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Lana Flips

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Lana Flips Her First House

My friend Lana is flipping her first house and she has agreed to let me tag along for the ride! Hope you enjoy the trip.

Who is Lana? She is a bubbly mother of two with a Honors Fine Arts degree. She plays badminton twice a week, sings, and belly dances. For the last four years she has been painting and decorating other people's homes and last year she supervised an addition to her own home. Lana is a hands on type of person who is not afraid to break a nail or get dust in her hair. And she pretty proud of her calluses.

She has wanted to flip a house for some time and thinks she has found the perfect house for her first flip. This 100 year old 1 1/2 story Cape Cod style home sits on a corner lot. The house used to be a doctor's practice on the main floor and a rental unit upstairs. Lana is keeping the upstairs tenant but remodeling the main floor into a one bedroom unit. When she is done she will remodel the upstairs tenants space. The house was listed for $164,000 but she purchased it for $130,000. It is located in an established family neighborhood with bargains still to be found.

The Little House on Queen Street

House Hunting

What Did She Look For?

Lana spent over a year seriously looking for a house to purchase and remodel with the intent of selling it for profit down the road. When she was looking for a house there were certain criteria that she kept in mind:

  • The house had to be in a good neighborhood.

  • It had to be within her established budget.

  • There had to be no structural deficiencies (only love and attention required).

  • The lot had to be a good size.

  • Mature trees were an asset.

  • Actual remodelling had to be challenging enough for her creativity.

  • And it definitely had to be re-sellable.
House Flipping

Parking Next to House 

Before Renovations

Quick Tour of House

The carport. You can see where the name of the doctor's office used to be in the wood.

The carport. You can see where the name of the doctor's office used to be in the wood.

The carport. You can see where the name of the doctor's office used to be in the wood.
The view of the kitchen facing the door from the carport.
The view of the dining room from one of the kitchen doorways.
The view of the living room from the dining room door.
The front door viewed from the living room.
The stairs leading up to the apartment.
The bathroom.
The bedroom. from the bathroom door.
The basement.
The working guts of the basement.

Would You Like to Flip a House?

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Before Taking Out Sledge Hammer

Check List

Before Lana could begin knocking down walls or putting up new ones she had to:

  • Make sure the property was zoned properly. Because the home was used as a doctor's office she had to get the zoning changed at city hall. She only had to wait a few weeks.

  • Request a building permit.

  • Have an architect draw up plans for changes she could take into city hall.

  • She listed herself as a general contractor and hired trades people (electrician, plumber, carpenter) to work on house.

"A good decorator not only plans and schemes, but he also knows how the job is done."

~ Albert Hadley

House flipping

Full View of Front Yard 

What Lana Will Do Herself

Self Taught Go Getter

Lana DavisonLana has always been a crafty person but instead of making frilly pillows she can tile a bathroom or laying flooring. For this particular venture she will mostly work as the assistant but she will be getting down and dirty by doing:

  • Clean up detail.

  • Taking down walls.

  • Painting pretty much everywhere.

  • Putting up drywall and mudding.

  • Tiling kitchen, bathroom and laundry room floors.

  • Putting down hardwood floors in living room and bedroom.

  • Cutting trim.

  • Putting up some framing.

  • Coffee Gopher

Mid Renovations

Demo and Framing Done

Here is a two minute walk through of main floor house from side entrance through laundry room, kitchen, powder room, living room, master bathroom and bedroom.
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Take a Closer Look Around the House

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Thank you for visiting Lana Flips

Hope you enjoyed looking at some of the pre-flip photos and will check out some of the other lenses featuring other rooms in the house and how they will be renovated.

Leave Lana some Kudos before you go!

  • TheArtLibrarian Feb 18, 2012 @ 6:18 pm | delete
    What a unique topic for a lens. I look forward to the 'after' photos!
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BigGirlBlue

I have known Lana for over ten years. She is a lively, fun, and creative person. I had great fun shadowing her during her first house flip project.

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