Tips for flipping!

Flipping houses has become very popular and has sparked a number of television shows that gloss over the small details of what it takes to flip a house and maximize profits. If you aren’t willing to get a little dirty and invest your own time and sweat, be prepared to lose a significant chunk of profit to contractors. The more you take on yourself, the more profit potential. This article will give you a tip or two to save a buck and the basic contents of a house flipper’s essentials first day toolkit. Baths and KitchensTwo of the most important areas that can make or break the sale of a house are the kitchen and the baths. These can also be areas where fixture replacement can be expensive. However, just because fixtures look bad, doesn’t mean they must be replaced. Sometimes good solid cleaning strategies and a bit of elbow grease can make a fixture look renewed. Baking soda and bleach are two components of the house flipper’s essentials kit. Baking soda is a low abrasive cleanser that can be rubbed into surfaces with a wet sponge and used like popular name brand cleansers. It works very well on stainless steel sinks, as well as on porcelain. It has the added benefit of being a deodorizer, so when you rinse it down tub and sink drains, it can eliminate drain odors, especially if a property has been sitting unused. It is also biodegradable. Bleach is an old stand by for getting out stains and sanitizing. Pour some in that ugly toilet bowl and let it sit for a few hours, then use a toilet brush to clean the bowl. You may have to do this more than once. Remember that bleach will remove color from things it comes into contact with, so be careful not to spill or drip it on non-colorfast surfaces. Both these cleaners can help to remove stains and grime from laminate and cultured marble counter and sink tops. Test laminate for color fastness in a hidden area, before using bleach. I found a great product for removing cigarette burn marks and some other stains from cultured marble sink tops. It comes in a kit along with excellent instructions and two freebies—instructions for removing surface scratches on porcelain and a handy little book that gives “recipes” and instructions for inexpensive cleaning products. This product is called the Burn Buster Kit and the URL is in the Additional Resources. Well worth the investment.
After you have cleaned your tubs and sinks, before you do any finish repair or installation of new fixtures, strip out any old caulk that is discolored or stained and replace. They make a tool for this, but I have found a utility knife and a straight edge razor blade in a holder does a better job. Do not use painter’s caulk for wet areas, it will mildew. I recommend GE Silicone II, a Home Depot item. To give your caulk a professional looking finish, squeeze the caulk along the seam, then use the Homax caulk finishing tool to remove excess caulk (available at Home Depot for about a dollar). Wipe excess caulk from finishing tool frequently with facial or toilet tissue. Finish by gently wiping the caulk with a smooth damp rag. If you plan to keep flipping, invest in a hand held steam cleaner. It gets into corners, cleans tile and grout, toilets, sinks, refrigerators, stoves, just about anything that won’t melt. Steam is also a super disinfectant. Because the steam loosens dirt, it may be as easy as wiping to clean. Now that your fixtures and counter tops are all clean and looking good, just add some updated faucets, spouts and handles—and of course a new toilet seat—voila, looking good. CabinetsWhite kitchens are very fashionable, while that old dark wood is out of style. You don’t have to replace all those cabinets—big bucks. Take off the doors and hardware. Clean and then lightly sand the doors and the cabinet frames. Give them a coat of white primer, then a coat of good white semi gloss paint. Replace the old hinges and handles with updated versions and you have potentially saved yourself thousands of dollars and created a clean look. This process works for bathroom sink cabinets as well. Use white or use a color that compliments the wall color. Use masking tape to mark the doors so you know where they go back and put all your hardware (screws, hinges, handles) in zip lock bags, if you plan to reuse, so they don’t get lost. A product like Greased Lightening will remove grease from kitchen hardware, but remember to clean them immediately, don’t let them soak or they may rust. OdorsA great product for eliminating odors in closets, cabinets, carpets and an assortment of other places is OdoBan. It works well on pet odors too. You can buy this at Sam’s Club (membership is well worth the dollars) or through Home Depot Supply (they can probably special order it for you at any Home Depot store, item #115500). It comes in a gallon jug and you can mix it to any strength needed. Instructions are on the label. Always keep a spray bottle of this around. Cracks and Gaps
Keep a few tubes of painter’s caulk and a caulking gun in your first day kit. Use painter’s caulk to fill small cracks at wall corners or where ceilings and walls meet. It is also good to fill gaps where molding is not fitting tight against walls, where countertop is gaping from the wall or as a quick fill for nail holes when you don’t have any spackle. Be sure to smooth the surface. The best way to do this is with a soft wet cloth. Once you paint over your caulk repair, it becomes invisible and gives your paint job a nice finished look. Spackle (wall board mud) is the standard for drywall repairs. If you are inexperienced with spackle, you may want to opt for one of the new lightweight quick dry spackles such as Patch N Paint. It dries faster than regular spackle, it is easier for a novice to apply and it works well for small holes. Home Depot has it in a kit. Holes in WallsHow many times have you seen a door handle put a hole in wallboard? You can put caulking tape and caulk over the hole and spend a lot of time trying to “feather” the edges of the repair so that it doesn’t appear as a bump. Or, you can purchase a wall protector circle. It sticks to the wall, covers the hole, can be painted the same color as the wall and prevents another occurrence. It is available from Home Depot Supply in different colors and sizes (item #807835) and probably can be found in hardware stores. If the hole is in the wall where the above solution is not an option, try this. Take a piece of lightweight cardboard (top of a nail box, back of a telephone book, business card, etc.), punch a hole in the middle and insert a piece of string or twine (a twisty tie will do in a pinch). On the backside of the cardboard, tie a small finish nail, piece of wire or a hair pin to the string and arrange it so that you can pull it tight against the cardboard, but not back through the hole. A piece of tape can help secure it. Fold, but don’t crease the cardboard and tuck it into the wall hole. You want the piece of cardboard to open inside the wall. Once it is open, pull the string to hold the cardboard against the back of the hole. Now put some regular spackle in the hole. Don’t try to fill the hole all at once. Put in enough spackle to cover the cardboard and hold it in place. Once this dries, cut the string, add more spackle and continue the process until the hole is filled. Then, sand and paint. Reviving WoodFor wood you don’t intend to paint, an easy revival technique is to rub the wood with Tung oil (a hardware or home improvement store item) using a clean, dry, lint free rag such as T-shirt material. The Tung oil moisturizes the wood and gives it a bit of sheen. StovesThere is nothing like good old Easy Off to clean the inside of a dirty oven, unless you have a steam cleaner. Those little chrome colored drip pans beneath the burners can be purchased as replacement sets for under $15.00 at a home improvement store or an appliance parts store. Replacement is recommended for these because they rarely clean up to a sparkle. Knobs can also be replaced. Take a sample with you to the appliance parts store or find the model and serial number on the stove and call the appliance parts store to find a match. Mirrors

Mirrors over sinks tend to de-silver around the edges. There three potential solutions for this, if you don’t want to replace them. They are given to you here in order with most recommended first. 1. Take the mirror down and have a glass and mirror store cut it smaller to eliminate the de-silvered areas. 2. Purchase mirror edges from Home Depot Supply. They have a kit containing everything you need (item #900423). The kit contains mirror edges that are glued to the exiting mirror, giving it a three dimensional effect. 3. Buy some wallpaper border and glue it to the mirror edges to cover the de-silvering—make sure you miter cut the corners to give it a good finish and that the pattern chosen compliments or enhances the colors in the room. Minimize Repair Clean UpTo minimize repair clean up, find a sturdy box about the size of a large microwave. An empty copy paper box is good too. Take this box with you from room to room as you are making repairs or installing fixtures. Put all your trash, nails, broken bits of drywall or glass, empty containers, etc. in this box. Trash bags are not as good as a box for throw aways that have sharp edges because they can puncture the bag and the box is safer for you when dealing with sharp edges. All your trash is in one place and you have one box to carry out. By having all the trash in one place, you can quickly remove it if a potential buyer shows up early to have a look. House Flipper’s Essentials ToolkitThe items listed below will give you a big jump on getting your flip pointed in the right direction. Once things are clean, it is easier to see what needs replacement or repair. Trash box, paper towels, cleaning rags (such as old T-shirts), trash bags, broom, dust pan, cleaning bucket, toilet and scrub brushes, old toothbrush (for hard to reach corners and tight spaces such as around faucets and knobs), sponges, Zip Lock bags (for small parts, screws or parts you need to take away for matching), permanent marker for labeling, pencil and notepad (to write down to dos and things you find you need), baking soda, bleach, glass cleaner (or one of the cleaning formula recipes from the Burn Buster Kit’s Good Old Fashioned Cleaning booklet), drain cleaner, plunger, phillips and flat head screw drivers, a pair of pliers and/or channel locks, painter’s caulk, caulking gun, spackle, spackle mud knife, dust mask, safety goggles, light bulbs. Make sure the water and electric are on, otherwise take your own water and go in the daytime (take a flashlight too). You should be present when utilities are turned on, especially water and gas. If the water gets turned on when no one is around and there is a leak that you don’t know about, the price of your flip could go up dramatically due to water damage—and a gas leak would not be pretty!

Hardwood Floors

Well, there's something that I would like to say! I love wood flooring! And there's a lot of flooring to admire out there. You'll find lots of choices with both hardwood, and engineered flooring.
To help avoid any confusion, let me help you with few definitions. Now hardwood floors are just that- Hardwood. Solid wood floors come in planks, strips, or parquet.
Another choice you'll need to make is whether your solid wood flooring is finished, or unfinished. Now unfinished means, you'll need to sand and seal. I gotta tell you: this is an easy choice for me. A pre-finished floor will cost about a dollar per foot more than an unfinished.
The difference will seem incredibly insignificant after you've been on your hands and knees for 48 hours and your back is completely shot.
Hardwood floors they add a lot of beauty and style. Don't be too floored about the cost. They also add substantial value to your home!

10 Cheap Fixes to Boost Your Home's Value

10 cheap fixes to boost your home's value
Short on cash but ready to renovate? Think new door handles, not new doors, and spiffed-up appliance fronts, not new appliances.

Looking for ways to spruce up your home without putting yourself in the poorhouse? Whether you're getting ready to sell your home or want to spiff it up inexpensively for your own enjoyment, we've got 10 good strategies for you to consider.
The actual cost and payback for each project can vary, depending on both your home's condition and overall real estate market values in your region of the country.
1. Make your kitchen really cook. The kitchen is still considered the heart of the home. Potential home buyers make a beeline for this room when they first view a home for sale, so make sure your kitchen looks clean and reasonably updated.
For a few hundred dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet set, add new cabinet door handles and update old lighting fixtures with brighter, more energy-efficient ones.
If you've got a slightly larger budget, you can give the cabinets themselves a makeover. "Rather than spring for a whole new cabinet system, which can be expensive, look into hiring a refacing company," says serial remodeler Gwen Moran, co-author of "Build Your Own Home on a Shoestring."
"Many companies can remove cabinet doors and drawers, refinish the cabinet boxes, then add brand-new doors and drawers. With a fresh coat of paint over the whole set, your cabinets will look like new."
If you're handy, you can order your own replacement cabinet doors and door fronts from retailers like Lowe's Home Improvement or The Home Depot and install them yourself.
2. Give appliances a facelift. If your kitchen appliances don't match, order new doors or face panels for them. When Nicole Persley, a Realtor with Real Estate of Florida, in Boca Raton, was sprucing up her own home to sell, her mix-and-match kitchen bothered her. The room had a white dishwasher, microwave and wall oven mixed with other pieces that were stainless steel with black trim.
When Persley called the dishwasher manufacturer to see about ordering a new, black face panel, the customer service representative clued her in on a big secret: Many dishwasher panels are white on one side and black on the other.
"All I had to do was unscrew two screws, slide out the panel and flip it around. Sure enough -- it was black on the other side!"
Persley, who has remodeled numerous homes for resale, says that a more cohesive-looking kitchen makes a big difference in the buyer's mind -- and in the home's resale price.
3. Buff up the bath. Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are often the most important rooms to update. They, too, can be improved without a lot of cash. "Even simple things like a new toilet seat and a pedestal sink are pretty easy for homeowners to install, and they make a big difference in the look of the bath," says Moran.
Moran also suggests replacing an old, discolored bathroom floor with easy-to-apply vinyl tiles or a small piece of sheet vinyl. "You may not even need to take up the old floor. You can install the new floor right over the old one," she says.
If your tub and shower are looking dingy, consider re-grouting the tile and replacing any chipped tiles. A more complete cover-up is a prefabricated tub and shower surround. These one-piece units may require professional installation but can still be cheaper than paying to re-tile walls and refinish a worn tub.
4. Step up your storage. Old houses, particularly, are notorious for their lack of closet space. If you have cramped storage areas, Realtor Moe Viessi of Miami suggests adding do-it-yourself wire and laminate closet systems to bedrooms, pantries and entry closets.
Firms like ClosetMaid allow you to measure and redesign your closets online. You can also get design details and parts for these systems at many large home-improvement stores. Most closets can be updated in a weekend or less.
In the end, your closets will be more functional while you're living in the house and will make your home look more customized to potential buyers when you're ready to sell.
5. Add a room in a week or less. "If you have a three-bedroom house with a den, the only reason the den can't be considered a bedroom may be because it doesn't have a closet," says Persley. "If you add a closet to that room, you've now got a four-bedroom house. That adds a lot of value."
Persley says it's usually possible to add a custom closet system and drywall it in for less than $1,500.
6. Mind the mechanics. Finley Perry of F.H. Perry Builder in Hopkinton, Mass., advocates spending a few bucks on nitty-gritty stuff. "It's often very worthwhile to hire an electrician and plumber for a couple of hours to look over your electrical services, wrap or fix loose wires, fix any faulty outlets, and check for and fix any water leaks," Perry says. "Those details tell a buyer that someone has really taken care of the home and can really influence its price."
7. Look underfoot. Carpeting is another detail that can quickly update a home and make it look cleaner. A professional carpet cleaning is an inexpensive investment, especially if your rugs are in good shape and are neutral colors.
If your carpet is showing serious wear, cover it with inexpensive, strategically placed area rugs. Unless it is truly hideous, most Realtors don't suggest replacing wall-to-wall carpeting right before you sell your house. The new homeowners may want to choose their own carpeting after they move in.
8. Let there be light. If you have boring recessed lights in your dining and living rooms, consider replacing one of the room's lights with an eye-catching chandelier. Home stores offer a wide range of inexpensive, but nice-looking, ceiling fixtures these days. If you have a ceiling fan and light, you can also buy replacement fan blades (leaving the fan body in place) to update the fixture's look.
9. Reframe your entry. Do you have a flimsy little knob on your main entry door? If so, spring for a substantial-looking handle-and-lock set. "A nice, big piece of hardware on the front door signals to newcomers that this is a solid home," says Viessi.
Also, if you're stuck with a basic steel front door, Persley suggests painting or faux-finishing it for more eye appeal. "It's becoming a trend in Florida to add wood-grain doors to a home's entry or garage. The good news, though, is that you can easily paint existing metal doors with stain and paint," she says.
After using a good metal primer, Persley gives the door a base coat of paint (again, be sure to use one approved for use over metal). For a cherry wood look, Persley uses a burgundy base paint. After it dries, she brushes over the base coat with a cherry wood stain. "It really looks amazing, and it only takes a few hours," she says.
10. Consider curb appeal. Although it sounds obvious, a nicely mowed lawn, a few well-placed shrubs and a swept walkway makes a great first impression. "What buyers see when they first drive by your home is tremendously important," says Viessi.
If you don't have a green thumb, consider hiring a landscaper to install some new sod, plant a few evergreen shrubs and give your front yard a good cleanup. "These kinds of changes can instantly change people's perception of your home and, therefore, increase its value," says Viessi. And hey, your neighbors will love you for it, too.
Wondering How Much Your Home Is Worth?
http://www.gaycharlestonrealestate.com.preview.z57.com/Charleston_SC_home_sales.shtml

Easter

Today is a quick blog.......

Happy Easter! Have a great holiday weekend!

Check out the link for great things to do in Charleston for your holiday weekend.
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South Carolina State Laws

South Carolina Adoption Law: South Carolina permits single GLBT people to adopt. It is unclear whether same-sex couples are allowed to adopt. It is unclear whether a person can adopt his or her same-sex partner’s adopted child.
South Carolina Birth Certificate Law: Gender Identification Issues: South Carolina will not issue new birth certificates, but it will issue cards that can be attached to the old birth certificates indicating change of name and sex.
South Carolina Custody and Visitation Law:Courts typically will not consider a parent’s sexual orientation in custody and visitation determinations unless it is shown to adversely affect or harm the child(ren). There have been no cases dealing with transgender parents or same-sex co-parents.
South Carolina Donor Insemination Law: There is no provision on donor insemination in South Carolina state law.
South Carolina Hate Crimes Law: This state has no hate crimes law.
South Carolina Marriage/Relationship Recognition Law: South Carolina law and the state constitution both purport to ban recognition of marriages between same-sex couples. There are no other forms of relationship recognition for same-sex couples in state law or policies.
South Carolina Non-Discrimination Law: South Carolina law does not address discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
South Carolina School Law: South Carolina law does not address school issues relating to sexual orientation or gender identity.
South Carolina Sodomy Law:The South Carolina sodomy law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2003, as a result of the Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas.
South Carolina Surrogacy Law:South Carolina state law is unclear on surrogacy.

Visit the link for information on how to protect yourself when purchasing a home as a couple.
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