All Forum Posts by: Julia Blythe

Home Depot has 15% off of custom sized windows through 8/7!  It's worth giving them sizes and getting a quote. I would quote as both functioning windows and just framed glass. Many times, there is not a huge difference in the two. 

@Patrick Sanders, for our flips, my husband has a natural talent for changing layouts (no formal training) and I handle the design of the flips, with a some input from my husband.  On one of our current flips, the kitchen is being moved to the opposite side of the house and the former kitchen will now be a master bedroom and bath area.  We have an awesome framing company that is licensed and bonded and we run our plans by them and their engineer that is in house. Be careful with paying for layouts because if your not, you can pay a heavy price for very simple layout changes that may or may not increase the value of your house.  If your not comfortable doing it yourself, I would look into the resources you have around you at your colleges in Nashville.  Vanderbilt and Belmont are two that immediately come into mind and should be starting back soon. Reach out to the heads of the architecture and/or interior design departments at those schools and see if they have students who need practical experience and would help for a lower price-- or perhaps for free for the experience.  

The head of the Univ of Memphis Architecture Dept lives down the street from me and he recommended one of his recent graduates years ago to do a CAD drawing of a detailed "As Built" of a 10,000 SF office building we had recently purchased.  He charged $200 versus the $700-$800 I had been quoted.  The only thing he asked was that he be able to include it in his portfolio .... and I happily agreed.  😀

Vacancy rates in Memphis is VERY linked to all things in real estate --- LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!  I would never try to put one number on such a diverse market.  

We normally do some radical transformations of old historic houses in very sought after areas of our town so we have developed a kind of following of people who love the old homes but want the modern conveniences we put into them. When everyone says to be safe and use colors for the masses, we ignore that advice and just reno as if we were going to move into the houses ourself. (Completely opposite school of thinking most flippers have.)  So far it has worked for us but I wouldn't exactly recommend that to anyone, as everyone's market and style is different and who knows, we may get stuck with a house we can't sell one day but we are willing to take that risk.  We have had to hold our breathes on some of the appraisals, but when we pre sell, we always make sure we are protected if for some reason, something doesn't work out with the buyer. 

We normally pre sell our flips before they are done, so in those cases, obviously staging was not needed. If they don't pre sell, we definitely stage (with our own staging furniture and accessories) all of the common rooms and the master bedroom.  We do not stage all of the guest rooms.  We always knock down walls and make an open floor plan for the common rooms downstairs so I think it's important for people to see where they could place their furniture. We find that most people have a problem with visualization of their furniture when it comes to open floor plans.  We have a very modern aesthetic and have not been able to find a local staging company that matches our style. 

@Huiping S., I actually know what war zones are. We have plenty in Memphis, unfortunately. I don't drive through them; much less put my money in them. I don't like to work that hard for my money. 😳

You lost me at "War Zones" 😳

We have pre-sold several of our flips. We always put an addendum in the sales contract that makes the buyer pay a certain amount (usually $10,000-$20,000) that is payable to us whether they end up closing or not. It's a simply paragraph my closing attorney wrote up with our first pre-sold flip. It is not linked to appraisal, approval or anything. Basically, I allow you to pick out things for the house before you own it, you will pay this money as protection to me. If you close on the house, it comes off the final price of the house. If you don't ever close, I keep it because I have just painted my house in colors I might not have picked or purchased light fixtures I might not have picked. You have to be serious if you want to change my design plan before we are done with a house and put your money where your mouth is. 

If you are like me, I am always looking for a discount or a deal when it comes to buying things for our flips.  I just got the email from Discover Card asking me to "Activate 5% Cashback Bonus Now".  The bonus from July through September is good for purchases at Home Improvement Stores.  It's not much, but it is something.  I already get 5% off of purchases from Lowe's with my Lowe's Amex, but I will definitely be putting Home Depot charges on my Discover July-September since HD does not give you the matching Lowe's 5% that they use to give you.  

No sense in leaving any cash on the table it you already have a Discover card.  You do have to activate the offer.

Cheers and have a great weekend!

@James Johnson, our FARM for flipping has houses than range from 50-100+ years old.  For our market, it behooves us to change out both the electrical and the plumbing (lead pipes), for a total rehab.  It both adds value to the homes and makes them sell a lot faster.  Every market is different, so I would analyze your market to see how it would impact your final sales price.