Aug
14
A Bad Case of JustOneMoreWeek-Itis
August 14, 2007 |
Despite knowing better from past experiences, once again I seem to have overestimated my ability to get the last remaining 172,192 little jobs all done to get the Main St. house ready to list. Finishing up by the beginning of August led to pushing that back a week, which brings us to the present, where it’s looking like it’ll be yet another week until I’m done, with August 20th the new target.
It’s partly my fault for jumping the gun a bit with my expectations, but it’s also that whole life thing getting in the way, too. I’m trying not to be too hard on myself for slipping deadlines, as this is still very much a part-time endeavor for me, and that’s simply going to be a fact of life if I do this stuff on the side, handling the bulk of work all by my lonesome. Yeah, it’s frustrating, as each day/week/month of delays costs me money, but we’re talking about properties on the lower end of the cost spectrum, as I’m not dealing with $750,000 houses and the attendant carrying costs.
As far as the house itself, I’m basically down to the landscaping, trim painting, switchplates and some hardware, and other odds and ends. Plus lots and lots of cleaning. Joyous times.
In more exciting news, we should be putting in an offer on another property today, assuming our realtor gets all the paperwork ready. I spent the last week or so mulling over in my head if I was up for another rehab project (and how sensible it was to take one on before getting the Main St. house sold) and the answer was a pretty solid “Yep.”
If for no other reason than I’m having fun so far, despite the long hours and aching back, and it’s work I’m good at. I just really enjoy the challenge of take whatever building blocks are available with each house and putting a combination of my personal monkey skills and money to work, mixing all of that up for maximum impact (and hopefully maximum profit).
I ended up settling on the 1900 sq. ft. 3-1, as far as the property we’re making an offer on. It’s an estate sale and apparently the heirs are getting a bit antsy, wanting to be done with it. It’s listed at $89,900 (just reduced from $99K), and we’re offering $81,500. I went back yesterday and combed over it much more thoroughly and actually ended up more excited than the first time I saw it, as the original oak hardwood floors run throughout much more of the house than I thought and are in really good shape. Ditto for the windows, which won’t have to be replaced.
More encouraging, though, was the fact that I think I can convert the existing tiny garage and attached workshop into a bedroom/bath/laundry room, at a fraction of the cost of a typical addition of that nature. The water heater is in the garage so there are already existing water supply lines there, so it should be fairly easy (or easier at least) to run the plumbing for a bathroom. The existing concrete slab foundation seems pretty solid, so I don’t think a new foundation would have to be poured.
That’d mean losing the garage but it’s really not even functional as such, due to its tiny nature, and there’s also an additional covered carport area, so there’d still be covered parking available.
The layout is pretty conducive to such plans, too, as the garage/workshop is connected to the rest of the house by a concrete patio. It’s currently open to the exterior, but it’s got a solid slab foundation and is roofed, so it’d be reasonably easy to enclose it and turn it into a sunroom, which would open into the planned addition on one side, the kitchen on another, and the main living room on the third side.
All of the above plotting would add about 800 sq. ft. onto the house, as well as a bedroom and bath, so I’d be looking at a 4-2, 2700 sq. ft. house when it was all said and done. That’d get me into the $165,000-$175,000 price range pretty easily, given the location and general local market, and that’s without a lot of higher end finishes, such as granite countertops, stainless appliances, etc. I’d still upgrade basically everything, but wouldn’t have to go high-end to get that price, as the sheer size of the house would be the main selling point.
But it does need a lot of work (aside from all the above plotting) and will most definitely soak up some cash. New siding, new roof, new furnace, you name it, it needs it. Preliminary budget I worked up (which involved a lot of guesstimation as I really don’t know what the addition might cost) is around $40,000, so even if all goes well I’m likely on looking at a profit of $25,000-$30,000 when it’s all said and done.
But, again, that ain’t bad money, especially for a part time job. And, again, I’m still having fun. So, you know, what the hell.
