MANSFIELD – If home is where the heart is, then the Klupp family is pouring their hearts into homes all over Richland County.
For three years now, parents Don and Amy and brothers DJ and Nic have been flipping houses into homes through their business Klupp Investments. The goal is to buy, revive, sell and rent houses after bringing them back to their former glory, from minor repairs to complete renovations.
After flipping a few houses for their sons, Amy Klupp realized the family could take the business a step further. Her husband left a job in construction and she left a job as a nurse two years ago in order to focus on Klupp Investments.
“One day we decided we needed to just do this,” she said.
Currently, the Klupps have taken on a white brick house in the Woodland neighborhood, built in 1935. The 580 Woodhill Road home is the 14th house they’ve flipped, and the 12th house in the Richland County area.
“We looked at it several times, fell in love with it, then finally got up the nerve to put an offer on it,” Amy said.
The house doesn’t come without its challenges – currently the house has no heat, and nearly all of the windows need replaced. But it’s not without its charm.
“I love the Woodland area and the character in this house,” Amy said. “If you walk out back it’s like you’re in Paris. You don’t see houses with those corner cabinets in it anymore, or interior doors when you come in.”
The changes couldn’t happen without a few sub-contractors helping as well. In particular, the family relies on Danny Walls and Kevin Mullins as integral parts of revitalizing the areas.
Home renovations enthusiasts can follow along with “Kluppdates” posted on the company’s Facebook page. Documenting the change is a favorite of DJ’s.
“I love the before and after, and knowing we did that,” he said. “For us to have the opportunity to go into work and make something that was once beautiful, beautiful again, it’s rejuvenating.”
The neighborhoods they visit appreciate it, too. Inevitably, property values increase around the houses the Klupps flip; DJ stated one home flipped in his neighborhood recently sold for $20,000 more than the average home in that neighborhood.
“It upgrades the value of the whole neighborhood every time we do one,” DJ said.
But more than creating beautiful homes and serving their community, the Klupps enjoy the family aspect of the family business.
“It’s the fact that the kids are with us and we’re doing it as a family,” Amy said.
