How-to Monday: Rehabbing
Admit it: You've thought about rehabbing. You have a house that could use some work, or you fantasized about buying, fixing and flipping a rowhome during the boom, or perhaps you just wondered how on earth people do it. (Maybe you've actually rehabbed a place yourself, in which case you've thought a whole lot about rehabbing, up to and including "what have I gotten myself into.")
This is the first of a series of videos that will be going up all week to give you a glimpse into a top-to-bottom home rehab in progress, along with words of advice from both Stachura -- the project manager -- and homeowner Tianne Baker, who is acting as general contractor. (More on the differences between "project manager" and "general contractor" in tomorrow's video.)
It's just a taste of what you'd need to keep in mind before starting a rehab: I couldn't hope to cover it all if I had a year and a book contract. As Baker says, "These are complicated projects. You never know what you're going to find when you open up one of these old houses."
Three cheers for John Lindner, Sun video editor extraordinaire, who pieced together my questionable camera work into something I hope you'll find worth watching.
Comments
When I rehabbed my old house on Fort Ave. the thing that I didn't know anything about was permits. I didn't know you needed a permit for drywall or even paint. Electrical and Structural work is understandable, but dry wall and painting is nothing more than a moneygrab.
Posted by: jeff | November 26, 2007 10:50 AM
The Permits part of the rehab is draining. The tally on these fees can be excessive.
Applying for historic tax credits is worth while process. And improves the community's look.
Budgeting (always add 20% more), Working with existing floorplans, delays, managing projects (even with a general contractor it can take 20 hours a week easy), and the unexpected are all things needed to take into account.
Also, before buying you need to know the market. Creating something that doesn't sell is easy to do, those carrying costs will get you! Getting a local Realtor's advice is most helpful. They know what sells.
Posted by: Christian Dunn | November 26, 2007 11:55 AM
Mel Stachura is an extremely ethical and creative contractor. He is an extremely likable, personable and professional guy...I couldn't think of a better person for this piece!
Posted by: ron howard | November 26, 2007 1:30 PM
It seems there aren't many ethical contractors out there. If rehabbing a house, my advice, find one of the few who remain. Work off of references and first hand knowledge of that individuals talents or shortcomings. Rehabbing a house is not an easy job, there are so many things that you will have to deal with. Having someone on your team that you can trust to look out for your best interest when you can't be around is essential for success.
Posted by: Don | November 26, 2007 4:43 PM
Its important to know what the other rehabs around your project looks like inside in addition to what it sold for. Key factor is not to over-improve in this market that we are in now. Knowing your market is essential. You may find that you need to sell the property for less that what you put into it and thats not a good thing. Have an appraiser come out before you have completed the job. He might be able to give you advice on making repairs or doing things that will create more value and what things will not create more value.
Posted by: Valerie McNeal | November 26, 2007 8:20 PM