Thanks for all the wonderful complements. It was a labor of love and kinda hard to sell in the end. It was in the kind of neighborhood where people stay for 30+ years and in the 3 months there we really got close with the neighbors.
This was a cash purchase and our realtor found it the minute it hit the MLS, lol.
A few lessons learned:
Lesson 1. Know your areas. It was located in a very quaint area ( actually there are only a few subdivisions in this area with the same charm, surrounded by not as desirable areas, and the houses sell for 50-100k more )
Lesson 2 . It was an estate sale so the heirs wanted out of it quickly and with as little hassle as possible. We offered a clean out of all the unwanted items with our offer. Learned this from @jscott.
Lesson 3. Act quick and pay asking when need be. Our realtor told us there were other offers coming in, the house was a great deal at 130k, so instead of trying to get lower we gave asking, cash, quick close with the clean out and got it in front of the seller the quickest.
Lesson 4. Get referrals for contractors. While we have found a few good ones from online, we have also had a few shady ones. Going with referrals from other contractors or investors has so far served us well and gotten us some great folks.
Lesson 5. Outsource the work. I usually have to pull my husband away from home improvement projects but doing this project and our other, has made us both realize the value in having other contractors do the work.
Lesson 6. Get the required permits. It just makes life easier : )
