17 Bessemer Before and After

Heres a look at the before and after of the property we rehabbed at 17 Bessemer St. This was our flagship deal of 2009. The stars seemed to align on this property; from finding it, to rehabbing it, to selling it…. everything went real smooth and the deal was very profitable.

The transformation was really amazing!!

Bessemer is sold… and a few firsts for Hampden Homebuyers

Monday was a day of firsts for our business…. We closed on our first ever deal bought from a wholesaler, the English Tudor on Wexford St I wrote about in my last post. We put this house under contract last week on Tuesday and closed yesterday (the following Monday).  Also it looks like we are going to be purchasing our first ever property off the MLS…. a bank REO that we have been offering on for the last three weeks, and finally got our offer accepted on Monday. While we have bought alot of properties over the last couple years, they have all been through dealing directly with the sellers. We’ve made quite a few offers on REO’s, and been pretty close on getting a couple accepted, but this one looks to be our first.  I’ll post some pictures and a writeup about the home over the next few days.

On another note, we had our second closing of the week today…. we sold the house on Bessemer St. This deal took about 5 months from our purchase to the sale to our new buyer. It is definitely our best project to date. The renovations went very smooth and stayed within budget. The house turned out incredible and we had multiple offers the first day on the market. We ended up selling it for above our asking price and most important of all, the profit on this deal was very good!!

Things are really cranking along right now…. over the next two weeks we will be selling three of our properties (Hartford Ter, Brooks St, and the Ware House) and we will be buying two more rehabs.

Stay tuned for more updates and videos!!!

Bessemer Pictures, Finished and Staged

Here’s the finished pictures of Bessemer St; cleaned, staged and ready for a new buyer!! 

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Dang, thats alot of pictures….. didn’t realize I took so many!!! 

The house came out great and I definetly think it will sell fast. I’m off to the open house.

Bessemer–Finishing Up

Work is almost complete at Bessemer St. We have started showing the property and have received very positive feedback… we actually may be getting two offers before the house even officially goes on the market.

The transformation of this property has been amazing and the finished product is looking great. Have a look at the house now:

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New Roof, Windows, Siding, Gutters, Garage Door, Landscaping, Etc...


New Kitchen w/Stainless Steel Appliances

New Kitchen w/Stainless Steel Appliances


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Tile Backsplash and Countertop. French Door Fridge. Lots of Recessed Lighting

 

Brushed Nickle Hardware, 18x18 Ceramic Tile Floor, Over the Range Microwave

Brushed Nickle Hardware, 18x18 Ceramic Tile Floor, Over the Range Microwave


First Floor Bathroom with New Fixtures and Ceramic Tile Floor

First Floor Bathroom with New Fixtures and Ceramic Tile Floor

 

Tile Tub Surround

Tile Tub Surround w/ Accent Border

 

Living Room w/ Fireplace and Hardwood Floors

Living Room w/ Fireplace and Hardwood Floors

 

Front Entrance/ Stairway

Front Entrance/ Stairway

 

Refinished Hardwoods

Refinished Hardwoods


Second Floor Bath

Second Floor Bath


Second Floor Bedroom

Second Floor Bedroom


Master Bedroom w/Front Load Washer/Dryer going in Second Floor Bath

Master Bedroom w/Front Load Washer/Dryer going in Second Floor Bath

 This one is turning out as nice as Hartford Terrace. Once it is completely finished and staged we should have buyers fighting over it.  We’ll be putting Bessemer and Brooks St on the market over the next week. I hope all the buyers aren’t on summer vacation and we can move both of these quickly.

It's a Jungle Out There

The backyard at Bessemer St is huge. It’s about 3 times as big as a typical city lot here in Springfield. The only problem is that is was completely overgrown from years of neglect and once all the leaves started to grow in it looked like a jungle.

Heres how it looked in the spring before all the leaves grew in:

Overgrown Backyard

Overgrown Backyard

Overgrown Yard from Roof

Overgrown Yard from Roof

 

So instead of breaking our backs trying to clear all this out by hand we called in some heavy duty reinforcements. Have a look at this machine….. it’s a tank.

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This little tank completely chewed up all the trees, saplings, weeds, leaves, pricker bushes and anything else that got in it’s way. It also tills up the soil and leaves you with a completely clear lot… all in just a few hours of work.  Now we have a nice clear, level backyard that is ready for grass seed.

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This giant backyard is an awesome selling feature. Most city lots are 5,000 square feet and offer very little space and no privacy. This yard is going to be an oasis for the new homeowner!

 

Bessemer is wrapping up and it will be done very soon. We’ve had to wait on some of the landscaping as it’s been raining here in Massachusetts for three weeks straight. The house is coming out really nice and we should be able to move it quickly.

Weekly Recap; plus We're in the News

Last week we stayed pretty busy. I met Bank of Americas appraisor at a short sale we are working on in Springfield. The meeting went well and I’m hoping we can get the value down to a low enough point that we can purchase the property. 

Our local paper, The Republican, did an article about our company and the project at Bessemer St.  The article ran last week and adds further credibilty to our business and gives us some positive media coverage. Here is the article:

 Hampden Homebuyers in the News

Wow, We’re Famous!!!!

Bessemer Week 7…. and other updates

We received an offer on Hartford Terrace after only four days on the market…. negotiations are underway so I’ll let you know what happens!

Bessemer St is moving right along and we should be finishing up the rehab over the next week or so. Have a look at the progress after week 7:

Bessemer Update

Bessemer St is moving right along. We are starting our sixth week over there.  We’ve gotten all the inspections for the rough plumbing, rough electric, framing and insulation. The bedrooms and bathroom have been framed out in the new dormer and sheetrock has been hung. They should finish taping and mudding tomorrow than we can start painting. All the exterior work has been done except for landscaping, which we usually leave till the end of the job. Have a look at the photos… it is coming out really nice;102_5337     New siding, roof, gutters, windows,etc.

102_5341  A look at the full dormer

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102_5354    Living Room

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102_5349  New HUGE upstairs bedroom

102_5365   Basement finally cleaned out

102_5367   New 200 amp electrical service

102_5366  New high effeciency direct vent furnace

 

All the finish work should take another 2-3 weeks. I hope it is closer to the two week point so we can bring this to market in the middle of June…. if we haven’t already sold it prior to completion!