i forgot to post the photos from the 2nd floor demo!
if you check out the plan, you will see that we are incorporating a small landing at the top of the stair...so we tore out some of the wall that encloses the stair (allieviating the cramped feeling that you get when you climb the stairs):


the south wall of the upstairs bedrooms is going to get a new full shed dormer, and the ceiling will be raised another foot or so (depending on how much space is needed for the new air ducts that will be installed in the ceiling)


there will also be a new full bathroom that will be installed on the 2nd floor. it will be located at the top of the stair (to the right in this photo)


we will also be installing a new direct vent furnace so that we can remove the brick chimney (all the way down to the basement). this will give us the perfect space to run the new forced air ductwork that will supply the 2nd floor.

asbestos lab results are in

we have been told to assume that 9" x 9" vinyl floor tiles installed in mid-century homes contain asbestos. we decided that we wanted to be sure, so we sent a couple of floor tile samples to a local testing agency ($25/test @ HUB Testing Lab in Waltham). it turns out that the floor tile in the basement and the 1st layer of floor tile in the kitchen contain "chrysotile" which is a common form of asbestos.

this information is helpful because we now know that we have to install a layer of plywood over the basement floor tile before we can lay a carpet. otherwise the tile can crack and the asbestos-laden dust can make its way up through the fibers of the carpet and into the air. this form of "encapsulation" is an acceptable means of dealing with asbestos---the other very costly solution is to have it professionally removed and abated.

the kitchen floor will get a layer of cementitious backer board over the vinyl tiles anyway, since we need a strong underlayment for the slate tiles that we will be installing.

we are waiting for the town to approve our permit application--but in the meantime we are trying to do what we can to move forward.

today we dug the holes for the deck foundation (and when i say we, i mean scott)


the holes have to be 4' deep in order for the bottom of the concrete foundation piers to be below the frost line..here is a photo of the cardboard sono tube that serves as the concrete formwork


this is a great tool...it is a solid steel bar with a blade-like end-- it is used to break up the rocks that you encounter when digging 4' deep holes


the previous owners were apparently not too concerned about the termites that were making a meal of the hardwood floors in the first floor back bedroom. it was easy to locate their point of entry--the earth and mulch was placed right up against the wood sills of the basement windows, giving the buggers easy access to the delicious maple floor (you could actually follow the termite "tubes" just inside the basement windows).


you can see that the termites destroyed the wood sill...we installed these window wells to keep the soil a safe distance away from the windows. we will later add some gravel to the bottom of the 12" deep wells.

we also needed to trace and map out every electrical circuit and device since the electrical panel was not labelled. we will need to figure out if an electrical service upgrade will be necessary (it is currently a 100 amp service).

the bathroom is stripped and ready...




we are converting from oil to gas (which is free from NStar when there is a gas line within 100 feet of your house), and we are switching from baseboard heat to forced hot air with air conditioning. so today we "bled" the water from the baseboard system (we spilled a little...) and we started to remove the copper water supplies.

this is the original 1952 cast iron boiler and probably weighs about 700 lbs...we still have to figure out how to get this monster out of the basement!



here is a small fraction of the amount of pipes that we will be removing from the house...good news is that we can bring them to a local salvage company that will pay us for the material.

'droppings' ceiling

today we removed the dropped ceiling in the basement...every time we pulled down a tile, we were inundated with mouse droppings. blecht!

the official mouse carcass count to date is 3: 2 fresh, and 1 barely recognizable... eeee!

demolition

we are tearing out the wall between the two front rooms and opening up the stair...it has already made such a difference:




we also started the demolition of the kitchen wall:

treasure

we have found all sorts of things inside the walls...

...and we're off!

we have started demolishing walls-we tore out the kitchen and bathroom... i have forgotten how much i love doing this!

no pix today--(i left the camera at the house)--i will upload some tomorrow!

plans

we are closing on monday!!! here are the plans- before and after
(click on them to enlarge)

first floor before.............................after


second floor before.............................after


basement before.............................after

update-P+S

we signed the P+S agreement...now we are just waiting for our mortgage to go through so that we can close (most likely we will close next week)

i will post the plans soon...if i can stop changing them!

before pictures...

(click on the photos to enlarge them...for the full effect!)
kitchen:




living room:




bathroom:


upstairs bedrooms:




basement:

here we go again!

i dont have the info on the closing date...but barring any unforseen circumstance, we will be starting our 2nd flip soon (probably in a month)...here are some more pictures from mls. i will take some more "before" pix tomorrow when we have the house inspected.

that wasnt so bad!

one short negotiation period...i think it lasted 20 minutes, if that!!!

so we came to an agreement- $237,500 for the house. it is, of course, contingent on an inspection, but if all goes well we will embark on our next flip! (the sale comps are around $360K/$370K)

we are looking forward to 4 months of constant aching muscles, daily lowe's runs, and poor eating habits (i miss those dunkin donut breakfasts and peanut butter sandwich lunches!)

yay!

a counter offer!

we put an offer in on a nice little 4 bedroom/1 bathroom/full basement cape house in a nice little neighborhood.

aside from the lingering smell of urine, the house is great (or, it has great potential)

so, we actually got a counter-offer this time (instead of a straight up rejection)...which was exciting (i guess that is what happens when you are working with real people and not banks).

the house is listed at $245K and we offered $230K. they countered $240K and then we counter-countered $235K

here is the photo from MLS...isnt it cute?!

so, in addition to the basic renovations, we plan on tearing off the back roof and building up a dormer so that we can enlarge the 2nd floor bedrooms and add a 2nd full bathroom. well, that is the plan if we get the house! let's see!

39 Beverly Road- Closed

we have closed! --stay tuned for the next flip!

SIGNED P+S!!!

we signed the P+S agreement this evening...yaaaayyyy!!!!!

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, it is under agreement...they are giving us our asking price and the closing is on July 6th... at which time we will break out the bubbly! yippeee! (thank you st. joe!)

negotiations...

so, the potential buyer offered $5k less than our asking price, and wanted to close at the end of august. we decided that, if we were to hold the house for 2 months, then the offer needed to be for at least $5k more than the asking price. so we countered with a request for full price and a 1 month closing.

they came back with an offer that was still $5k less than asking but a closing in the beginning of July.

we were happy with the closing date, but still didnt feel good about the $$$. after all, we just dropped the price $15k. so, we held our breath and asked for full price and a 1 month closing...and that was our final offer, i think i even said 'take it or leave it'

so, the buyer, who is getting on a plane for Korea today, tentatively accepted that counteroffer and went to the house this morning for a visual inspection (not an official inspection--there was no inspector present). they ultimately decided that they would give us the full asking price and the 1 month closing, but because they didnt have a home inspector present, they want us to give them a home warranty (worth about $500) and they want us to have some tree limbs removed (worth about $1000).

we concluded that we did really mean it when we said the previous was our final offer.

now, we understand that we are not giving the buyer anything that would make them feel good about the negotiations (except for a new house in great condition) , and there is this little voice in our heads screaming "take the offer...you idiots!". but we decided that since we are going to have to carry the house another month anyway; since we just lowered the price on monday and they were the first people to see it with the new price tag; since we have another showing today and monday and an open house on sunday; that we are just going to take the risk.

who knows....i will keep you updated!

our first offer...

i have heard and read over and over again that you have to price your house right in this market or you will not sell. but how do you know what is right? i have also heard that you have to let the market price your house. the challenge with pricing this house was that there were no real comps to comp it against...nothing equivalent at the time had been rehabbed quite as much as this house.

we have received feedback from showings and a few people noted that they thought the house was priced right, and a few others said that it was overpriced...but no offers in 1 month at least indicated to us that it was time to lower the price.

so, we dropped the asking price by $15k. we went with $15k because we want to get rid of the house asap...the next step would be to make a really big "FREE" sign and post it on the front of the house. if we were really brave, we could hold an auction--a good strategy for unloading property in one day, but how scary if the high bid was really really low!

so now we received an offer... not great, but not bad. $5k less than what we are now asking---which means that it is $20k less than the original asking price. which is alot of money considering the profit margin for this flip.

so, to make myself feel better, i am thinking of that $20k as another fee that needs to be paid among the many fees that are required in a real estate transaction...let's call it a Bad-Market-Fee and move on!

are you wondering if we will still make money on the flip; absolutely. we just wont be buying that yacht any time soon.

are you wondering if we would flip again; absolutely!!! we learned so much from this one--we cant put all of that real good learnin' to waste!

OPEN HOUSE- JUNE 3rd- 12-2PM

the open house went well...we had 13 groups come through today. we are keeping our fingers crossed for an offer!

here are some current pix- we "staged" the living space with some furniture from our apartment. furniture makes a big difference!