(this page is under construction-no pun intended)

We’ve been flipping houses for about five years now and we’re always intrigued by some of the things we find. We buy the house no one else wants to touch for a variety of reasons. We then restore it to new or near new condition. Our mission is to improve our city one house at a time while providing like–new homes for sale at a reasonable market price to the families that need them. That means we don’t always take the highest offer but evaluate offers based on how well it fulfills our mission.

Flip number one was a little 3-bedroom, 1 bath ranch in the Fountain/Widefield suburb of Colorado Springs. This house boasted a whole-house fan that took some doing to get the right parts for. The siding was heavily damaged by hail so we took it down to the original stucco, repaired, and painted. The inside was gutted and restored to new condition. This was a perfect first project, but don’t think that just because this was our first flip, we went into this blind. House flipping is not for the faint of heart, wallet, or cranial matter. Smart decisions and hiring the right people make all the difference. This flip boasted a whole house fan that took some doing to get parts for and drywall that had been patched with nothing more than plastic bags and drywall mud.

Our second flip was a wonderful townhouse located near the Broadmoor. Because of it’s nearness to the ritzy Broadmoor neighborhood we decided to splurge on a few things like the stylish above-counter sink basins and faucets for the bathrooms and upgraded countertops. We couldn’t do much with the outside due to HOA regulations. There was a slight surprise here. The entire townhome was plumbed with gray, polybutylene pipes used between 1975 and 1978 then outlawed when it became apparent that it failed by cracking and splitting. So our 4k fudge factor fund was used. This is one of those places where less-experienced flippers often lose their shirts. An unexpected expenditure can put you in an upside-down position in a hurry. A fudge factor fund included in your costs is essential. An end unit, backing up to an open space made the place quiet and wildlife was often sighted while we were working. We almost kept this one for ourselves…almost. The inside was a partial gut except for the windows, which were already newer and in good shape.

Flip number three was a big job. A dated four-bedroom/2 bath bilevel that had been sold because renters had converted the lower level into a marijuana grow and that was it for the owner. This required some mitigation and a complete gut and remodel of the entire inside of this house (the smell of a grow permeates everything). It turned out beautiful in the end with no trace of marijuana or the smell and I got a whole bunch of big pots for container gardening. Win/win!

Flip Number four. Back to the Widefield/Fountain area. This house had a very checkered past complete with bullet holes in the window strange stains on the floor and a back yard full of garbage and junk, not to mention the garbage and junk inside. This house took more than eight full-size dumpsters to clean up, and one trip to Denver to dispose of hazardous materials left in large drums on the property, kerosene, I think it was. We also got braver with taking before and after photos.

Flip number five. We bravely jumped into the Pueblo house-flipping market and soon found out why no one wanted to renovate houses in Pueblo. The summers are h-o-t, materials are terribly hard to come by and harder to have delivered to the site. Not many before and after pictures of this one because frankly, we just wanted to get the hell out of it. The exterior of the house ended up being painted a pale gray, including the black brick. When choosing exterior colors we always consider the colors of the houses surrounding the one we’re working on in order to choose something different, but complimentary. In this case, green, white, yellow, and blue. Making the interior (again, totally renovated with all new stuff, sensing a pattern here?) neutral colors, made the inside look a lot more spacious. A couple years later we found some interesting photos of this place, but that’s part of another flip’s story.

Number six.