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Updated almost 8 years ago,
Anything wrong with having the best house on the block
My company purchased a home that is 2,500 square foot this year in 2017 for the bargain price of $170,000, and we are putting in approximately $50,000 in upgrades, as well as making the single family residence (1972 brick rancher) an open concept, transitional home with a modern twist.
The home has all solid hardwood floors in all rooms but the kitchens, bathrooms, foyer, and basement. They existing floors are like new (one owner home) and will be stained a medium to dark brown as well as new hardwood to match existing floors will be installed in the original kitchen to replace the vinyl floors that were original to home. We chose to go with higher end Whirlpool appliances by adding a 5 burner cooktop, double ovens (convection), counter depth refrigerator, Sharp microwave drawer, and a higher level dishwasher as well.
The cabinets that will be installed in the kitchen are custom white shaker cabinets (solid wood boxes), and there will be a large 8 foot island with a large sink farmhouse apron sink. The countertops will be Steel Gray granite. The kitchen will also will have wet bar, mudroom valet/cubbie.
In order to make the aforementioned possible, we have chosen to go with remove the formal dining room since they are so passé these days and enlarge the kitchen and incorporate it into the family room. Also, the formal living room is large and we created a doorway in the family room to allow passage to the living room if somebody chooses they want a dining table for formal gatherings.
We have chosen to tile the foyer using a slate looking tile, and will be tiling the bathrooms too. The master bath we increased by moving walls in the existing hall/guest bathroom to accommodate a larger master shower and bathroom. The master bathroom will also have a hardwired towel warmer for 10 towels, and a ceiling mounted rain shower and four jets that was imported from England.
Lastly, the entire home we have decided to make "smart" and all locks, locks, thermostat, towel warmer, and mood lighting will be controlled via phones or computer. The landscaping will incorporate boulders, and two trees in front yard for low maintenance, while adding curb appeal. We are also adding Cambria Quartz counters to all bathroom cavities, LED 4" lighting throughout first floor and basement on Lutron Casetta system and other dimmers and occupancy sensors. We also added Elgato Eve switches where applicable to increase the "smart" features of the home. A fourth bedroom/home office was built in the basement along a powder room, a pool table area with pool table and a den. A new HD architectural shingle, lifetime roof was added last month. We have many more custom options going into this home, but the list is too many to list here.
We are looking to list the property in the high 280's to low 300's. Currently homes that have minor updates or no updates are selling at $240,000 to $250,000. One last week that had the original kitchen size of 192 sqft but had a kitchen update 10 years ago, sold for full asking price in 3 days on the Sunday open house. Another one sold 2 years ago in a week at $300k but the home was completely gutted and even the front facia was changed architecturally to look completely different (in my opinion hideous), but same rancher style and builder as ours.
My question is, os it okay to have the best home on the block when it comes to flipping? It will be the second home in area that will list at $300k. Most homes that are in this neighborhood that are not updated and in need of repairs are selling for mid 200's. As of yesterday it was brought to our attention that condos in a worse school district (we are either number one or number two in terms of best school district) that is a mere 5 min away, has listed at $250,000 for 1,631 sqft or $309,000 for 2,500 sqft. The amenities are nothing compared to ours besides maybe bigger bathrooms, plus they have condo fees.