Plan ahead...?

I just has to chuckle a bit today when I got to the new site.  The crew I'm working with, (a very good crew by the way), decided to use the space in front of the door for the pile of torn out pipes and floorboards.  This is the same door needed to get all of this stuff out.  I could have much worse problems really, but just a little bit of planning would have saved some time in the end.  

Add value by re-purposing & adding a little wow factor.

Porch before

In any market, there is a limit to what you're able to charge for an apartment.  The question is, how do you maximize the property's appeal in order to be able to get the high number... And at the same time have prospective tenants fighting to get the place.

Here is a shot of an old enclosed porch used to hold laundry machines & cat litter boxes.  It had an un-insulated closet at the far end, it was cold and the floors had a smell from the cats.

       

Some upgrades had been done to the apartment over the years, but this space had been neglected, probably because it was an additional space to pass through on the way to the living room or the kitchen - it didn't seem to add value like an additional bedroom might. 

  

I really believe having an in-unit laundry is essential to anyone. Not having one makes people feel like "renters" every time they have to pack up their dirty clothing and take it somewhere to wash it.* (*this excludes college students :))   Tenants will stay longer if they have a few comforts that make their rental more of a home. With this in mind, we turned the closet at the end of the hall into a laundry room by adding a new stud wall and door after properly insulating, adding electric and laundry hookups to the space.  Because of years of foot traffic, the hardwood floor was totally worn, so it was patched at the far end at the doorway leading into the kitchen.

before closet

In this closet turned laundry room,the brick wall and the stack were both painted.  I decided to paint the stack black for an industrial look - I 'm not sure if this look was achieved, but it's done, it's clean, and I don't think it looks out of place.  The HVAC crew used that area to run the necessary AC lines into the attic as well.

floors before

floors after

Oh yea - the floors.  You don't have to look very hard to see all of the paint I dripped on the hardwood floors. This is why the floor finishing is always saved until last - at least for me.  Why worry about the floors?
If you look at the step, it is worn, and even concave from years and years of foot traffic.  I thought about tearing it out early on, but by the time I got to this step, (no pun intended), I had grown to know and appreciate that step, so I decided (an easy choice) to keep it.  I sanded it lightly with a power sander.  I kept some of the old finish and added some new poly - the step has history and I think it it adds to the story of unit #9.  

I feel the floors are nice but did not end up in a pristine condition - full disclosure this was my first time refinishing floors and I had a limited time on my rented sander.  They have some spots and other divots, but I think, for this purpose, they work well and are in much better shape than the older alternative    

When you walk in, this is what you see - bright and clean with a little bit of a wow factor.  The finished porch area ended up being clean and welcoming.  The space is well insulated, has new windows, and a new laundry room in an ideal place.  I ended up renting unit #9 (for a top market price) to the very first people that looked at it.  I'm happy, and my tenants are very happy going on year #3 living in their home. Oh, and the smell of cats is gone.   

Random, interesting shots..

some old termite damage

some fine looking electrical

an interesting find...

Mini-vans make good trucks!

This pattern happened after the floor was leveled with floor leveler.
 

Keep the heating system you have & help it out with proper insulation.

Some folks go into a renovation and think everything just needs to be torn out because it's old. In many cases this is true, however, sometimes the existing system is a wonderful way to heat and other factors are making the home inefficient, cold and costly.  The number 9 renovation project was a large, spread out, 3 bedroom apartment that had a gas boiler heating hot water radiators.  It was an expensive apartment for past tenants to heat and because of this, they had a hard time keeping up with other expenses including rent.  Again, in some cases, like the torn out steam system to the left, it may be inefficient, but in this case, the main problem was lack of insulation - number 9 was in need of some.

Experts will tell you, to save on heating costs, the number one place to insulate is the attic, so we did that first.  Then we pulled off some of the paneling on the walls to see what we had under there and found stone walls.  The paneling was glued directly to the stone with wiring just run on the other side in the mortar cracks! I expected to at least find some studs.  I did not expect ...none.  So, to add some R value and have a place to add insulation and wiring to code, we built new stud walls in front of the stone.  Since the rooms were very large, the lost space wouldn't even be noticed.  We added 1/2 inch insulation board on the back side of the studs prior to standing them up leaving a small air gap between the foam board and the stone.  Our electrician ran new wires including cable to each room and then we finished the wall with batt insulation prior to drywall.    

Because of the new walls, the radiators had to be taken out  and eventually moved out about 5 inches from their original home against the old wall.  While they were out, they were cleaned and painted with spray paint designed for heat.  The windows in the front of the house were removed and re-glazed prior to painting and re-installing them.  Even though this building is in a historic district, there are storm windows on the outside so this was a fine way to go to help with drafts.  Storm windows get a bad wrap but can do wonders, but that's for another post.

The finished product shows the clean and finished new look.  The new tenants have been there a few years now and have been satisfied with their low heating bills as well as the overall quality of their home.
    

     

Older is sometimes better at the Markes house.

When I finally get into a house after closing, I'm ready to hurry up, get everyone in there to help rip everything out and start new.  However, I usually end up going in alone.  I stand there and just look at the place for a long time.  Because I don't have a partner to consult with, I have a "floating" budget in my head - a total number what my max should be to make this house work as an investment.  So, when I stood there looking at this 50 year old kitchen, I noticed, even though they were dirty, how well built the cabinets were, and decided to keep them.  The hardware was a little rusty, so I thought I might replace those pieces, but in the end, I kept those as well. Using paint and elbow grease saved me money for new cabinets and hardware.  I also retained some of the homes older charm.

The demo was done carefully.  The back splash was made of a plastic tile-sheet or tile board? - not really sure what it's called, but it was not original - maybe added in the 70's.  You can see some of it under the larger window.  The cabinet doors and the drawers were removed and painted. This is the 3rd home where I have painted old cabinets* and it has held up very well in each case.  The first house I did this way is still in great shape after 10 years!

Since there is plenty of cabinet and drawer space, I cut out an opening for a dishwasher.  I usually buy new, but this one was $100 and was not ever installed - a steal on craigslist.  At this point I hire an electrician to run the wiring to the dishwasher and the future disposal.  He also ads GFI's at counter level to make it safe and to meet code - it's the right way to do it.  I like things to be up to code at a minimum so people don't happen to die from electrocution because I cut a corner to save a few pennies.  After this is done, I start to patch and sand the back splash area with joint compound.  I repeat this step a few times until it's smooth.  In between steps, I sand and paint the cabinet faces outside and remove the rust from the hardware with steel wool - this is the elbow grease step.  It's tedious, but worth it in the end.  Prior to installing the newly painted faces I paint the inside of all the cabinets.  I paint bottom shelf of the lower cabinet under the sink with grey porch paint which is oil based.  This is just a personal preference - I like to do this because it's durable, looks good, and hides old stains from cleaning products. It's also easy to clean moving forward.

So here s the finished kitchen.  The shot is a little dark, but you can see the look.  I had a new laminate counter top made by local cabinet shop and put in a new sink with faucet.  My tenant dressed it up to her liking with the curtain and island.  I was thrilled with how the cabinet hardware turned out  - very sharp and a bit retro - good for another 50 years!



*(I follow a painting process I learned by reading an article in the Winter 2004 Annual issue of Fine Home Building  "Kitchen & Baths" issue No.167. The article is called "The Challenges of Painting Kitchens and Baths" by Brian Doherty) This has saved me much money over the years. Thanks Brian! http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/articles/painting-kitchens-and-bathrooms.aspx
    

Not sure what to do here...?

Ok, so this is a common area of a little house I bought at auction in 2013.  I will refer to this house as the "Markes House," but I really should call it the "dog pee house" since the dog that lived there seemed to use every corner as a urinal - for years!  It was an estate sale and, when you do this for a few years, you will run into many a sad situation.  Seems the old guy that lived here seemed to overlook certain flaws or habits in his beloved Fido and I was the "winner" of the clean up prize!  Floors were removed down to the joists and that was the start.  OK - on to this specific change.  This cabinet wasn't in horrible shape, but as I moved through this reno, the adjacent kitchen and the walls became lighter and this built-in began to look worse and worse to me.        

before

                                                                                                          One thing I did in this hall was to skim the surface of the paneling with Durabond 90 to fill in the indentations an make it look smooth (like drywall) after painting.  I was assured at the local builders supply that this product would stick to anything and do the trick - and it did.  In retrospect though, I wouldn't do it this way mainly because of the time involved, and I won't be sure of the long term wear/cracking until a few years from now.  However, 2 years in, it's still in good shape.  What I'll do in the future is just rip out the cheesy paneling and drywall it.  

      

Here is a shot of the cabinet in the middle of the transformation.  I ripped out some shelves planning to take the entire thing out, but I left it like this while working in other areas and ended up getting opinions from curious neighbors and other passersby.  They all seemed to think a desk was the right thing for this space - so I left it.   

The last shot is the finished product after paint and my tenant moving in.  I drilled a hole in the back corner of the desktop for wires and installed an outlet in the bottom right corner of the underside, making it practical.  My tenant loved it!  

after

A small bath before & after with the worst "before" ever!

Sometimes you come across a room where you really don't know where to start.  This is the before picture of a half bathroom actually being used by a small business in a building I bought.  The business had no complaints because they are good people just trying to get through their day and really didn't have time to think about this.  I can't believe they actually used it.  The ceiling had caved in years before due to water leaks and everything, including the light, (which I use as my profile picture), was rigged up in some way.  It was embarrassing to be the landlord.  

Here is an after shot of the almost finished bath.  The box in the middle of the room is there to cover steps on the outside going to the basement, so that had to stay.  The board on top is just sitting there in the picture, but was later attached.  The toilet is new and I did get an actual light fixture that works.  I hope people in the business appreciate it, but regardless, I can go about my day knowing my building (product) is top quality. 

   

The Devil is in the details.

They say the devil is in the details.  Some folks have told me I'm crazy, wasting time and money on things that, "don't make me any more money."  They say, this is just a rental... right?  Meaning, don't spend a penny more than you need to on these renters.  First of all, I like when my properties to look nice and second, I'm a proud property owner and long term investor.  The fixes I make add to the quality of the property, and the good feelings my tenants get every day when living there.  

Here is a small example of what I'm talking about.  The last thing on my to do list with this property was to add siding to the back half of the building.  It was neglected and in bad shape.  The meters were on par with the rest of the exterior so I bought a can of spray paint for $5 and painted the meters prior to the installation of the siding. 

The finished product looks clean and finished.  I also went back and painted the power wire to match the siding after I took this shot.  The concrete porch in the background was also painted with concrete paint.

    

   

    

Predicting the future when buying.

When buying an investment property, it's important to have a crystal ball and be able to predict the future. What?!  Ok, I know this is not realistic, but, if you know your market and the other people that are active in it, it is not impossible to see into the future.

The before picture here shows my property (brick building) after a fire destroyed a building that stood where the courtyard is.  This courtyard sat in this state for 8 years, making it an eyesore and political hot-button in our town.
A local businessman bought the building to the left of the courtyard from the town and planned to fix it up.  The courtyard was included with his purchase.  I know him and the quality of the work he does, so I bought the adjacent building that had been sitting on the market for 10 years.  People told me I was a fool, which is sometimes true, but not in this case.  My crystal ball was my connection to him.  He told me what his plans were and even helped with some work on my building so his courtyard was better looking overall.

   The after picture shows the fixed-up version of the courtyard as well as the re-pointed wall of my building. It 's beautiful and dramatically adds to the overall value of both properties.

Finding hidden treasure during renovation.

My town has buildings dating to well before the civil war and when doing reno work, I often find things hidden in attics and crawl spaces.  This is very exciting for me.  In the building I will call number 9 which I bought and renovated the upper floor in 2012, I found these items.  The top Gillette blade boxes and the Johnson's Baby Powder sales display were found in a crawl space under some steps.  I have learned that this building once housed a pharmacy.  The Johnson's window sales display was in the box it was shipped in to the store in 1913.  During clean out, this thin box was thrown on the dumpster pile and sat outside for a week.  The stains on the bottom are from the rain.  I noticed the display sliding out of the box when the trash was being picked up and was able to save it.  

First fixer-upper and first blog entry... and why?

I've created this blog to share some of my projects and to hopefully inspire someone to get off of the fence and pull the trigger on their first fixer-upper.  I have been renovating and renting old properties for 15 years.  I started with experience in painting only.

I've decided to share some pictures and stories of work I've done and why I did it that way. I'm not an expert contractor, but I don't cut corners and I ask questions to know the best way to do things.  My rental properties are very nice for the area where I live and this is one reason I have few problems renting them or finding great tenants.

Over the years, many friends and family have shown interest in what I do.  They say, "I need to get into this," but they don't, worrying about every detail where something might go wrong.

Is this you?  Maybe I can help because I was like this - very nervous about being an investment property owner. However, I got a push, because I really needed to buy a building for my small business.  The building I found had 2 commercial spaces downstairs and 2 small apartments upstairs.  At closing I was a landlord and tenants were paying the mortgage right out of the gate.  I couldn't believe it - and I've been buying investment properties ever since.

Remember, I am not a big time investor.  I don't have TV show, but I do seem to have a bit more luck than some of those TV flippers.

Thanks,

The Rehab-2-Rental Guy