The House Flip

So you all know about the house flip that I have been working on since the beginning of May...

I have posted one blog post about it before and I said I would keep you updated... but this house flip went pretty fast and I barely had any time to keep up! The house flip is complete, and it is SOLD!! Yes, it sold right away, with multiple offers and was accepted for well over the asking price without any conditions which makes me very happy :)

Here are some reasons this turned out to be a great flip -- it is important you know where to spend your money and where to save your money...

Some things I splurged on:

Hardwood (rather than going with laminate)

Natural stone: Marble and slate

Counter tops: Marble and Quartz

Trim and Doors: 7'' baseboard and 4'' casing with an upgraded door profile (something that wouldnt be found in a builder grade house)

Some things I saved on:

Kitchen cabinets: We decided to stick with ready-made kitchen cabinets

Lighting: Shopped in difference places for lighting and bought things on clearance and in stock

Faucets: Bought high-end ones that were in stock and discounted

Door Hardware: Got a high-end look (but sourced lower end hardware with a similar look)

Carpet: Chose a builder grade carpet that had a high-end look and feel

When the house you are selling is not going to be staged you need to know how to pick the finishes that people will fall in love with. Unfortunately, in a house filp you can't make all your finishes high-end so you need to find the right balance of low and high finishes to create a desired and custom look that people will feel emotionally attached to.

With a careful section of finish I was able to pull off the look I wanted to achieve. I wanted a simple and clean line house with traditional and classic elements. This house was in a historical part of town and needed to fit the demographic of the neighbourhood in order to sell. Chances are the people that are looking in this type of area are also looking for something more on the traditional side...

Here are the before and after pictures of the entire house flip you have been waiting for!

Exterior Before (as seen on my instagram):

After:

Front Entrance After (missing before):

Living Room Before:

Living Room After (from opposite angle):

The other half of the main floor was broken up into rooms and this bathroom was where the kitchen is now.

Before:

After (window in the bathroom was taken out):

This area was the back dinette area and it was converted into part of the kitchen.

Before:

After:

The old kitchen was along the back of the house. This was taken out and converted into a mudroom and powder room.

Before:

After:

New Powder Room:

The mainfloor during demolition (take down those walls!):

After:

You can really see how the place is opened up!

Now for the upstairs... the house was originally a duplex so the upstairs was an apartment with a seperate kitchen and two bedrooms. I unfortunely didn't manage to get any photos ... before they got hammer happy.....but I did manage to get some very good after photos :)

In the picture below you can see where the stairs go up...

...Where they lead to 3 decent-sized bedrooms.

Bedroom 1:

Bedroom 2 - The Master Bedroom:

Bedroom 3:

The old upstairs kitchen and bathroom become one big bathroom:

Luckily, I managed to find a inexpensive remnant marble countertop for the double sinks in this bathroom.

Then I used Ibiza blanco Marble on the floor in the bathroom to give it a little extra touch. In the shower I kept it simple with white subway tile.

Also upstairs is a rooftop patio above the garage which is quite beautful and private:

This is the view of the new deck in the backyard from the upstairs rooftop patio:

Since this is a rather old house the basement wasn't very large but I think we made the best of it. Now, it is all cleaned up, nice and bright, with a carpet that matches the upstairs.

I hope you all enjoyed my house flip -- it was quite the adventure! A huge makeover to a house that was pretty much a teardown before and a complete success for being my first total home reno :)

Thanks for following and stay tuned for more!

Sincerely,

Kendra

**Some of the photos in the post belong to Remax Waterloo Ontario**