Most people who see a wreck of a property count it as a total loss and figure the only option is to raze it and start over. Levi, who is the treasure hunter of our Ocean Blou team (and my son), knows how to look past the tragedy of a rundown property and see the beauty it can become.
We have found it is almost easier to do a rough property than to get one that is “almost” good enough. With the rough property it makes the decisions of what to keep and not to keep very easy. It all has to go! In a beach town, a property located one block from the beach deserves a second look, even though in the beginning we weren’t sure we could make this particular transformation happen.
The ‘Oak’ property (what we call it) is in Melbourne Beach, Brevard County, Florida, in an up and coming ‘trendy’ neighborhood. We were fortunate to snag it last November. We actually sat on it for 6 months before we could do any work on it—not ideal—but we had several other projects in the works and a grandbaby coming. It ended up working to our advantage because the market improved during that time and the area has become a little ‘hot spot’ for Melbourne Beach.
It is a charming little 1940s property and we worked to keep the vintage touches intact. It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath property on the smaller side, but it includes a studio apartment with a private entry. What a BONUS! The transformation has been quite a journey, for sure, but we are pleased with the results.
We did all of our regular things, inside and out, and Levi did all of the landscaping himself. We made mostly cosmetic changes including new appliances, and microcement counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, but we left the layout the same. We added a trendy ‘cowboy pool’ and we revived the outdoor kitchen, which is perfect for beach living.
This is the first flip we have done in Florida; we have held onto all our other projects so far. This cute property would be perfect for a young couple’s first home, someone’s second home, or an investment property. We will keep you posted on how fast it sells and what our profit margins look like.
The new year is looking good,
Karen Conrad Metcalfe