All Forum Posts by: Vonetta Booker

Good point, @Julia Blythe!  Definitely something to consider within the next few days.  I do have some ideas on how to stage the rooms quickly & cheaply. :-)

Thanks for your input, everyone!  I think I'll see what feedback the next few showings offer, but keep staging in mind as a possibility.  I would definitely do so to scale (i.e. furniture on a smaller scale/amount).  

@Barbara G., interesting point you bring up...both agents mentioned their buyers were coming from NY, so I'm wondering if a similar thing was going on in my case. 

Re buying old houses, most of the properties in this area (New England) are from the early-to-mid 20th century--so the inventory would be pretty non-existent if I cut those out, lol. But for my next flip, bedroom size as related to resale will definitely be something I keep in mind...live & learn! ;-)

Awesome, @Brie Schmidt!  I already forwarded her a similar link I found yesterday after she called me, but these are great too--I'll send them to her.  Thanks! 

 I found my contractor through another local investor; I went to one of her open houses, really liked his work, got his card & we've been doing business since.  I went a little over budget (maybe a few thousand dollars) because of certain things I hadn't budgeted for at first & then realized I needed/wanted in the flip.  The takeaway--to next time add room for those things in the next flip's budget!

Hey, everyone...this is related to the post I just created, "1st Flip Finally Finished!"

So, I was excited to get 2 showings in one day, right? But upon getting feedback from the buyer's agents, basically they really liked the house, except that...(*drum roll*)...they felt the bedrooms were too small.  

Crap. 

Due to the house's age (built in 1910 but in pretty good condition w/ "good bones"), I was kind of afraid this might be an issue.  Initially, I had opted to only stage the first floor (and upstairs bath), leaving the bedrooms empty thinking that might make them appear larger. 

However, do you think some light bedroom staging might actually work better at camouflaging the rooms' tightness?  

Also, has anyone else experienced this issue when selling their flips? What did you do to overcome buyers' hesitations & get it sold? 

@Bridget D., thanks! The interior walls were painted with Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, I think I'll be sticking with that color in the future. 

@Michael Noto, the house is in Stratford, CT. 

@Desiree Boston, I want to get this one sold (or at least accept an offer) before I start looking for the next one; since I'm relatively new, I don't want to potentially get in over my head with TWO properties, lol. But I can't wait...I've still been looking on the MLS at REOs and I've been salivating, wishing I could put in offers, lol. My goal is to ultimately do more than one at a time, though.

A girlfriend of mine called with an issue: The building that she rents an apartment in month-to-month is up for auction next month (it was scheduled for auction on 6/27, but it was cancelled).  She says her landlord refuses to give her any info; she's cautious about paying rent (due tomorrow)--and then being out on the street at a moment's notice. 

What are her rights during a foreclosure? I'm not sure offhand, but I told her I'd ask around & get back to her. :-)  (This is in the state of CT.)

Thanks, everyone! In terms of the numbers, I purchased at 120k, about 75k in rehab, ARV about 255k.

As far as the timeframe, it went about a month or so over the original 3-month timeframe mostly due to weather delays for the kitchen addition (needed because of the original REALLY funky layout), lol.  Just certain things I learned from & I'll be tweaking to ensure the next flip runs smoother & more quickly.