Project Tallmadge: Our Very First Flip

I think you remember your first flip like you remember your first car. You remember how it smelt the first time you stepped in. You remember all the time you spent in it and the people who drove around with you. For Project Talmadge, we remember those late nights and early mornings as if we’re still living those 90 days of renovations right now. I found out I was pregnant with our second baby only a single digit number of weeks after Sean signed his name on the closing document. My dad drove up several back to back weekends from Virginia to Ohio to physically and emotionally support our very first jump into house flipping. Many a Modelo was shared and tear was shed over missing in action contractors, a $7,000 unexpected pool demolition, hundreds of yards of wallpaper steamed, and a broken window 1 day before listing.

Our Mentor Lorree shared with me several days after we sold that first flip that she knew Sean and I would make it in the real estate investing and house flipping business when she delivered the news of our pool situation. Sean recalls that a county inspector had visited our property one day during renovations and told us that our pool would need to be demolished “correctly.” Currently, we were filling it in. We were informed that each and every slab of cement and stone was to be disposed of properly and delivered to a nearby dump. This meant 7,000 more “unbudgeted” dollars. Lorree recounts that Sean took the news with more than just grace. He responded with, “Let’s get it done. What’s next?”

Despite only a few hiccups, as to be expected, the house turned out to be something of which we are extremely fond and proud. I call the project our “internship.” Most of the design choices were chosen for us with the exception of our mentors allowing me to add a few of my own personal touches. This was the very first time I got a taste of what it was like to experiment with texture and design based on the color palette already chosen for us for the house. Most investors in house flipping stick to a color palette, theme, and even the same finishes to allow them the luxury of not having to redesign houses after house. This applies especially to the big boy investors who are flipping many, many houses in a years time. They stick to what sells: a neutral palette that appeals to the majority of homebuyers. Why reinvent the wheel as they say… Very, very successful men and women have used this strategy and it has proven tried and true. Sean and I discovered several years after our first flip that designing flip after flip to be different and unique is not only extremely rewarding but half the fun… and for me personally, most of the fun 😉

The Kitchen: Open Concept and Vaulted Ceiling 

Our mentors used Ubba Tubba – dark brown and black granite – for some of their projects. It really is a stunning granite that provided a lovely contrast to the all white cabinets chosen for the kitchen.

White cabinets are always a safe option for rentals and flips. They not only lighten a space but they also are cheaper than colored cabinets. Loree let me choose the backsplash. It was a grey and brown speckled subway tile from Lowes that she ended up using on a flip of her own shortly after.

It went perfectly with the grey paint color chosen throughout the house. Several walls were opened up to connect the old kitchen, dining, and living room creating that much desired open concept feel. The icing on the cake for the new main floor space made of those same three rooms was that the entire ceiling was vaulted up to the roof. We believed this was truly the selling point for this particular home. Vaulted ceilings are breathtaking and provide such an airy and elegant feel to almost any home. 

The Bathrooms: Sean Learns to Tile

The house was a three bed, two full bath, and one half bath split level home. The bathrooms needed full overhauls of both showers and the bathtub in the main bath was replaced.

Talmadge is also a special flip for Sean because this is the project where my Dad taught him how to tile. Lorree had chosen the 12 by 12 tiles for each shower and she let me choose a white hexagon porcelain tile for the floor.

The main bathroom vanity was a good will find! It is an absolutely gorgeous double vanity with a granite top that we snagged from a warehouse for only $500. It was in perfect condition, fit the space, and we couldn’t have been happier.

The Master shower was tiny and proved to be such a bear. My dad and Sean worked tirelessly on it but in the end, the tiny en suite was perfectly quaint and surprising spacious. 

To finish off the interior of the house, the basement and upstairs were carpeted beautifully which complemented the bamboo floors throughout the house.

We were blessed with a pretty well maintained exterior of the house. The siding didn’t need replacing but the gutters, garage doors, and windows were all replaced. After the pool demolition, the yard needed to be reseeded and landscape came in shortly after. The deck in the backyard was painted along with a new paint job for the garage top to bottom. Another college buddy, Stephen, and I stayed all day Super Bowl Sunday to paint the garage floor and sprinkle the paint chips onto the wet concrete. As long as we didn’t miss the kick off, Steve was along for the ride that day and it was one heck of a project. 

Maybe it’s a “first house” thing, but I remember telling Sean on one of the last few days to put down the paint brush and just be done. This was a valuable lesson we learned with Talmadge: you’re never going to feel “done.” You check off the boxes of your task list, you send everyone home with checks, and put down the paint brush. It’s really hard to feel 100% complete when you see all the imperfections but when you know, you know that it’s time to alert your realtor that it’s time to put your baby up on the market.

Seventy-two hours later, Sean and I got the news that our very first flip had multiple offers and one cash offer for almost full price. After accepting the latter, Sean and I took the evening to soak in the feeling of actually being real house flippers. Thus, Pandora’s box was opened. 

Ann | DESIGN