Posts Tagged ‘distressed property’
Finished vs. Unfinished Basement
I just can’t help but brag about the amazing transformation going on at Colebrook Road. Take a look at how the unfinished basement looked before we started:
And take a look at this progress photo of our finished basement!
Even the darkest, dingiest spaces have potential if you know how to look at things!
Beware Renovation Cause and Effect
As I have written in the past, the lure of buying a junker bank-owned property and fixing it up yourself to save money can be both exhilarating and crushing–sometimes all at the same time!
Here is an example of how easy it is to entangle yourself in all the many elements of a renovation. These are all changes we’ve made to one of our current properties. No doubt the future buyer will be ecstatic about all of the lovely changes and updates we’ve made…but before you buy a fixer upper, ask yourself whether this is something you can handle on your own. If so, more power to ya! If not, why don’t you give us a call to see what already-renovated properties we might have available.
The Oddities of Prior Renovations
The joy of riding a train from Connecticut to Washington, DC is that I have time to write. I only wish my fingers could go as fast as Amtrack on those those straightaways!
I have a little more to share about a challenge we faced during one of our current renovations. Whether you are looking to buy a home or you are renovating an older home yourself, you are likely to run into something like this.
The Oddities of Prior Renovations
Many houses are renovated little by little over the years–an addition here, closing in a porch there, knocking out walls to combine rooms or building walls to divide them, another addition years later…often resulting in an odd, higgeldy-piggeldy layout. We ran into just such a challenge with this renovation, and it nearly had me pulling out what is left of my hair! Hopefully you can benefit from our experience.
The home had an original carport that had been enclosed many years ago. Unfortunately, when they built the floor at that time, they dropped it lower than the rest of the house’s floor level.
Remodeling: Dealing with the Unexpected
Hey everyone, it’s been a while since last writing. We’ve been working so hard, taking care of business, that I almost forgot to take care of the real business — YOU.
Recently we’ve invested in three properties that need various amounts of renovation. The one I want to speak about now is our Fredericksburg single family home on one acre. This place was owned by a man who had many difficulties keeping the place up. After he passed away, his son inherited the property and realized that he had neither the time, the resources, nor the energy to tackle the renovation needed to either live in the property or to sell it conventionally. And this guy is even in the building trades, so you can imagine the amount of work we were up against when we got the call to consider purchasing the property!
A careful assessment was completed and a renovation budget was prepared. The potential of this property is awesome, but we knew we would have to roll up our sleeves to tackle this baby! Even with our many years of experience, this one posed a couple of challenges:
Demolition and Refurbishing
Here are some in-progress pictures of the house at 255 Colebrook Road in Fredericksburg, VA. We’ve finished the demolition phase, have fixed and updated the plumbing and electrical as needed, and have begun rebuilding the interior spaces. It’s amazing how much better it looks just from being cleared out and cleaned up!
Like a Tiger on Steroids: The Buying Foreclosures Real Estate Game
If you are looking to get into the “game” of buying a foreclosure to flip for profit right now, and you don’t have a lot of experience, take a chill pill and tune into ESPN or Oprah. In the world of distressed real estate, including foreclosures, you are playing with a tiger on steroids and very well may get mauled physically, emotionally, and financially. Even experienced real estate investors are having a difficult time with this market, and the numerous uncertainties that go along with our country’s current financial turmoil.
If you are looking for a home to live in, there are still deals to be had out there. But, that tiger on steroids is still lurking for unsuspecting buyers who get all pumped up emotionally about buying a foreclosure. Buying a house often turns into an emotional transaction. And many people who make money on these transactions bank on just that. DON’T, DON’T, DON’T make this an emotional transaction!
