#198 Flip and Sell a house for a profit

Well, as much as I would LOVE to check this off my list, I don't know if it really counts because it's technically my husband's home we are selling.  In all fairness, I was with him the entire way.  I was with him when we had to order take out for a few days because we had no kitchen.  Or had to make frequent trips to Lowes to use their restroom because we were waiting to put our toilet back into place after the tile was set. (Not to mention Lowes employees know me and a lot about our home.)

It has definitely been an experience.  Buying a house that needs some love, and putting all your love into your home and then signing papers to sell is a very overwhelming experience.  I have learned a lot of things along the way though (make sure circuit is completely off before trying to change an outlet is a good learning experience.  Or that you MUST wait the 4 weeks after killing weeds to plant grass or else grass won't grow).  Here are some before pictures that I tried to round up (we don't have too many)

Our original cabinets 

We only kept the fridge.  Our old cabinets were particle board and peeling off.  I couldn't even reach the cabinet over the fridge, it was a useless cabinet. And that sink...augh

Our new kitchen arrives!

Our old sink.  The nasty walls and more nasty shots of our cabinets.  When we pulled all of these cabinets out there were masses of roach nests underneath (insert vomiting here). Although we had bombed the place several times, it was a nice feeling to get to the root of the problem and clean it all out.  Roach problem- Solved.

Here is the famous Lou- Small sized- Modeling our awesome shower that had a serious black mold problem.  When we ripped the tile off the wall we actually had to replace dry wall because the mold ate away the old walls.  Yes.  It was nasty, and another health violation!

Our bathroom, needed a lot of love.  Starting with a floor.  We had added the above cabinet already because there was no storage in the bathroom to put all our stuff.

Unfortunately I have no photos of our bedrooms.  Both bedrooms were painted a very light purple by the previous owners.  I am pretty sure there was crayon on every single wall when we moved in.  Crayon and pencil EVERYWHERE throughout the home.  Also, all of the screens to the windows and the doors (front and back) were completely damaged and needed to be replaced.  There were no closet doors at all in the house and the ceiling fans were cheap.  Here are our after photos...

 Our backyard.  Planted grass and flowers.  We have a little sprinkler system to keep the lawn hydrated

The front of the house, part of the kitchen and the dining area

The kitchen, all new appliances.  We added a microwave hood.  The useless cabinet turned into a very useful wine rack.  The cabinets are no longer particle wood! Hooray- nothing is better than hardwood cabinets.  The nasty white tile- gone and replaced with something more fashionable.  Granite countertops, because honestly...how do you not have granite countertops in your kitchen?  Sink new and approved, and turns on with a touch.  We also have soft close cabinets and a pull out drawer pantry which is a must in Hawaii when you are dealing with space problems.

The Bathroom was also completely gutted and redone.  We went with bronze fixtures throughout the bathroom. We added more storage space for our goods (I don't know if you have ever lived in a place with one bathroom, but you need all those cabinets and shelves!).  

 Our living area.  And a little glimpse of our lanai outback.  Not much was done to this room except a paint job over the purple and the crayon, new ceiling fan and new outlets.  Oh, and the worlds comfiest couch.

Our guest room/ Computer room/ Green room.  The closet door was a hard fix because it ended up being weird dimensions that they don't make doors for.  We opted for the curtain.  It was not a choice that we wanted to make but it was better than an empty door frame.

Master Bedroom.  Yes, all those clothes in that closet are my husbands! 

Surprisingly everyone who saw our house LOVED our color choices.  We knew painting the walls (especially the green room and the bathroom) was a risk, but we got an asking price bid three days after the house was on the market.  I would say we had great success with our first home.

My husband paid for the house $256,000 three years ago when we moved to Hawaii.  We listed the home at $285,000 which after commission and closing fees and the amount of money we put into the place...we are walking away with a profit.  Not a HUGE profit...but a profit!