Welcome to My Rehab Diaries

Follow my journey, where I will share my experience flipping a house for the first time, including insights, tips and tricks to help you successfully complete your first fix and flip.
mary hawley home renovation fix and flip
“I have always wanted to renovate a home for the purposes of selling.”

Fix and Flip Renovate and Remarket

In today’s common parlance you would call it “Fix and Flip.” Not liking that term – it sounds so heartless – I prefer to call it Renovate and Remarket as my goal is to bring a tired home back to life and offer it to a new family to build memories in. Not too long ago, I showed a property to a young family. It was too much of a project for them, but I immediately felt that this home was the one I was looking for!

Where to Start Flipping Houses

When you’re flipping a house for the first time, it can be difficult to know where to start. The first step always comes down to finding the right house. As a realtor with a keen eye for design, I come across many houses that have potential.

Turns out, the property I found fell right into this category. It was home to a lovely family for 20 plus years. Rather then put their finances into this structure, they choose to invest in their children. This home was filled with love but not lacked updates. My goal is to bring new life and relevance to this tired home.

I invite you to come along on this journey and I will share with you along the way. I will share any mistakes, pitfalls, solutions, and triumphs. I may even ask for your input as I make decisions. I aim to make this an interactive journey! Check in every few days, and I will share my progress.

mary hawley fix and flip

Living Room and Staircase

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Things to Know When Flipping a House

So here is the catch up to date. We closed escrow around Thanksgiving. While there’s a laundry list of things you need to know when purchasing a house for flipping, I’m going to let you in on one secret.

Always get a historical review.

One of the first things to come up, and I strongly recommend that you learn from this, is the need for a historical review. This is a City of Fremont requirement for any house over 50 years of age. Not all cities will have this requirement. You should head to your local planning department when you are considering a purchase and find out what unique requirements your city employs.

where to start flipping houses

Living Room

where to start flipping houses

Living Room and Kitchen

where to start flipping houses

Kitchen

Where to Start Flipping Houses

Light Demo

We immediately started to do some light demo. This home had previously employed a solar heat system. Long abandoned, some of the equipment was still in place so we began the process of removing it.

Flooring, Roofing, HVAC

We also pulled out flooring, and removed two new vanities which we plan to salvage. We have obtained two roof bids, an HVAC bid, and window bids.

Master Bathroom

We have a drafter working on the master bathroom plans (which we need to start the permit process). We have begun the process of ordering some finish materials.

Come Along on This Journey With Me

Even still, today the house sits quiet which is not a good thing. This indicates that we need to tighten up our management of the project. Follow my journey through my rehab diaries blog, right here on Redesign Realty. I will share my progress, insights, tips and tricks to help you successfully complete your first fix and flip (or remodel and remarket).

If you’re flipping a house for the first time, or you need some guidance on where to start flipping houses, leave a comment below!

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