quote:
As my wife has said when looking at properties for sale "some man thought this was a great idea, but no woman will ever buy it." Big mistake made by men flipping houses is not getting a woman involved in the design phase.

This is 100% truth. We may not like it, but there are certain things that are dealbreakers for them.

As for my thoughts on the floor plan, first off, I'd have a number of questions I'd want answered before I provided any real advice. There's so much regarding the area, the comps, your experience (first timer), and a number of other factors that need to be considered.

However, I've done three flips, and personally I don't just do them for the money. I do them because it's fun to transform houses IMO. I have been accused of doing too much, but o well. of the three we've done, one broke even, one was a decent profit, and one did very well. I like taking a bit of risk, and I've been accused repeatedly of wanting to do to much, but o well.

I also have a very strong opinion about dining rooms AND living rooms in small houses. Depending on the area you're in, I consider them completely unreasonable and a waste of space. If you are in a quiet, older area with older clientele, don't do what I'm about to suggest. However, we flipped a house that was in a trendy younger are and made great returns by doing getting rid of the dining room. It's wasted space in a lot of people's mind. I know many will say it shrinks your resale market, but I disagree.

Here's my crude mark-up. It's probably a bit difficult to follow, but here goes:

1. Definitely agree with a small closet or something to create a barrier in the front. This is close to a must.

2. Then, for the back of the house, I basically get rid of the dining room and pull the back wall further. I bring the laundry room up (red hashed line) and then this allows me to slide the master bathroom (blue hashed line) to the back left corner behind the new laundry room location. This then opens up the yellow space as the total area available for a master bathroom and true walk-in closet. People who are buying a house this size don't have the money for a ton of space so the only way to wow them is with a kickass MB/Bath/Closet space IMO. Yes it will take some more significant investment, but it will likely be minimal as none of the plumbing is being moved dramatically.

3. Get rid of the peninsula and make an island bartop area. Steer right into the skid of not having a dining room and make this a fun area to sit and eat at and hangout in.

Anyways, it may be a bit risky for the first flip, but it's what I'd do as I like transforming things a bit more. I also think your best bet is in wowing them with a great master bedroom and bath setup. Having said all this, you should be able to run the numbers on neighboring comps and expected quotes and determine whether something like this would make you any money in the end or not.

Good luck and have fun!