In the backyard, as I have mentioned in the October 9th update, the wall has been put up between the houses and we have been picking up big rocks and other unwanted stuff from the dirt to grow grass. We are now getting ready to put sprinklers in this weekend to we can start growing grass. The backyard is a good-sized backyard, I would think there is room for some pets. We are also going to be redoing the driveway and pouring the concrete past the gate so it can be an extra space to park RV's, boats, and trailers! Currently, the driveway in front of the garage is concrete but when you look to the left the concrete stops and there is a dirt/grassy driveway area that goes through to the back yard. New wall also means a new gate, so that is also on the to-do list of things to finish. 

Meanwhile, the painters are finishing the outside, and the inside is painted! Also, the electrical is mostly done so they are just waiting for the Edison company to turn on the power because most of the workers can not work without power. The bathroom vanities were also put in and my parents have picked out the floor tile for the downstairs.





The black area is going to be the extension of concrete to the yard.
Google Earth View

Today my parents picked out the appliances today, it is going to cost over $40,000! Now that the drywallers have finished the painters have started painting the inside and a different painter is painting the outside of the house. Now my parents need to find a plumber to finish the bathrooms in the upstairs and downstairs bathroom.
Currently, my parents have narrowed the tile choices downstairs to 3, so they are trying to decide between the 3 options. In the upstairs, my parents have decided to do a high-end laminate for the flooring. Also, the rotten fascia on the house is getting replaced so as soon as that gets done the painter can finish painting the exterior. In the meantime, the drywall in the downstairs and the skylight has been textured and completed and now the upstares is getting drywalled and it is going very quickly. As a teenager I had no clue how many little things you have to go in order to renovate and update a house, it takes a lot of deciding. I don’t think I can do what my parents do because I am a very indecisive person and flipping a house takes a lot of decision making such as what tile you are going to use, what appliances, doors, stone, paint, paint color, cabinets, etc. 

Tile Choices

Skylight     
Exterior of House
Currently, my parents have been trying to decide what flooring to put in and if they should match the flooring with what was already put in. Should they do porcelain tile or ceramic tile, wood floor or concrete floors? What countertops are they going to put in the bathrooms? Other things they need to keep up with is to order rain gutters, to order the high-end TruStile doors, which take about 4-5 weeks to come in because they are made in Denver, Colorado. In the meantime, they have to schedule the San Dimas inspectors to check every inch of the house to make sure the code requirements are met. Currently, the drywall people are putting in drywall, and the electrician is finishing up the electrical stuff. In the backyard they put up a wall about a couple weeks ago, separating the backyards of the neighboring house. In the backyard, my dad has been getting the yard ready to grow grass. Usually, we have done sod for quick and easy grass, but we are going to grow grass because the house will probably take much longer to finish because of the holidays and because the house had to have a lot done to it. The previous owner completed a lot when redoing the house originally, so there were some things already finished like some of the cabinets and the tile in the bathrooms, but that was it.




I love the final look of each and every home we remodel. I don't love the decision making process it takes to get there. I scroll through Instagram or pin on Pinterest and find all sorts of looks I love, but bringing that image to life would most likely leave me with a "Pinterest Fail" post. For me, this is where it helps to get an expert opinion from others. 

Remodel completed in July 2019.

I started out this morning at the showroom of our favorite flooring contractor. He had several choices for us and I specifically asked about "Luxury Vinyl Tile" which is becoming more and more popular and was first mentioned by our interior designer. While this is vinyl, it carries a similar price tag as tile. Rigid Core Vinyl Flooring is an engineered vinyl floor that has an enhanced rigid core construction for dimensional stability. A rigid core vinyl will be a solid plank that has less pliability, giving it a sturdy feel to install and under foot. This floor is an improved version of traditional vinyl floors that adds more of a wood floor feel to a vinyl.* There were a lot of options, and it really does look like and feel like wood. 

Benefits of Luxury Vinyl Tile:
  • Waterproof
  • Appearance
  • Quieter Sound
  • Easy Maintenance and Cleaning
  • Easy to Install
Luxury Vinyl Tile is becoming more common.


I definitely recommend taking the samples home. Many times something looks fabulous in a showroom, yet when taken to the location of installation it doesn't look as well. This is exactly what happened today. I brought a sample I loved back to the project, but I can see it just doesn't give it the look I am going for. Also, don't be afraid to change your mind in the planning stages. After I brought the luxury vinyl back to the project and asked the opinion of a trusted real estate professional, we decided porcelain tile would be the best fit for the project. It is much easier to change your mind before material is purchased than after. Back to the drawing board for me in regards to the interior flooring.  
 

What I loved in the showroom doesn't fit with the look I am going for.

Finally, give yourself enough time to decide. I brought back this tile sample for the exterior patio. Not sure I will use this particular one, but since I now have a picture I can think about it and decide what we want to do. They have about 10 days left on exterior paint, so if I think about it over the weekend we will still be OK on our timeline. However, don't wait too long. Some materials take longer to get and you never know when the prices will change.

I really like this look, but I am going to think about it for a few days before committing.


*Information on Rigid Core Vinyl Flooring provided by:
https://www.bestlaminate.com/help/what-is-rigid-core-vinyl-flooring/
The History of the House


Hello! My name is Allie Hipwell. This year in English we were told that 20% of the week, one day of the week, we can write about whatever we want. I really wanted to do a blog, but I did not know what I wanted to blog about. I realized that my mom blogged about real estate so I thought I might give it a try! With ideas from my teacher, I was able to come to the conclusion that I wanted to write about my perspective when flipping a house. 


The first house I am going to write about a house on Klamath Court in San Dimas or as we call it, “The Lightning House”. We sometimes call it the lightning house because it was once struck by lightning in 2005. After it was struck by lightning the owner stated to repair the damage, but in May of 2007 she decided to restart the whole house from scratch, so she tore it down completely to build a brand new one. The new layout of the house she created was a similar layout, but it was just bigger than the old one. The lady's husband passed away in 2009 so they had to stop construction on the house, so no one has lived on that site for 14 years, and no one has ever lived in this home! 

While making our journey from La Verne to San Dimas, my parents saw this house and my parents really liked its safe location and neighborhood, view, and layout of the house, but the lady who owned it did not want to sell it. My parents watched the house go on and off the foreclosure calendar, but it never went to auction. They tried buying the house from the owner but they could not work out the details before the house would be sold at auction in May 2019. The house had a lot of tax liens but an investor purchased it at the auction, and my parents were able to buy the house from the investor a little later, free of liens and with title insurance.


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