Windows are considered the “eyes” of a house. In children’s drawings, notice that the façade of a house often looks like a face with the window representing the eyes and the door the lips. Won’t you like beautiful eyes for the property you’re rehabbing? Of course you would. That is why when flipping homes, you should know what types of windows are commonly found in American properties.

When you know the various types if windows, repairing and rehabbing the house will be easier. Determine what type of window that is and you’ll know its purpose and use. One you know its purpose, you’ll be able to determine whether you need to just clean that window or replace it totally. For instance, if the specific window is used as an emergency escape, you must make sure that its hinges are working properly. If that window is simple there to provide extra natural lighting, you can opt for fixed types.

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This article continues what was started in Part 1. In this installment, we’ll discuss more on how to repair shellac damages on woodwork. Especially found on vintage homes, this finish is unique as it simple dissolves onto the existing shellac coat. Before we proceed to solving your flipping home problem, let’s have a little recap of what Part 1 discussed.

In the first portion of this two-part guide, we started by verifying whether the finish is indeed shellac. After determining the finish using the “dabbing” experiment, the affected area will be cleaned for optimum adhesion. Then, the rough parts will be softened and wiped off. This flip houses activity continues with sanding.

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So you’re dealing with a beautiful vintage home. You slowly thread the stairs with your hand caressing the smooth shellac railings. Then you suddenly feel something rough. It’s a small damage on the shellac finish of the handrail. Probably damaged by rain or the kids, it’s a spot that made the whole piece otherwise perfect. Now your flipping home comes to a start, you fear that you may have to refinish the whole staircase right? If so, rehab houses would be such a pain.

Actually, you can repair that little spot and spare yourself from all the trouble of having to strip the existing coat, sand, prime, sand again, and apply a new finish. As a rehabber, you simply don’t have time for this much work. And remember, we want to do as little as possible to rehab houses. So if you’re faced with early 20th-century hardwood floors, wooden wall and ceiling paneling, and staircases, it’s likely that you will be shellacking.

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What better way to spice up a dull spacey kitchen than to install a kitchen island. As rehabbers, we often try to avoid as major repairs and that is understandable. But if space, time, and money allow it, installing a kitchen island is a good way to please your prospect home buyers.  Here are some reasons why home buyers love a kitchen island why you should consider installing one when you rehab houses.

When home buyers inspect the kitchen of a rehab home, they try to compare it with their existing kitchen. What they notice first is that the rehabbed version is more spacious, and that’s a good thing. While it is wide, it is natural for home buyers to look for more storage space. It’s just human nature. That’s where the kitchen island comes in the picture. One of the major roles of this piece is to augment storage space in the kitchen. In fact, they can increase storage space by up to 25% in most cases.

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For rehabbing to work, an investor must be able to find the perfect property to fix up and resell. If you want to know how to flip a house, you better learn first what house you should flip, as they say. While there are literally millions of properties for sale in the market today, fixer upper homes seem to be the standout. These are rundown properties that may or may not be occupied. They require some repairs and most home buyers will find them unattractive and even scary, but for home rehab investors, these are “diamonds in the rough.”

Here are some helpful tips when looking for fixer upper homes.

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When working with a rehab home contractor, it is inevitable to have some headaches. After all, what is life without some drama? However, you should not let these simple misunderstandings get in the way of the project’s completion. So when you have houses to flip, apply these simple tips and save yourself from the hassles of arguing with the contractor.

What most rehabbers do is that look for a contractor who is good and then settle for that one for the rest of their rehab home projects. In this situation, the contractor usually comes with the rehabber during inspection and then makes his proposal on the home. In some situations though, you would need to have a plan and then have the contractor execute the blueprint for you. But in any of these cases, what is important is that you know what you want. You do not want to anger the contractor by asking him to widen the kitchen instead of the adjacent room as you’ve earlier instructed him.

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Dealing with small spaces is a problem encountered by everyone who is into rehabbing homes. If you need to flip houses that are cramped, you might find these simple tips useful. Learn how you can “expand” space without actually taking down a wall. Read on and remember these tips so you can apply them in your everyday adventure as a house rehabber.

Use mirrors effectively when rehabbing homes. That’s mirrors with an “s.” A mirror creates an illusion of space. Installing large mirrors on some walls actually make the room look double its actual size. One trick you can try is by placing two large mirrors facing each other. When waling in between the two mirrors, it appears as if the space of the room is endless.

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Making sure the lawn is lush is but an indispensable part of doing rehab homes. After all, the turf can send the wrong message to the buyers. This is especially true in the case of some bank foreclosed homes, which the lenders were not able to maintain. For a buyer, an ugly lawn is a sign of neglect. Your buyer thinks that is something as open as the lawn is in bad shape, what more about hidden parts of the property like electrical wiring and the HVAC duct? So to prevent that from happening, study these common lawn problems and take action to remedy them.

In houses that are not well maintained, bank foreclosed home included, grass is thinner in shady areas. If you’ll hold the property for a few weeks, you can solve this problem just be pruning branches that block sunlight from reaching that part of the yard. If worst come to worst, you can replace the grass in shady area with fine fescue and other grass that survive with little sunlight. You can also try pachysandra and groundcovers.

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When doing a home rehab in a wet region, you can’t help but deal with a mudroom. This small room or space in the house is often used overlooked by rehabbers, thinking that it won’t affect the value of a property at all. Despite this, a mudroom can actually have an impact on the home buyers’ perception of the property. That is why it is important to know the basics of the mudroom.

Generally, this room serves as the buffer between the interiors and the exteriors during rainy or snowy days. It is where people wipe their wet shoes. It’s also where they hang wet clothes, coats, and winter gear. When doing a rehab house, it’s important to pay attention to this room because it could be the first thing buyers notice in the interiors. While most home sales happen during spring, it is not impossible that you’ll pass through it first if the open house happens on a rainy day.

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A new showerhead is said to be one of the main pleasers in a rehab house bathroom. What sense will it make, after all, if the shower protruding and towering all other fixtures in the bathroom was old or even rusty? So replacing the showerhead is standard. Before you follow that standard though, make sure to read these simple reminders. They might save you a few dollars plus the future of your home rehab.

Your new showerhead should flow at a rate of 2.5 gal. per minute (gpm) or less. Be sure to check the product label. If it’s more than that, then you are violating a mandate by the federal government regarding the fixture. Remember than when doing a rehab house, you have a unique opportunity to help conserve water and the environment. Practice it by following the right gpm requirement.

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