All Forum Posts by: Judd Campbell

more rehab photos

This rehab required a different set of fixed than the townhouse.  It required all new plumbing lines ( I went to Pex lines all the way from the street to all parts of the house)  The copper lines were broken multiple places and we had to cut up the floor.  The drain lines were replaced too.  went from cast iron to PVC.

New electric water tank, new appliances, refinished the hardwood floors, new smoke detectors, outlets, light fixtures, carpet in two bedrooms, vinyl flooring in the bathrooms and kitchen, 4 new windows, new toilets, blinds for the windows, insulation in the attic (there was nothing up there!), sealing up lots of air leaks with expanding foam, replacing the front and rear doors, paint the porch, install an handrail, and a few other things I am forgetting I am sure.

Dec-March I moved fast on the SFH I purchased just down the street. I ended up hiring up to 3 guys at a time to help work on the property and they worked during the week when I could not. The previous owner had taken the time to level the floors, install a new heat pump system, new electrical service, and put up kitchen cabinets. This investor was doing all the repairs himself but he lived an hour away. He only worked on the place once per month over the last 3 years he owned the place! he was upside down on the process. (do not do it like this!!)

The SFH was a 3 bed / 1.5 bath with a fenced in back yard. Here are the photos of the condition I purchased it in :

The two projects were only 500 yards from each other.  at this point I hired some more local help and had both projects going at the same time.

The townhouse was completed in March 2015. I had an open house for the neighbors and due to me asking too much for the neighborhood and the cold weather my first tenant moved in at the end of March.  Unfortunately they were a couple of drug addicts and they had to leave after only one month.  I nearly shot their dog when it got aggressive.  We decided to part ways.. I have three nice college students in there now and rent is $750 / month. They pay all utilities. 

I decided to go with tile downstairs and a vinyl plank upstairs.  I have good luck with the vinyl plank from Home Depot.  it is a floating floor and very easy to install. 

All the hardware was removed and I had a new gas water heater, new gas furnace, and new AC unit installed during the rehab. 

The only part left in the bathroom was the tub.  The rest of the items were replaced.  

This was about December and I as I was driving to the property I passed a house with a FSBO sign out front. I decided to call it and as luck would have it the owners were about 5 min out as they were going to meet a possible buyer. I checked out the new property and had 15 min before the actual investor showed up to inspect the property. I then pointed out issues and my concerns to my handyman as the other investor was in the property. The other investor left to go "run some numbers" but I had already run mine for the past 30 min. I made an offer, wrote a deposit check and we had a closing 2 weeks later. I paid 26k cash.

I can explain more about this project in another thread or perhaps later on.  Back to the townhouse...

I work full time so for this rehab my major mistake was doing a lot of the labor myself (and only working 1-2 days a week on the property. It took me WAY too long to finish the project. I also had a duplex, a townhome, and a 4-plex that I owned and managed in fall of 2014. 

The smell of cat urine was strong.  I wore a respirator while working in the unit.

I ended up removing all baseboards and trim pieces as the cat pee was soaked into the stuff and behind it. all interior and exterior doors were removed as the bottom hinges were rusted from the cats peeing on it. 

Although the paint looked great in the unit I ended up painting EVERYTHING with Kilz oil based paint. I actually kicked over 5 gallon buckets and rolled the floor thick.  I also bought an ozone generator and rant it each night I was not there. 

Notice the kitchen walls, that is cat poop that ran down behind the cabinets.  There was poop and litter on top of the upper cabinets too.  I am so glad I did not do the initial clean out. it may have scared me away. 

I have been meaning to update how things have been going, thanks for the lead in @Rj J. ! 

My BRRRR story. It starts and ends with a Porsche.

In July 2014 with two kids in daycare I decided using a 50k car to commute was not the best use of my capital.  In August 2014 I sold my 911 Turbo:

I also happened to call on of those bandit signs "we buy houses for cash!" yellow with black letters.  I left a message stating that I was a cash buyer looking to buy in the Lexington area. I got a call back and two weeks later I went to go see this property:

3 bed / 1 bath townhome ~1100 square feet.  built in 1986.  This placed had a crazy cat lady living in it for the past 5-6 years!  I am talking 50+ cats.  one of the bedrooms was used as a litterbox!

I purchased the property from the wholesaler for $14.5k.  closing took 10 days.  He actually owned the property and paid $12k for it 2 weeks prior to me seeing the property.  we were both happy.  Next step was the rehab.

I hear you guys.  I want to help him out, great guy, was in the Marines for 12 years and had a surgery last year the laid him up for a month.  He worked most days doing siding prior to that surgery.  Without a car he cannot get hired full time and he went a month without a phone so he had zero work.  

I paid $72 bucks for him to get a phone and have it work for the next 30 days so he can at least have people call him about work. 

I will speak to my tax guy and see what he has to say about it.