Memphis, TN 1920's Midtown Bungalow renovation by Ryan Schuler

[Ryan Schuler]

Hey guys,

I have been basically non-existent on this platform for almost a year, and the reason is because I have been working on my first home that I bought in December 2014! I wanted to document and share my experience a little as to how everything has transpired and the steps that it took to get to where I am today. We aren't finished yet, but we are much further along than we were a year ago. Nothing has gone as planned, but luckily I did a good enough job in pricing the home that I am ahead of the game now and already have improved the equity in my home by $70,000 with $35-40,000 in rehab costs.

Here are the details of the deal:

-Memphis TN Home built in 1922 in the midtown area. Area is very eclectic/artsy. It is growing and houses are appreciating in value. Mix between retirement age group and younger 20's-early 40's. LGBT friendly (center is right around the corner). Good area.

-Home sold via Realtor. Previous home owner died in the home of old age. She didn't have any family, so she left the home to neigbors who had been taking care of her.

-Home had been on the Market for I think 45-60 days, I am not sure.

-Listed for Originally listed for $135,000. Purchased the home for $120,000 with $26,000 down to avoid the MIP. Initial appraisal was $126,000.

-Nothing had been updated since at least the 1970's. Structurally there were/are some unlevel floors, but nothing dangerous or that would compromise the integrity of the home. Some old termite damage but it had been repaired and no new termite damage was noted by the inspector.

The things that I knew I needed to do when updating were:

- Update electrical Service to 200amp service coming in (to run all needed appliances and computers, etc)

-Add outlets

-update plumbing (originally planning to just add new hot water heater and add new plumbing features.

-new kitchen

-update bathroom fixtures and retile.

-Refinish the existing wood floors

My initial thinking when I bought the property was that it would only take a few months to rehab the home, and that it would be in move-in condition in 3 months, tops. Well.... I am now into my 13th month and well... everything is still not finished. We have learned that contractors take their sweet time, things break unexpectedly, things cost more than initially thought, and spackling/drywall repair and painting gets old after a while. 

I will upload the photos of the initial condition of the home another time (unforunately I don't have those with me at the moment), but I will now go into detail with the improvements that we have made...