Shocking New Photos!

OK, now that I've gotten your attention, I must say that I do intend to deliver on the promise. But a little background first...

On Sunday, July 29th, we met our renters and gave them the keys to the Durrett property. We knew that we wanted to do a "rehab and retail" next (my preference to the term "flip", which sounds WAY too easy) to generate cash for our next down payment on a rental property. We currently are operating on a theory that "flip one, hold one, flip one, hold one" is the way to go.
However, Andy and I had talked at length about our next project and my hopes that it would not manifest itself too quickly. Besides the constraints that a big project has on our weekends, he has a long list of things he'd like to do around our own house (and I must confess I have a few items on that list too). You know how the cobbler's child is the worst shod, or however that saying goes.

But lo and behold, at 10:00 on Monday, July 30 (THE DAY AFTER WE GAVE AWAY OUR KEYS TO DURRETT), my phone rings at work. It's Andy. "We need to go look at a house at lunch!" he says. A new house was just listed that morning that looked intriguing (READ: might need a lot of work and is priced accordingly).

Let's just say my enthusiasm was not exactly unbridled, but I trust Andy and I know it's better for him to see the property and - hopefully - realize it's not a good fit than to continue to speculate. So we went to see the house at lunch.

In spite of my reservations, I was won over and we were both ready to make an offer. When we submitted the offer early that afternoon, it was already the third one they'd received, in less than a day. By the time they made their decision to accept our offer two days later, there were no less than fourteen offers on the table.

And what made ours the most compelling? Well, I'm not at all sure it was the highest, but ours contained a clause that they could take what they wanted out of the house and leave whatever they didn't. Below you'll see what happens when you include a clause like this. (By the way, I am not posting pictures of the attic or crawl space, but they are both FULL of junk and debris that will need to be removed.)

We closed today at lunchtime. So without further ado... the Southlake property:

(Disclaimer: Don't view these photos while you are eating. Seriously. Or if you think you're going to eat anytime soon.)


The front doesn't look too bad, does it?

OK, you're starting to realize it has a few issues...

Here's our new dining room: Living room... Bedroom #1...
Bedroom #2...
OK, steel yourselves. Here's where it starts to get ugly.

Bathroom:
Again... you're really not eating, are you? Kitchen...

Yeah, that's a roach.
This was really to be the climatic picture. However, maggots don't photograph well, so you really can't fully appreciate the writhing mass we witnessed on this plate.

And my favorite, to end on a hopeful note. Enlarge to see detail if needed.

Now go enjoy your mansion or house or apartment or shack or cardboard box with renewed appreciation!