Dang It! Just as I Feared.

It seems like Hick's love affair with Cheap House is going to continue to cause neglect for the red-porched fliphouse... 

Hick met with Realtor Guy yesterday about listing Cheap House. They took a tour of the property. Hick stated his desire to list it next week, at around $69,000. I trust Realtor Guy's opinion, because he has a stake in this. The more it sells for, the more he'll earn in commission. So I don't think he'd steer us wrong.

Realtor Guy said sure, you CAN list it at $69,000 like it is. Which is what you intended all along, to sell it to a flipper. However, that will get you a bunch of lowball offers like $30,000 or $35,000. Of course you don't have to take offers like that. But IF you do a little more work on it, like putting in definite walls, and some drywall, you can list it at a higher price, and be more likely to get legitimate offers for it.

Of course Hick was thrilled to hear this. Though not so thrilled to hear my complaining. I swear he has had the plan all along to fix up Cheap House like a regular flip, even though we'd already bought him his precious Lap House.

Hick talked me off the ledge by saying that it will take $5,000-$7,000 to put in the walls and drywall. He will have both Old Buddy and HOS working on Cheap House. And then we can list it for around $85,000. I have not yet discussed this plan with The Pony.

Realtor Guy liked that Hick had torn off the back porch room, and turned that back room from a bedroom to a living room. It's where you enter through the back door. He said when we list it, he will start his house tours by going in the back. That way you walk into the living room, and then flow to the kitchen on the left, and later to the front of the house, which will be down a short hall, and the bedrooms at the front.This makes sense to me, because there is an alley behind the house, with off-street parking beside the shed. So that's convenient for entering and bringing in groceries or company.

I still think we would get decent offers right now if we listed at $69,000. But I can also see the logic in putting a little more money into Cheap House to make it a little more finished, and ask a higher price. What I DON'T want to do is get involved with an HVAC system, or the kitchen and bathroom. That's where the big money comes in, and we've already invested a lot in the new roof.