Category Archives: Real Estate

Transformation 2012: Day 1

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Fran Hart

We’re flipping another property, code name: Lodestone. Today was Day 1 of a 10-day transformation, for the property and for myself. I focused on wallpaper at the house. In the dining area, there was a lovely silver/white textured paper: After … Continue reading →

Posted in employment, Flipping, Flipping Houses, Inspiration, Real Estate, reduce/reuse/recycle/reinvent, Rehab, Transformation | Comments Off

Another day, another house to flip: Lodestone

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Fran Hart

On Friday, Mr. H and I closed on another foreclosed/HUD home. We paid ~$85k, we expect to spend ~$20k during the 2 months of rehab. A conservative selling price is $140k. Minus closing costs, we anticipate a profit of over … Continue reading →

Posted in Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Rehab | Comments Off

For better or worse, I wasn’t in the mood

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Fran Hart

This afternoon we successfully sold the house we’d owned for about 18months as a rental, making it our first “flip.” We bought the house in June, 2010: $87,000 At that time, we invested $2,500 in repairs in preparation for occupation … Continue reading →

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We’re either doing something very right or very wrong

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Fran Hart

It’s nearly impossible to keep up with our housing shenanigans. We bought a house in ’10 that we have managed as a rental. We bought another house at the end of August ’11 that we intended to flip. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in children, family, Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Rehab | 1 Comment

Real Estate Plot Twists

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Fran Hart

I hope that the twists and turns of the last month in our real estate saga are not indicative of what we should expect for the future. The flip house that we couldn’t keep on (or off) the market? The … Continue reading →

Posted in Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Rehab, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Real Estate, Holidays and Word Counts

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Fran Hart

Two weeks ago, on November 13th, I started writing a novel for NaNoWriMo. Sure, I should have started on November 1st, since the whole point is that November is National Novel Writing Month. But the first 2 weekends were tied … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Writing | 10 Comments

Back on the market

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Fran Hart

We’ve lost another round with our flip house. The 2nd buyer has backed out based on the inspection. Mr. H is back on site making some additional repairs. I did not expect there to be this much drama in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Rehab | 1 Comment

Under contract, again

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Fran Hart

Our Flip House is back under contract, full asking price with a “must fix the foundation” clause. We’ve got the foundation repair lined up for the day after the 10-day “we can renege” period ends. Our tenants vacated our rental … Continue reading →

Posted in Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, reduce/reuse/recycle/reinvent, Rehab | Comments Off

The white knight is talking backwards

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Fran Hart

The buyers backed out of the contract for reasons which may or may not prove valid. We may lease that house and sell one of our two rental properties – it seems we can appreciate significant savings on our capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Flipping, Real Estate, Writing | 1 Comment

Contract pending

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Fran Hart

If you’re going to flip a house, the critical final step is the landing. No amount of aerial grace will overcome faltering missteps at the end. We bought the house on August 29. We spent 5 weeks and ~$5,500 working on … Continue reading →

Posted in Flipping, Flipping Houses, Real Estate, Rehab | 2 Comments