crisis is a lender created problem. They are now in the midst of creating a new one. We are 2 for 2 on lending institutions with the help of the government just screwing borrowers. Both buyers have had the rug pulled out from under them multiple times. It has been a horrible experience for both. And lenders, it is as if they are just creating work for themselves. They feel their job is to come up with ways the financing can not be done. There are plenty of ways for it not to finance, what we dearly need...is just ONE mortgage broker that can come up with a way that it can be done. That is a rare commodity.

Trying to fund

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Here is a situation that is going on right now.

'The house' is ready and here is the problem. The appraiser came, the lender requires an appraisal. Oh by the way, they require it but they don't pay for it, of course not, the buyer does.

The appraisal comes in, by the way the appraisal is 18 pages long.

We are ready to rock and roll. You would think.
The lender says oh no, we are taking the appraisal down 13.5% and that is what we will lend on this property and that is what you will sell if for, 13.5% below the appraised value. Well, unless the buyer has the difference in cash laying around somewhere to make up the difference which he does not.

Let's look at this:
Can we ask for a review on this from the lender. Well, lip service says yes but two weeks go by nothing, everything just sitting there?

I understand that this may be the lenders current business plan. They may run their business anyway they want to. But right now we need them to recognize that they can not help the buyer or seller. We will not be selling at 13.5% of the appraised value. There may be other mortgage lenders/brokers that CAN HELP us.

The buyer has now requested that they transfer the loan (FHA) to a new mortgage broker who may be able to do more then this big institution. We had hoped that they would say, I understand that we are not able to help you, if you would like to see if someone else can help you on this one we can transfer your information to whomever you like.
Well, no, it did not go down like that. They are making it as difficult as possible. They also stated that we will not be able to get any more from someone else.

The proper answer should have been: Sorry we can not help you this time but perhaps someone else can. Maybe we can do business on the next one.

So, do they think they can force us to do business with them? I just don't get it. Then what, make comments on the loan to make it more difficult for us via another lender?

Stay tuned

Hey, here is an interesting news article or this one

Flipping houses review

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:25:00 +0000

Let's take a minute to review where we stand. We are dealing with 3 houses
The run down
1236 California: We flipped for an investor. Investor rented it! They moved in to it today. 700sf of 16" tile. Completely new kitchen. Third BR created. Baths renovated.t
1204 Williams and
1305 11th
Both in the 98% done. Both offers accepted. Both bogged down in the financial calamity referred to as the funding process.
Let me to a fast and way to simple example.
House renovated
Value determined (that is the real short version)
Buyers put in offer
We accept offer
Now starts the 8 week process that is some type of mysterious process.
I personally would like to see a flow chart on this process but I do not think it exists. If you asked the funding people where we will be in this process next Wednesday, they would not have a clue. Not a clue. There appears to be no 'if this then this process', it is like every day they think real hard and come up with something that day. Now that is not fair and I am sure that can't be but it sure seems like it. Today the buyers have these funds tomorrow they do not. The appraiser came and did his appraisal, mortgage company will not honor it and came up with their own number. What! Yes that happened, did not even leave their office, number way below a comparable sale less then 30 days ago, why send that guy out, just make it up in the first place if you are going to do that.

This upcoming week drastic times will call for drastic measures.

Appraisal ???

noreply@blogger.com (House Flipper) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:20:00 +0000

It's Tuesday, everyone is sitting on the edge of their seat.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... here is what I can say, the appraisal looks good, it is leaning our direction but...

There is always a but. Every time I think it is a hard line in the sand that needs to be crossed, it ends up to be just an imaginary line.

This is how I see it. On Sunday we are working with a hard line in the sand (we think) by Tuesday it was an imaginary line. Why didn't we know this was an imaginary line on Sunday? And there is an answer for this. The rules and procedures are changing, it is hard to stay ahead of the curve, also most everyone is used to a primary resident homeowner buying a home, we are looked upon differently. We are always pushing to get that return on investment asap. Changing government rules on the fly is the biggest obstacle. We are basically in a brawl with changing rules, there is an 800 lb gorilla in the room and it is the government. That gorilla does what ever it wants and we and the buyers just scramble into damage control. Every one is afraid of the gorilla.

The buyers: They just are dieing to move in but the gorilla is blocking the front door. The gorilla pulled the program out from under them, resulting in possible loss of down payment, if they can go on possible higher payments, or now not able or willing to buy.

The sellers: We have a sale we don't have a sale. Funds tied up till who knows when. Loss of potential buyers that turned away and looked else where.

The agent, the appraiser...: By this time, per TV flip show standard, the agent should have been able to sell three of these. (Side Note: the agent calls that income and if they can make income the gorilla could have kept the 2008 stimulus check) The appraisers have concerns, lenders can be on them like a cheap HMO on your hospital bill. If they could use disappearing ink they would.

To date the hard line in the sand that we ran across was our payment. If we did not hand over funds in time a hard line penalty was to be administered.

Moral of the story: Gorillas don't make good pets.