Meet Mini...A very affordable option in Tower Grove South

I am sure you all feel that naming the houses is a little "campy" or strange. I myself, find it to be not too much of a stretch. What I mean by that is this...Every house has a personality and person to fit each of its characteristics and flaws. Houses and neighborhoods can have a soul. Neighborhoods are given a soul by its residents, parks and businesses. Houses change over time and almost always carry traces of their previous tenants with them.

I decided to call this house Mini because  architecturally it's a Mini Castle bungalow. Mini Castles tend to be my favorite bungalow style. While they are not quite as intriguing as the Gingerbread from the outside, they are way sexier, to me on the inside. Minis have awesome floor plans, are usually more spacious and have rockin' ceiling height. The tall ceilings make them look VERY much LARGER and allow for more decorating options.

This mini, the Mini was part of an estate. The house was relatively in good shape but, a whole lot of ugly. On the interior it was 1970's glam.  She had mirrored walls with gold veins running through them, powder blue plastic bathroom, ugly carpet and the trim in some places had been removed. Not many buyers these days appreciate that kind of style. So, needles to say Stärke will be renovating this gal from top to bottom and then try to find her a new owner. Could it be you?

Been Looking for those hard to find replacement parts for your historic home?

Recently, I moved...Needless to say that twice in less than 2 years was a bit much for this girl. I definitely have a new found sense of empathy for my clients who are moving. After my divorce, I suddenly found myself with little, or no furniture. Determined this time around to find pieces that I really loved, instead of microfiber crap I headed to Cherokee Street. Cherokee street has tons and tons of antiques and vintage items. While purchasing a white marble side table I found tons and tons of Stain glass windows, door knobs, doors and more. If you are looking for that hard to replace vintage door knob, hinge or glass window head on over to Cherokee. Remember, these shop owners are used to bargaining. Never pay full price just on principal! :)

Meet Mimi, our newest Tower Grove South Stunner

Mimi, is one of Stärke's newest acquisitions. This little bungalow was found quite by accident, but was too good of a deal to pass up. Shortly after making an offer on Mini, (whom you will meet in the the next blog) Mimi dropped in our lap. Usually, the owner of  Stärke, my broker, myself, other agents and anyone else who wants to help out goes to view HUD homes, foreclosures, read emails from wholesalers, make phone calls and drive up and down the street to find good houses. This time, things were much simpler, a letter came in the mail. Stärke's owner received it because he has bought other distressed properties in the area. Somehow, a wholesaler from California had gotten his home address from tax records and asked if he wanted to buy Mimi. I was skeptical, as an agent I get letters like this all the time and more often than not they just want you to buy a membership to their awesome list. At the urging of my client I made the call. The next day we were viewing the home. Mimi is on a wonderful block, had newer systems and was even habitable in it's current condition. What was even better, that as far as we know we weren't in competition with other rehabbers. Closing went smoothly and she is currently begin rehabbed. Mimi and Mini will be the subjects of quite a few more blogs. Follow these wonderful houses all the way to their sale.

The Darth Vader of Real Estate

Bidding on, securing, closing and rehabbing foreclosure properties aren't the only challenges that agents and rehabbers face. Getting in to view these properties often poses problems as well. I have what I like to call a survival kit for foreclosures: Heavy Mag Flashlight with LED guts (much brighter), Screwdriver, Cell Phone (for emergency calls) and often times a Vent mask/Respirator. The last item that was listed, the vent mask is the most important for me. I am deathly allergic to mold and often times foreclosures are crawling with it. What happens is this: 1.the house sits vacant 2. thieves steal the copper 3. thieves don't turn off the water before stealing plumbing and finally, 4.mold grows all over the place. Most foreclosure agents and banks NOW make people aware of the presence mold and you have to sign a waiver to view the property. When I have to sign one of these waivers, I borrow the mask from Leo at Starke go right in.

Funny thing is, mold isn't the only thing that you have to get the mask for. Sometimes, dirty people live in the houses and just don't take care of things. Starke's new little gingerbread in Tower Grove South "Mimi", had a smell that we just couldn't find the source of upon initial inspection. Well, he did find the smell after purchase, and it was the fridge. Needless to say, he had to use the vent mask to clean it out. I had a friend that helped clean up Katrina and she was told, "Whatever you do DON'T OPEN THE FRIDGE. You know what people do when they are told "don't"? Someone always DOES.

The fridge is now cleaned out, and has been removed from Mimi. Shortly after that the entire kitchen was removed. More to come on that!

The Gamble...

Well, it has finally happened, there are two new projects on the books and a possible third. After what seemed like a long lag, things are finally rolling again at STARKE, Inc. These new houses are awesome, each of them are in the Tower Grove South Neighborhood and very unique. How we happened upon these properties is the same old story, LUCK and a bluff. I say "luck" because you have to be the one to see, go look and then act before anyone else. You also have to gamble and try to make your offer the most attractive without cutting too deep into your margins and overpaying. The Mini Castle whom we will call "Mini" had multiple offers on her as soon as she hit the market. In fact, my sisters friend who is also a rehabber was viewing it the same time we were. Running into other rehabbers in a prospective property is kinda tense. I like to compare it to an old fashioned stare down in a high stakes poker match. The goal for each rehabber is to not give away their position on the property and win the pot.

Negotiating on an in demand foreclosure is truly a manipulation of many factors. Time, you have to be the first one to draw and the first one to close. Money, you should always try to have cash. Relationships, it helps to know the person who has the property up for sale. If you have worked with the person before you know what they like to look for in an offer. Knowledge, your rehabber has to know what they are looking at and be comfortable with it, because more often than not you won't be able to have proper inspections. I work with a rehabber, STARKE that usually only has one inspection done....the sewer camera. In the sewer is where real dangers to profit margins lie. If you as a team know these factors and can work them, you can end up with awesome properties.

Over the next few weeks I will be introducing you to the new properties, new regulations and new rehabbing shenanigans as we move forward towards two new completed projects!

Terra and her final photoshoot!

Well,  I just got back from Israel and Terra sold right before I left. I was in a hurry to get it closed and complete, so I didn't have time to update you all. As a matter a fact, since she went under contract before hitting the MLS or having any cool staging I didn't have time to throw one of our rockstar style parties welcoming the new beauty to the neighborhood. Don't worry though, STARKE is working on 2 more in the neighborhood and I promise we will have a wine/vodka/BBQ free for all at one of those properties.

Now that it is closed I can tell you that this was located in the 4000 block of Wyoming, another hit for Tower Grove South! Final selling price? $196,000

Here are her final photos for those that want to see:

http://maris.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Gstl&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=zj67ndlvoAJJl0NDuQgXVOya7PHTzxKyqZ4hhlvpYkU%3D&KeyRid=1

I promise more shenanigans are to come! We found porn in the most recent rehab. No, I am not going to show it to you.

Terra is looking good

Terra had a buyer before we were ever finished or put her on the market. Not a bad record for Starke, who sold and closed on Ginger last Monday. Put out a good product, and get good buyers. Do good business, and business is good to you.Terra is what everybody is looking for. She is the last unicorn, so to speak. 3 bed/ 1.5 bath, Tower Grove South and a 2 car garage for 210K. Since Circa sells so much in that area, finding a buyer wasn't hard.

So, that brings us to a very good logistical question....How do you schedule closing and inspections on something that isn't yet finished? You write in the contract that NONE of the contingencies are to begin until completion. Notice of completion must be given to buyer's agent in writing. Well, that is at least how we did it this time.

So, now we are on a race to finish and it seems like the closer we get, the further away we actually are. I am not sure why, or even how this rule applies but: The LAST 10% OF THE PROJECT TAKES 90% OF THE TIME. At least I think it does, if you are doing it right. There are always little bumps in the wall that need smoothing, a line that needs to be sharpened or a fixture the plumber forgot to seal. Those finishing touches make a huge difference. I can't stress enough....STAGING STAGING STAGING. It does a property and your pocket good.

In all honesty, this time around Mother Nature has been our biggest enemy. You can't finish things outside when she is dumping gallons of water on your head. Try cleaning up the inside with people tracking mud all over the floors. Some days are just a wash...Literally. I thought last night I may dress up in my best island style sarong and do an ANTI RAIN DANCE, but it was raining....So, I stayed inside. In between drops I have been running outside, screaming at the sky and shaking a fist, to no avail. So, I figured I would provide you with pretty pictures to help the day pass.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Pay for it in Advance and get it... NEVER

Important lesson learned. Early on in the project we head to Home Depot to pick out things like toilets, sinks, drawer pulls, lighting and various other things. There are 3 reasons for things being done this way...

1. You get a discount when you buy in bulk.
2. You pick things out at the same time so they all match or at least have a theme
3. Pay in advance and pick up when needed

What we learned this time around was....You can order it, pay for it and NOT be guaranteed to be able to pick it up. That is right, I said it....HOME DEPOT will not hold things for you that have ordered in advance and paid for. This was more than likely always the policy and we just never caught on until now. On Ginger it really affected us. They were out of our ceiling fans, toilet and chandelier causing us to scramble to pick out new stuff that is suitable and goes with the other stuff already installed. I am sure that it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is. It takes quite a while to pick things out and when we have to go back to the drawing board in the final completion phase it SUCKS!

Where were we?

In my frantic run around to get people what they need for the tax credit I have been a bit lax in blogging. Now, I am back and have plenty a story to get you caught up on. Ginger went on the market on Easter weekend and people scoffed at the idea of holding a Saturday open house. Who is going to shop for a home on Easter weekend, right? I'll tell you who...Someone VERY serious. That Saturday we held the open and only 2 groups came through. Just two, and I was bummed. Seriously. Not to be kept down for long though we threw a party for all the people who helped get Ginger to market and personal friends of the Starke, Inc. gang. During the party and in between flowing cups of wine and mini cheesecakes we received an offer. Just one, one is all it takes.

The following day, Easter: I walk out of my house with contract at hand to meet the owner of Starke for brunch. I could tell you where, but then I would have to kill you...Let's just say it is one of my favorite CWE spots. He signed the contract on the spot. I can't tell you how much it was for, because we haven't closed yet and that would be BAD. Still, I am very proud to say that our list price was one of the highest in that area for what we had and I am sure we will be one of the highest closed sales. We pushed the envelope a bit, but put out a phenomenal product.

We close on Monday and I am proud. Proud of the team and that little house. We made it past 2 appraisals, a Laclede inspection and City occupancy to become legends (in our own minds).

HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT, ENJOY! http://www.3929meramec.com/

WTF?

I have been slacking quite a bit in the blog department. So, I thought I would ease back into it with this lovely picture...What The Flip? You may wonder how I find this stuff. Honestly, I must tell you the bulk of these great pics are the spoils from the hunt for a new project! I have been searching high and low, with little luck up until now. This garage made me laugh though, and eased the pain caused by my fruitless searches. Apparently, this little beak on the front of this garage was added to accommodate the owner's long front ended car. So, anyone with a full sized, '76 Caddy you need to keep, look on Keokuk. Just try to ignore the fun house style floors. I mean, who cares if you have a garage that allows you to drive such a fine ride?!
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More Hidden Treasures

Found this assortment of toys on Meramec! The bear/monkey has become the mascot for Starke. Dan Carter has been taking his picture at different places throughout the site.
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Counting Down to the End of the Week

Ginger is almost there. Of course, the last 10 percent of a project take longer than anything else. When they finish on Ginger they will move straight on to Terracotta and finish her up.

This week at Ginger they laid a new tile floor, covered some of the old tile, picked out a new toilet and sink and had the bathtub re glazed. When the bath is finished it is going to look sharp. Since baths and kitchens sell properties more than anything else it is VERY important they be stellar. It is the small touches that set one property apart from another.

I am so excited to take pics of the finished product and show it off! Be looking for more blogs as we scramble to finish Ginger by the end of the weekend.
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Monday Morning Meetings

Most of you who know me know that I am up really, REALLY late. I love the evening, it is when I am finally alone to jam on my work. However, construction and everything else happens in the morning sometimes before the sun comes all the way out. Monday is my Friday, but for the rehabbers and contractors it is the beginning of their work week. Rehabbing is a circus for sure. In this case, it is a three ring circus. Everyone has a role to play but we all have to be in communication. There is the Developer (Starke Group), the Contractor (Dan Carter) and Me (Real Estate Agent). What we realized after working together for quite a while now was that someone was mentioning something to someone else that was supposed to pass it on to the intended recipient and it wasn't happing. What a shocker, right? Another thing that was happening was we were discussing things WAY TOO much causing for annoyance and not enough time for action to be taken. What we came up with as a solution was Monday Morning Meetings. They start at 7:30 am and items of mention are discussed over hot coffee, that flows way faster than the stuff at Starbucks. Uncle Bills is the perfect location, it is close to the rehabs, close to my office, fast on service and accomodating. This is all very important since time is money in this game. Topics up for discussion today were coordinating installation of cabinets around the floor refinisher's schedule, organization, carpet, marketing, deadlines and many other topics (like they need to be taking more pictures for the blogs). Today there wasn't much to talk about because so much got done from last week's meeting. Very exciting, I think the meetings are working!

PS Due to having to rise so early and being close to work. Mondays have become my most efficient days in terms of getting work done. Just in time for wrapping up for my day off TUESDAY!

ERRRRRRR....Back up and REWIND! You never want to admit that you have to...

OK, so I told you guys that the floors on Ginger had been redone, and they had. In fact, they had taken days and days of hard work and some good money. Not to mention, they had eaten up several days of time on the schedule (time is money in the flip biz). So, imagine the pain of having to admit they look like crap. That's right....I SAID IT, they LOOKED LIKE CRAP. When the dust settled and the floors dried they were not looking so sharp. Here is some friendly advice DO NOT TRY TO REDO FLOORS YOURSELF!

 I am never quite prepared for the conversations that as an agent you have to have with your clients that aren't so nice. Let's be honest though, real estate isn't always wrapped in a nice neat package. I wish it was, but if it was anybody could sucessfully help you buy and sell real estate. Right? So, armed with my best ally on how finishes are supposed to look, Dan Carter I waded into the muck and told the investor that the best possible thing to do was to have the floors redone. This wasn't easy for me to say. I mean, basically I was saying, "You need to spend a couple grand and stall a week to have this crap fixed. Oh and by the way, that puts you further behind schedule and you may miss your window to draw the largest number of buyers." Yay! Go Leigh, way to make them love you. To my surprise, I didn't get much fight. His statement was, "Will it affect the sale? If the answer is "yes" then let's have them redone."

Needless to say, I am now waiting on floors so they can go in and get the rest of it done before it can go on the market. Anyone who knows me knows that patience isn't my virtue, but it is going to look hot!

Problem on Terracotta

You can't paint the wall with 4 layers of wallpaper on it. Sometimes, it is hard to tell that the wall actually has paper on it instead of paint! The old wallpaper was more like cloth and could be very thick and durable. It isn't until a seam starts to pop that it becomes visible. Often, I have seen rehabs and homes for sale with the wallpaper painted. Sometimes, it works...Most of the time, it doesn't.

Wallpaper can be a huge pain to remove. I have seen many buyers in search of a home that have passed on houses plastered with wallpaper even if it was deeply discounted. Furthermore, I have seen buyers in search of a deal buy a house with wallpaper stating that they were going to remove it, and years later it is still there. Even this real estate agent is guilty of that one. ;)

The investor on Ginger bought a steamer to remove the paper on that rehab. To much chagrin the steamer didn't work near as well as a spray bottle and water.

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Floors from Start to Finish!

Finding hardwood floors is like hitting pay dirt. If you know they are there, it's a bonus. Just like paydirt though, you are going to have to work for them. Ginger is a perfect example...Yucky beige carpet in the living and dining rooms, more carpet in the bedrooms, hall and kitchen covered in layers and layers of vinyl and plywood tile. What has tp happen is all of that crap has to be removed and then, and only then do you know what you are working with.

Here are the "Before" pics of Ginger's floors:

The kictchen has LAYERS of pressed board laminate. Gross.












The living room and dining have YUCKY BEIGE carpet.











The Bedroom has blue indoor out-door carpet.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of any of these looks! Below are some of the during shots.

As you can see, the carpet glue didn't come up very easily or well on the bedroom floors.  That just means more work when they sand. :(

In the living room we found that they have removed a large section of the decorative inlay. We aren't sure why. One side of the fireplace was OK, this side was not. This fix was not easy but we got creative. We found a decorative medallion corner piece in the closet under carpet. Needless to say, the closet is now missing a medallion and the living room has a new one. The floor was then patched in the closet with scrap hardwood and refinished. :)

The kitchen had so much glue on the floor that the original floors could not be saved. No worries, we will be matching the hardwood from the house and installing it here. The tools are not included in the sale of this house.














Now, on to the finished product:

The hallway no longer has pressboard tile!

Bedroom floors refinished!

Dining redone!

Kitchen floors redone!

There you have it! Floors from start to finish!

There is Treasure in Them There Walls! ARGH....

I know that my first couple blogs were super long and maybe even a bit boring. However, I do promise-swear with all my heart that the rehab business is really fun. Somedays, I do feel like I should take a long walk off of a short plank but, who doesn't? So, today I thought we could take a look at the "real" hidden treasures found in the walls, attics and basements to date. I have left out the 5 BAZILLION beer cans and the countless baggies and rolling papers found hidden in rafters in favor of other truly "cool" items.

And a REALLY COOL OLD MAP THAT I CAN'T FIND THE PIC OF! :(

Ginger's Kitchen is gutted!!

I know this doesn't look too exciting, but when this kitchen is put back together it is going to ROCK! Look for the finished results around the last week of March, just in time for a first time homebuyer to enjoy it and get the tax credit.
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More Hidden Architectural Details!

We found MORE windows on Ginger. Yes, that is right...there was a second set of hidden stain glass at this quaint bungalow. Luckily for me, Dan the contractor was there to satisfy my need fro instant gratification and cut them out. Ladies, I do have to say that being a female on a job site can have some perks :). I have posted the photos so you can see the discovery unfold. We immediately removed the windows and took them off site to prevent theft until the project is done. When a property is occupied thieves don't tend to target them. However, a vacant site is a different story.

Dumpster Diving Dan...

Last blog we talked a little about Ginger missing some of her original charm. Some things we found....We found original doors in the basement, hardwood under the carpet, stain glass behind the drywall. Which, as I am sitting here writing this blog I wonder if we are missing another set of glass that is common in those bungalows. I think I need to have the Investor take a look. Anyways, onward we go...

One thing we didn't find was the original mantel. We know that one had to be there because we found the floor tile for it. Curious, we went into the foreclosure a couple doors down to see what their looked like. What we found was a total shame...Most of the stain glass had been stolen, copper was gone on top of the fact that it never had central air/systems whoever purchased this one had a long way to go to get it back to right. The mantel however, was still in tact it was a typical flag stone decorative mantel with the same crazy tile mosaic at the base in front of it. We knew that we couldn't replicate something similar without incurring a HUGE cost and started brainstorming other options. I just knew that I didn't want it to be too fancy. It had to be simple and clean. With those basic parameters in place, Dan set to work creating a replacement piece.

What Dan crafted was beautiful and resourceful. Unbeknownst to me, Dan had started collecting remnant pieces from other projects and looking for pieces of wood that were going to go into the dumpster. I always prefer to use what was originally there if at all possible, but when it is not I like to reuse materials. Dan made the mantel surround out of completely reclaimed wood, not to mention that it was handmade by a local craftsman :) Here is the masterpiece that trash built!!!

I am sure that whoever gets to purchase Ginger will be glad to have this in their home.

A girl has to have some secrets! Eventually, we all tell...Including Ginger!

In the very beginning I told you that we would be showing you how rehab was possible using "old" materials. A big focus with my rehabbers and contractors is reusing what you already have to cut costs and be kinder to the environment. In this particular case we had discovered some hidden things on Ginger. Most of the time when you run into something hidden on a rehab property it is not so good. In this case, we have a lot of good blended with some, "how do we fix it?".


Earlier in this blog series I had shown you that Ginger was covered in carpet. I don't know about you, but I personally hate carpet. Carpet is full of dirt, mites, sticky stuff and who knows what else. Boo hiss on carpet! Did I just say that? Yes, yes I did. So, needless to say I was eager to learn what was underneath Ginger's beige carpet...Unfortunately, you can't go ripping up the carpet to see what is underneath before you buy the place (or I would have). You just need to take your chances that the floor is probably wood given the architecture (OK, you busted me. I sometimes do peel back a small portion of the carpet just to see. Like my rehabber says, "I'm not stupid, just slow").

The day we closed on Ginger we peeled back more carpet and found that it was indeed hardwood underneath. They removed a large portion of the shaggy grossness, but because they were going to paint they didn't do more than a quarter of the room and left the carpet in place as a drop cloth. Work went along as scheduled....Until, another house 2 doors down came on the market as a foreclosure. This house was just like Ginger, so naturally we went to see it. Dan the Contractor, the Investor and I viewed the house together and we were bummed that our house didn't have the features that this one did. Its floors were hardwood with decorative inlay. It had loads of stain glass, and a mantel with a decorative mosaic motif on the floor. Ginger, as far as we could tell was missing all of this. We had a few brainstorming session about how to make up for the missing architectural details and then proceeded with the rehab.

In the next few weeks Ginger would reveal several things about herself that would indeed thrill us and send us back to the drawing table. One day, about three weeks ago, I got an email from the Investor that was doing most of the rehab on Ginger himself featuring 2 pictures of the same wall. One picture was taken from the inside and another was taken from the outside. Again, both of these pictures featured the same wall. The subject line of the email read, "Can you tell the difference?" I felt like I was playing along with a Sesame Street game... Here were the 2 pics. Can you tell the difference? It took me a minute.

The stain glass is on the outside, but not the inside! Someone had covered it up on the inside to make the wall completely smooth. Why? I have no idea...These unique details are like gold now. Maybe when they covered it up (in the 80's) people took it for granted.


Shortly after that the Investor called to inform me that the floors had decorative inlay and a tile mosaic for the hearth, but was missing the mantel. Here is what the mosaic looked like without the mantel...

So, what do we do now? We have a mantel made and cut out the windows,of course! The windows will more than likely need to be retrimmed and the mantel will need to be replaced somehow. Have you ever seen those BS ready made electric fireplace things they sell in Home Depot? Gross! Look to your RIGHT if you don't believe me.To me, that was just not an option. We needed to replace the mantel, make it non functional (it never was), look good and keep it cheap. For this mission we will call in our best agent. His mission? To craft a mantel from recycled materials, make it look hot and keep costs down. Should Dan Carter be willing to accept, he will be held to Leigh's picky standards (which actually, don't even begin to match his own) and risk being laughed at as he crawls in dumpsters looking for materials (SERIOUSLY).  I wasn't really expecting much.....What Dan produces exceeds my wildest expectations. In fact, it was SO SPECIAL that I am going to save it for the next blog. Until then!