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My First Single-Family Home Purchase & Rehab

By June 21, 2019 February 9th, 2022 No Comments

So, I decided to buy a single-family home May 2019 (2 days after my birthday)…

It’s a recently “half-ass” renovated house but, I was drawn to it…it was cute to me!

Background: My very first real estate purchase was a “rent-to-own” (click here to learn more about these types of programs) in or around December 2011/January 2012. For unforeseen reasons, I forfeited the deed and returned ownership to the seller. Next, I purchased a condo in 2014.

During the due-diligence period, I made sure that I knew what I was REALLY getting myself into. It was important to me that I understood what repairs I’d be willing to handle myself, and what repairs I wanted to negotiate with the seller – who in this case is a notorious and seasoned investor, Zareh Najarian, Founder/CEO of JarHouse (I could write a whole different blog on my experience with JarHouse, smh).

I managed to get the seller’s to agree to address the following concerns:

  • Property invasion while vacant resulted in missing ceiling fixtures and vanity mirrors (I know right, weird.) Seller agreed to replace the fixtures that had been senselessly removed.
  • HVAC/Furnace nearing end of life. Seller replaced HVAC and furnace.
  • Water Heater was not functioning, this was also replaced.
  • Waterproofing and foundation issues in the basement. Seller installed a premier water proofing package (this I love!)
  • Where the property was entered during the invasion, the frame was busted. That was repaired.

NOTE/TIP: When you realize that there are water issues in a home that you are interested in purchasing, always feel free to request to see the home following any large precipitation or hire a waterproofing/mold/foundation professional to help you determine the condition of the foundation. A small fee for a consultation can save you thousands in the end.

I took responsibility for the following items:

  • Attic missing proper insulation (Peachtree Pest Control)
  • Gutters need to be cleaned and properly guarded due to the amount of trees surrounding the home. (Peachtree Pest Control)
  • 7-feet of Soffit repairs and the back right of the home required replacing. (Peachtree Pest Control)
  • Cleaning the roof of any debris. (Peachtree Pest Control)
  • Sagging floor at the kitchen sink – indicative of a previous leak. (TBD)
  • Driveway pavement is deteriorating. (TBD)
  • Mailbox was murdered by a dead tree at the corner. LOL! (Twin Property Pro)

Home improvements (as of June 2019):

  • Waterproofing system installation – $18,000 (Estimated value-add)
  • Demolishing wall between the kitchen and the dining room – Open concept (Twin Property Pro)
  • Demolishing the walk-in closet in the bathroom which made it physically impossible for anyone larger than me to get into the bathroom without turning side ways (and I still needed to turn sideways) (Twin Property Pro)
  • Adding pocket doors to the Master Bedroom (Twin Property Pro)
  • Insulation, gutters cleaned and guarded, soffit repairs, and roof cleaning – and I’ve forgot the obvious one pest control (Peachtree Pest Control)

Home improvement plans (as of June 2019):

  • Adding an island and pendant lighting to the kitchen (over the future island)
  • Adding a deck to the 3rd bedroom and carving the brick to place patio doors/french doors instead
  • Landscaping (Phase IDK!):
    • Strategically plant native trees (which can reduce energy costs and raise the value of neighboring homes), plant young shrubs, and replace annuals with perennial foliage.
    • I learned my neighbors may want to purchase some of the back of the lot so I’ll do some discovery around that to understand how to price and sell a portion of my lot.
    • I also want to experiment with goatscaping (FUN!)

Day 1:

  • Demo of the wall separating the kitchen and living room; beam required
  • Relocate the electricity and
  • Demo of the weird bathroom walk in closet; going for open shelving
  • Demo and framing of the non “mastery” master closet

 

About Terin Branhan

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