Mid Century Modern to New Century Modern Pt. 2

In part 2 of our latest renovation project we take a look at the addition and all the options that it presents for the property.  The 3 bed 2 bath 1100 sq ft main house is in excellent shape just needing cosmetic updating. 95k would be a reasonable price for just that unit alone.  But this property just gets better and better! There is a 675 sq ft addition that was very well constructed.  It was permitted as a finished porch presumably because it doesn't have a central AC unit installed.  A little bit of flooring and replacing of paneling with drywall will make this an incredible space and add a ton of value to the home.  Last but not least, it's on a waterfront conservation lot.  Take a look at the video and see all the potential that this home has.

Upcoming investment project: Mid Century Modern to New Century Modern

I'm back at it again!  While we are putting the wraps on Jon and Kindra's reality home (final finished product to be shown here soon!) we decided to pick up another investment property.  This is an old mid century modern design in a B- neighborhood that is just crying out to made amazing again.  The home was inherited by a couple in their late 70's and they have no use for the home.  They don't want to live in it, they don't have any family that wants to live in it, they don't want to be landlords and rent it out themselves, they just want to be free of the property.  They have been paying insurance, yard maintenance, and taxes on it for the past year and had listed it with an agent who was less than stellar and overpriced the home.  I met them while finishing up our Forest Hills investment property and things took off quickly.  What went from me auditioning to simply list the property for them turned into me making a cash offer to take it off their hands in short order.  We will be closing in a couple of weeks.

Some facts about the home.  Main house is a 3bd 2ba 1100 sq ft with a carport.  2 permitted additions were done that add another 675 sq ft in the back.  The possibilities are endless as the back unit could easily be turned into an attached 1/1 inlaw suite or integrated into the main house to make a large 4/2 or 4/3 1775 sq ft house.  The house was immacutlately maintained but never updated so it's like taking a trip to "Grandma's House".  We have a lot of decisions to make regarding the renovation but I want to preserve as much of the original mid century style while simply modernizing with latest and greatest appliances and amenities.

As for the neighborhood, I call it a B- neighborhood because its an area of smaller homes that didn't have too many updates and you can tell it was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis of 07-10.  It's a perfectly safe neighborhood it just has homes that are in need of updating and it's finally starting to happen as the rest of the surrounding areas have already been improved or never really went downhill.  The best part is that in spite of the immediate area being a little more rundown than desireable, it's still in an area that is zoned for very good schools so this will surely attract plenty of prospective renters or buyers should we choose to sell.

Original birch cabinets with legs are a classic

putting new counter tops and modern appliances could really bring these old cabinets back to life

Green bathroom is probably a little too vintage the vanity and the medicine cabinet could be cleaned up and tied into the mid century design

Just isn't mid century if we don't have pink!

Beautiful terrazo floors, high ceilings and huge windows

Addition waiting to be brought to life

Addition waiting to be brought into the 21st century

Reality Home Pt 2 - The Rebuild

It's been a very busy few weeks here in Tampa.  We had 2.5 weeks of unprecendented monsoon rains that really put a lot of delays on several projects.  The sun is back out and we are moving along so it's time to catch up with my friends Jon and Kindra and see how their "reality home" renovation is coming along.

This home is a 2400 sq ft 3 bed 2 ba 2 car garage pool home in the Lake Magdalene section of Tampa.  It also has an enclosed sunroom that represents about another 300 sq ft.  It was built in 1978 which is older by Florida standards but all things considered still a very modern home.  PVC and Copper plumbing, no lead paint or asbestos issues, etc.  These older homes are popular because they sit on much larger lots than modern day new construction subdivisions.  Lets take a look at the before pics.

Beautiful mature trees and landscaping

A well cared for but HIDEOUS kitchen.  The cabinets appear to be the original ones just repainted numerous times.  Notice the soffit all around the kitchen.

another view of the kitchen, the french door fridge is great except that the bottom freezer opens up right into the peninsula!

Living room with blue gray slate tile and popcorn ceiling!

View from the living room into the sunroom.  Sunroom was created within the last 10 years and was constructed fairly well.

sunroom

Pool and backyard landscaping

Huge backyard

Laminate flooring in the bedrooms and office areas.

This home was listed at 249k which quite frankly was a pretty solid price.  It's not the most stylish home but the laminate flooring was newer and in great shape, the square footage is tremendous and it has a pool and big well landscaped yard.  To be under $100 a sq foot is a steal.  The problem this house had is that buyers looking at homes of this size are really looking at a home they are going to live in for the long haul and they want it to be beautiful, not mediocre.  Buyers in this neighborhood generally aren't willing to do the work involved in updating a home despite the fact that they may be able to afford to.   

Insert Jon and Kindra.  In true HGTV Property Brothers type fashion, they understood that they would get far more long term value plus the ability to customize to exactly what their tastes are if they bought a fixer upper rather than inheriting someone elses style (or lack thereof).

Chip and Hammering up the Tile

The kitchen is no match for teenage angst!

Pups want in on the fun!

Scraping 2400 sq ft of popcorn ceiling!

Bye Bye Soffits, Hello Pot lights!

Opening up a pass thru from the foyer to the kitchen

relocating the water line to make the kitchen larger and flow better

New Floor tile has arrived!

Bowser the Pug says "If you won't let me inside to do demo, I'm gonna demo the entire back yard"

Stay tuned! There is lots more to come as this reno kicks into high gear!

Product review: Beating the heat

I live in an older home (by Florida standards at least, it was built in 1980!) that has an aluminum roofed lanai that does not have any insulation on it.  Overall, the lanai is great; it provides plenty of shade and since it has the aluminum roof vs a screened roof, I can still use my grill and stay dry when it's raining.  The problem is that the roof takes on so much direct sunlight that it gets extrememly hot and heats up the entire lanai space rendering it unusable on the nicer sunny days.  I've been looking for a solution and I think I may have found it.

Gardner STA-KOOL is an elastomeric roof paint that is supposed to reflect the suns rays.  Elastomeric paints have a greater degree of elasticity and they can also help to seal up leaks.  My lanai has a couple of small of leaks in it as well so hopefully it will take care of those problems.   The instructions say that you need to put 2 coats of this paint on and it is so thick that a gallon doesn't cover a whole lot.  I used a 3/4" nap roller since the paint was so think (normal paint rollers are 3/8) and rolled it on after powerwashing the roof the night before.  I was able to do one full coat on the roof and then I decided that I would do the underside aka ceiling just to brighten it up.  I was able to get about half of the ceiling done.  After painting, I waited for the middle of the day when the sun was at it's highest to check temperatures on the roof.  I left one small section unpainted to use for comparison sake.  Results are pictured below.

Unpainted roof section

painted roof section

So far so good!  That is a 25degree temp difference.  In the past, when I walked out into the lanai, I could really feel serious heat radiating down from the ceiling, now it doesn't seem nearly as bad.  Keep in mind, this is also after just one coat.  I will be going ahead with the 2nd coat and testing again along with seeing if it solved my leak problem!  Stay tuned!

Forest Hills Investment Project Update

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!

Seems like it just wont stop raining here in Tampa, it's been going for 2 weeks straight!  Normally in rainy season we just have 30 minutes to an hour of rain in the late afternoon 4-5 days a week.  The past 2 weeks have had rain off and on all day long.  lots of flooding and lots of lost productivity, particularly on a house that needs a LOT of yardwork done.  It's a shame we didn't get the sod laid 2 weeks ago, we wouldn't have had to use a drop of city water to irrigate it.

Fortunately, we have plenty of work to do on the inside of this property too!  Check out the open concept updates and the bathroom renovations below and stay tuned to see the kitchen and yard transformations!

Original living room

Wall blown open

View from kitchen

Elio and Gilberto tearing up the bathrooms!

Selfie with Armando the Electrician

Master shower prepped for tile

Master shower in progress

Master Shower complete

Master shower floor tile

Master shower

main bath demoed

Main bath complete

great product to add privacy to the bathroom window instead of ordering custom frosted glass

Gutters and brick painted back to white

Reality Home

Yesterday was another great day in real estate!  Got to help another friend move one step closer to making his dream a reality.  Jon has dubbed me the "Tom Brady of Real Estate" (though these days that may not be such a good thing!), though I feel more like Edwin Moses because we had so many hurdles to jump!  He and his Fiance Kindra will be starting renovations on this incredible fixer upper in the Lake Magdalene section of Tampa.

CLOSED!

The Happy Couple

When you have a long wish list for your home and challenging financing conditions, you need a strong and experienced agent to navigate the waters.  We successfully negotiated ALL CLOSING COSTS to be paid by the seller in spite of an extremely strong sellers market where concessions are usually few and far between. We also anticipated required repairs that would block FHA financing approval and had them negotiated and completed BEFORE the appraisal so as to keep the timing of the deal on track. Working in tandem with my mortgage partner Bryan Marx at NFM Lending, we also got this transaction closed several days EARLY!  Structuring our deal the way we did will enable Jon to keep the maximum amount of money in his hands so he can put it towards his renovation and the smooth loan transaction and early closing gives him more time to get his renovations complete to make their Dream Home a Reality Home!

I sentence you to 45 days of renovation hell!

Next project!

Haven't posted in a while, here is why!  Just helped a friend close on his 2nd investment property and we spent the weekend demoing and renoing! 

Empty Dumpster (Not for long!)

1st big score!  We found the Sprinkler valve control box and all the zones work though in need of a few small repairs and a new controller.

Bathroom demo uncovers significant mold.

 This is what lurks behind MANY bathroom walls.

Bathroom demo taking shape!

We picked the hardest window to install first but eventually we got it done!

View from living room to Kitchen and dining area.  To get top rental dollar as well as top price at time of resale, creating an open concept Kitchen/Living space is really the way to go.  It will be significant expense to the budget but a worthwhile one.

This was the most challenging aspect to think through as we needed to make sure that if we totally change the kitchen layout that the existing cabinets could still be made to work.  In the end, we still have all the proper sized cabinets to fit in and make the redesign.  We will only need to make modifications to one of the upper cabinets which will easily be done.

  

It was a long, dirty, but productive weekend!