Diary of a Small Rental Property with Rehab

[Dawn Anastasi]

I always wanted to do a "deal diary" and now I have the chance to do one!  This will be my 13th property acquisition and so I'm hoping to make it lucky number 13!

A 3-bedroom, 1.5 bathroom 1,054 square foot townhouse condo came on the market recently and it needs quite a bit of rehab.  I made an offer on it for $10,000 and the seller wanted more, and I countered with $10,900.  I did not want to spend any more than $11,000 due to the rehab that was needed, so I was pleased that I saved $100 over what I was willing to pay.

Some "before" pictures in all their ugly glory.  (Please note that I am not a very good photographer.  My pictures are often blurry and practice has not helped them get better over the years.)

Kitchen

Cabinets are from 1970 for sure, there is a drawer missing, under the sink is disgusting.  The kitchen floor is disgusting too.  These are definitely getting replaced.  The kitchen faucet is broken and will also be getting replaced.  The stainless steel sink is still in good condition so I will be cleaning and keeping that.

Living Room

The carpet is dirty, old and disgusting.  It is definitely not staying.  You can sort of see it in the upper right corner if you look closely, but there are fake bricks on the wall.  It's very odd.

Bathroom 1

The condo has two bathrooms -- a half bath on the main level and a full bath upstairs. This is a picture of the half bath.  There is the original 1970 counter top with its funky design that is not staying.  And the toilet -- oh, the toilet.  It is for some mysterious reason plumbed in the commercial fashion where it exits out the back not the bottom.  The flooring is also very 1970 and it's getting the boot as well.

Bedroom 1

This is a picture of one of the 3 bedrooms.  All the bedrooms are large enough to fit a king sized bed in, and still have room to walk around. This room seems to have one layer of floor on top of another.  The bedrooms will get new flooring and fresh paint.

Other projects planned for this rehab:

- Replace a window

- Replace the front door (possibly the back door too)

- Massive amounts of cleaning

- Update smoke detectors and add carbon monoxide detectors, new locks, window treatments

The closing date per the contract was to be no later than March 31, 2015, however the title company is having issues getting the required information from the HOA, so we may need to extend out closing a couple days.

[Dawn Anastasi]

Originally posted by @Brian Flack:

Which methods do you use to find properties that will meet your criteria?

I will look for different things. Originally I was "against" condos, because of the HOA fees and some lack of control, as well as the lack of a lot of appreciation, but then I changed my focus and instead looked at them differently.

There is less maintenance as the exterior is handled by the condo association.  I don't have to worry about the grass cutting and plowing the parking lot as that's handled by the association.  There's a rec center in the campus that serves the residents' kids with arts and crafts, field trips and activities, so that's a plus for the renters.  I attended the condo board meeting so I could see the budget for the coming year, get a recap on the prior year, and make sure the association was doing well financially.

For single family homes I look at things differently.  I'm concerned about the neighborhood and how it is, how old the home is, and what features it has.  I'm not afraid to take on renovation if I know it can get done at the right price.