Flipping Houses :: Before and After Pictures

I quit my corporate job to flip houses full time

I up and quit my corporate job (I DID give two weeks notice, I’m not that kind of gal) in 2014 to pursue my dreams of flipping houses as full time career. And I’ll give you a hint, it didn’t work out like I thought it would.

Then I spent 6 months dicking around trying to find “the perfect flip.” (Here’s a good flip tip: there will never be a perfect flip!)

I bought a house to flip and didn’t go much over budget but blew the timeline

In March of 2015 I finally purchased a house to flip using money I’d been saving for 7 years — and with a little help from credit cards! YIKES! That did not go well either….

My boyfriend and I worked day and night on that house, just the two of us for almost 6 months straight. In retrospect, I feel a little bad for the neighbors — we were on top of the roof using nail guns until 9:00 at night, we’d be sanding cabinets outside at 7:00 in the morning and grinding sidewalks during the middle of the day, they never got any peace.

And because it was just the two of us and our four hands trying to flip the house, while still doing side-jobs for the boyfriend’s clients to keep money coming in we TRIPLED our original timeline of two months, and we did go a little over budget because of holding costs.

So I rented out the house and became a landlord

BUT, we wound up renting out the house because we got it on the market at the worst possible time of year. Another flip tip is try not to put your house on the market at the beginning of a school year, especially if one of the selling features of your home is a that it’s in a good school district.

Let me tell you though, it was totally nerve wracking renting out our beautifully, very recently, renovated rented flip — but we found an awesome lady who took good care of it for us and the best part was we recouped our holding costs so we technically stayed within budget!

The second time around, the house sold within 3 days.

Once the spring market started, we put the house up for sale (for the second time) 13 months after buying it and it sold within 3 days. Last time we had a lot of interested buyers, but none that could qualify for a freaking mortgage. Side note: If you’re looking to buy a house you need money to do it, even with 100% financing — which in itself is incredibly difficult to get.

So back to my point that the home sold in 3 days. I think the before and after photos explain why… not like I’m bragging or anything. But we did pour our hearts and souls into fixing this house and you can tell we really cared about the details (6 months worth of details) and most importantly, doing it right and not taking the easy or cheap way out.

Check the before and after photos of our first flip out below! Eventually, each one will lead to a more detailed post with more pictures. For now, check out these pictures and head over to my Facebook page for even more before and after photos and to see the uncropped versions of the pictures below!