"Patience Pays" Project

Has your patience ever been tested... for five months? This property took 5 months worth of waiting, for those not familiar with real estate, this home was in a pre-foreclosure stage and it took 5 months for the lenders to come to a conclusion. So as you can see, we put on our "patience" hat and sat and sat and sat... and sat... and sat until negotiations concluded and voila, off we go to transforming this house into a home. This project taught us that patience in this aspect definitely pays. Enjoy the pics, this home will be sold before you know it...

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of "Patience Pays"... Project #11.

If you or anyone you know needs the assistance of a Real Estate Agent, contact Christine Almarines at calmarines@gmail.com.

"Surf City" Project

Sandy beach, dramatic backdrop, perfect beach parties for bonfire.... It's Surf City U.S.A. aka Huntington Beach. Feel the breeze and smell the beach air. This 4 bedroom 2 bath home is located approximately 3 mi. from the beach. That's a good beach cruiser ride away, which we actually love to ride our beach cruisers. So yay for this project even though its not in our typical location in Orange County, but who doesn't like the beach??? We like the beach so much that we just don't like it, "we love it!". And since we love it... ok enough said, we're off to enjoy the beach, see the video for yourself. Check out the Before and After photos below.

If you or anyone you know needs the assistance of a Real Estate Agent, contact Christine Almarines of ERA Buy America Real Estate at calmarines@gmail.com. Christine delivers RESULTS.

A "Thank you" to Karen Beduya for staging the property. If you need interior design consultation, please contact her at kbeduya84@yahoo.com

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of "Surf City"... Project #10.

"Summers' Here" Project

This project sums up the upcoming summer season... Who could resist this 4 bedroom 2 bath pool home, with the pool in front of the home? That's RETRO! Of course, its fenced in for major privacy as well as decorated to feel like your in Bali (yes, our minds are always in paradise). Maybe you'll find a house like this in Palm Springs but in Orange County... The front yard is a total hang out spot, if we owned it, our guests would probably never make it inside the house or... just see for yourself... Check out the Before and After photos below.

If you or anyone you know needs the assistance of a Real Estate Agent, contact Christine Almarines of ERA Buy America Real Estate at calmarines@gmail.com. Christine delivers RESULTS.

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of "Summers' Here"... Project #9.

Rain, Rain Go Away... Project

Where did Sunny Southern California go this past January? This project took forever due to bad weather and a disgruntled neighbor who called the city inspector on us (no, not because we left the country for 30 days which we would probably do again given the chance.) The project went very smoothly thanks to a great General Contractor and an interim Project Manager. The pictures should explain itself on how much work was put into this house, enjoy the view, we'll sign for autographs after (just kidding!)

If you or you know anyone who needs a Real Estate Agent, contact Realtor Christine Almarines with ERA Buy America Real Estate at calmarines@gmail.com. Christine delivers results!

The staging and interior design of the home was done by Karen Beduya @ kbeduya84@yahoo.com

Below are BEFORE and AFTER photos of Rain, Rain Go Away... Project #8.

Finders Keepers for these O.C. Flippers

Aaahh, another flip project, our 7th on the list and first condo project. We presented this property to one of our retail clients when it was on the market as an REO. The clients did not like the property since it was obviously not in great shape. As it turned out, the NUMBERS made a lot of sense for us. So what is one flipper to do with that kind of information? Three steps: Acquire, Rehab and Re-sell. Check out the finished product. This one should go fast since other condo units are going for around $300k that still needs a lot of work.

If you know anyone who is interested in selling or purchasing real estate, contact Realtor Christine Almarines with ERA Buy America Real Estate @ calmarines@gmail.com. Christine delivers results!

Purchase Date: November 13, 2009. Close of Re-sale: March 5, 2010. TOTAL Project Time: 3 Months 3 Weeks.

Below are BEFORE and AFTER photos of Chapman Project #7, The "Finders Keepers" Project.

The "WHOA" Project

Going into our 6th project, we secured a property that will make your head spin, in other words, “it was a HOT mess”. Every which way you turn, it just makes you say “whoa!”. To make a long story short, this property needed a lot of work to say the least. It took 11 weeks from start to finish, including re-configuring the floor plan to utilize the square footage to the fullest. We received an enormous amount of offers in less than 2 days in the market and we’re quite sure that the winning buyers will be satisfied with the finish.
If you know anyone who is interested in selling or purchasing real estate, contact Realtor Christine Almarines with ERA Buy America Real Estate @ calmarines@gmail.com. Christine delivers results!

The staging and interior design of the home was done by Karen Beduya @ kbeduya84@yahoo.com

Purchase Date: September 3, 2009. Close of Re-sale: January 4, 2010. TOTAL Project Time: 4 Months.

Below are BEFORE and AFTER photos of ELM Project #6, The "Whoa" Project.

"The Gem" - Dale Project

The Dale Project is our 5th project that we call "The Gem". It was the perfect flip property. It needed work however the property offered a fantastic floor plan, perfect for a growing family and entertaining! It was our basic text book flip and it offered us the opportunity to get creative making this house our favorite by far. It took 4 weeks to complete from start to finish. If you know anyone who is interested in buying a home, contact Listing Agent, Christine Almarines of ERA Buy America at calmarines@gmail.com.
The property received several offers in approximately 2 weeks. The winning bidder went to a buyer that was most qualified.
Total Acquisition Cost: $343,873
Rehab Cost: $34,629
Resale Price: $442,000

Purchase Date July 27, 2009, Close of Resale October 13, 2009. TOTAL Project Time: 2 months and 3 weeks

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of Dale Project #5


Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos Dale Project #5.

Back to Reality Project

We are now in our 4th project and it could not have come in a better time since we were just coming home from our three week visit in the beautiful islands of the Philippines. Needless to say, it was one of the best ever, which inspired us to work harder. We were out of the country 21 out of 30 days during the acquisition of this property. So we're now back to the hustle and bustle, we only had 5 days to close this deal from the moment our plane landed, which was challenging at times due to the jetlag. Once we had that accomplished, five weeks and 5 days down the line and here we are with the finished project. The property received a total of 16 offers in less than 1 week, one as high as $350,000. The winning bidder was an all cash buyer and we were able to close escrow in 19 days from the acceptance of the offer.
Acquisition Cost: $210,000
Rehab Cost: $42,000
Resale Price: $318,000

Purchase Date June 25, 2009, Close of Resale August 27, 2009. TOTAL Project Time: 2 months and 2 days

Below are the BEFORE and AFTER photos of Coronet Project #4

Dale Street Project - Video Blog 1

Our next project is Dale Street, our number 5 on the list. This is the first of many video blogs as we are going to take you through the project from start to finish. Many more video blogs will follow as we start demo work on this project in a little over two weeks. Stay tuned...

Current and Upcoming Inventory

After taking 3 weeks off to visit the Islands of Philippines, we came back to work with renewed ambition towards our house flipping business. Within 1 week of our return, the Anaheim project started. And within 2 weeks of our return, we placed 3 new properties in contract as listed below. This is your chance to get a property in contract all while eliminating the competition from the MLS database seekers. Our current and upcoming inventories are as follows:

Retail Inventory:
1. Anaheim House:
- 3 bedrooms – 1.5 bathrooms – 1,189 sq ft living space – 6,000 sq ft lot size
- Property will feature ALL NEW: Exterior doors, exterior paint, energy efficient double pane windows, sliding door, landscaping, irrigation system, air conditioning unit, garage door, interior paint, recessed lights, interior 6 panel doors, dark maple wood laminate floors, baseboards, beech maple kitchen cabinets, energy star stainless steel kitchen appliances, granite counter top, sink and fixture, tile kitchen floors, energy star eco-friendly front loading washing machine and dryer, toilets, tub, vanity cabinets, bathroom fixtures and lights, and all bedrooms will be outfitted with mirrored closets
- Available to purchase today. Purchase will be contingent upon completion, buyers’ inspection and approval of construction. Contact Christine today for details at calmarines@gmail.com
- Construction completion date is July 31 or sooner
- After Repair Value: $300,000 - $340,000
2. Buena Park House:
- 4 bedrooms – 2 bathrooms – 1,900+ sq ft living space – 6,000+ sq ft lot size
- Property will feature ALL NEW: Exterior paint, landscaping, exterior doors, interior paint, recessed lights, interior 6 panel doors, wood laminate floors, baseboards, updated kitchen cabinets, energy star stainless steel kitchen appliances, granite counter tops, kitchen sink, fixture and hardware, tile kitchen floors, energy efficient double pane windows, sliding door, interior paint, water heater, tiled showers, tiled bathroom floors, bathroom counter top and fixtures, updated vanity, mirrors and lights, recessed lights, light fixtures and mirrored closets doors
- Available to purchase today. Purchase will be contingent upon completion, buyers’ inspection and approval of construction. Contact Christine today for details at calmarines@gmail.com
- Construction completion date is August 21
- After Repair Value: $445,000 - $465,000

Wholesale** Inventory: (Retail availability is secondary to wholesale buyers*)
1. Fullerton House NO LONGER AVAILABLE(1):
- 3 bedrooms – 2 bathrooms – 1,350 sq ft living space – 6,000+ sq ft lot size
- (*) Property will be outfitted with all new features if it is sold to a retail buyer. (**) As-is if sold to a wholesale buyer.
- Available to purchase today. Contact Christine today for details at calmarines@gmail.com
- Construction completion date is based on whether we receive a wholesale or retail buyer
- After Repair Value: $355,000
2. Fullerton House NO LONGER AVAILABLE (2):
- 3 bedrooms – 2 bathrooms – 1,471 sq ft living space – 6,000+ sq ft lot size
- (*) Property will be outfitted with all new features if it is sold through a retail buyer. (**) As-is if sold to a wholesale buyer.
- Available to purchase today. Contact Christine today for details at calmarines@gmail.com
- Construction completion date is based on whether we receive a wholesale or retail buyer
- After Repair Value: $355,000

(*) Buyers for the retail inventory are buyers who will purchase the property after repair and construction at the after repair value price.
(**) Buyers for the wholesale inventory are buyers who will purchase the property “as-is” and “ALL CASH ONLY”
- After repair value, property design features and construction completion date may change without notice.

Our 3rd - The calm after the storm is SWEET!

San Haroldo Project #3

Our 3rd project came about before the 2nd project was completely finished. This one had the textbook flip written all over it, all the property needed was makeup and lipstick and it will be ready in a few weeks. Obtaining this property was fairly easy as we were exposing ourselves to the market through open houses and we constantly kept in contact with asset managers. Due to the nightmare timeline and busted budget from our 2nd project, we decided that we're going to find a different contractor, needless to say, easier said than done. After numerous bids, and about 10 contractors and handyman, we settled on one that we previously had done business with in the past. After we had gotten that out of the way, we made sure that our budget and timeline on this deal was down to the last dollar. As it turned out, it worked to perfection! Everything was done on time and within budget. When it came time to put the property on market for re-sale, offers started pouring in up until the day we chose the winning bid. It took nearly a week to settle in to an offer that we were comfortable with as we had plenty of offers to chose from. As a matter of fact, we had an offer before the property went up on the market. After a total of 1 month and 3 weeks, the property has been re-sold and turned over to the new owner who won the bidding war at $435k, $11k over our asking price!!!
Purchase Price: $297,000
Rehab Costs: $40,000
Re-Sale Price: $435,000
Once again, our due diligence, conservative valuation, and perseverance paid off on this deal with no hiccups or stress factor in our lives....sweet!

Purchase Date March 18, 2009, Close of Resale May 11, 2009. TOTAL PROJECT TIME: 1 Month and 3 Weeks.

Below is the BEFORE AND AFTER photos of SAN HAROLDO PROJECT #3