1970s House Flip

Closing Selfie

First House Flip

Over the past few months, my husband, Chris, and I have been working hard on our first real estate "flip" here in Cary, NC! It's been exciting, exhausting and rewarding. The ultimate staging project for me. The ultimate home improvement project for Chris. We stumbled upon this home and knew right away that this was the project we'd been looking for and it showed up at the perfect time and location.

1970s Split Foyer

Much of that house was original to 1975. Green counters, retro light fixtures, paneled walls and dated wall paper had to go. The original oven still worked, but the dishwasher and trash compactor had quit 10 years earlier. We found 3 layers of sheet vinyl. Thousands of carpet staples. A rotten shed.

Demo Day

We got to work right away on demo. It's fun to say "Demo Day" but it really takes much longer - at least the way we did it. Chris and our son, Silas, worked hard to fill up two dumpsters with flooring, cabinetry, appliances and carpet. Plus, landscaping and that old shed. It was all removed so that the bones could be inspected, brought up to code and refinished to the 21st Century!

I have so  many more photos of every step of the way...putting it back together started with a new roof, siding and trim. Fresh paint on the new siding and it was already looking much better! The driveway looked like there had been an earthquake. After the concrete guy tore up the driveway, we learned that many trees had been removed but the roots remained. Under the driveway. Turned out to be a larger project than originally planned.

Driveway Demo

Some of the best features of the house remained - keeping the charm was important and we loved the bird house and the most amazing crepe myrtle I've ever seen.

It all came together in exactly 3 months. The house went on the market on September 27th. Our first showing resulted in a offer and we went under contract right away! Lucky buyers and thrilled flippers. Can't wait for the new owners to enjoy our hard work!

New laminate floors, granite counters, new cabinets and tiled shower.

The laundry room was finished, built-in shelves saved and the most narrow vanity available was installed in the awkward basement bath.

I've always love working on my own home (which has been sadly neglected these past 3 months) and a chance to make a mess and fix it up somewhere else has been fun and extremely educational. I've met some great neighbors, contractors and even the previous owners. Can't wait to do it all over again!

Check out Flippin' Magnolia on Facebook! Check out UpStaging Designs too! Let me know how I can help you buys, sell, stage or invest!