Acquire a Property

The first step in successful rehabbing is, "buy smart". It is worth the money to pay a little extra to be in a in demand neighborhood with good walkability. The problem then becomes suitable properties are WAY HARDER to find. Bungalows are always a good bet because there is always a first time homebuyer market, even during tough real estate markets. So, after much talking with the investor we decided that a small bungalow in South City would be the way to go.


The last project that this particular rehabber took on was a complete gut rehab. There was no option for him to save any of the architectural details on that one. Still, I was highly impressed with the level of craftsmanship and attention paid to detail on the project.

Now that I had found an investor with a superior team capable of completing difficult rehabs on board. I went on the hunt for more properties. Searching high and low we finally stumbled across one that fit the bill exactly. Another investor had too many projects at the time and was willing to sell one of his projects to us! It took forever to close the deal since it was a short sale (for those of you who don't know a short sale is when the bank allows you to sell the property for less than what is owed and they take that in lieu of foreclosure).

The house, we will call "Gingerbread" is a cute 2 bed/1 bath bungalow with a one car garage and sunroom addition. Problem with it is, a lot of it's original details had been covered up or replaced in favor of hideous seventies paneling, dark kitchen cabinets, beige carpet, out of date wall paper and brass fixtures. At the time of purchase there was no way for us to tell what was under the carpet or behind the paneling. In the rehab world, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems. We were in for some BIG SUPRISES!

This rehab project is still in process. I am going to have to blog a bit to catch you guys up to where we are at. I will let everyone know when I am blogging in real time!