Dumpsters, Bumper Stickers and Dogs

April 20, 2009 by 4 Comments

It was a fun weekend here in Massachusetts. Friday night I went to my good friends wedding, Saturday was beautiful and I got a chance to do some yard work around my house. Sunday I took a trip to Bessemer St to check out the progress. We’re three days into the work and so far it’s been nothing but yard work, clean out and demo. I have a feeling this house is gonna take 5 dumpsters. 

Speaking of  Dogs…. I said I would post pictures of the dogs in their cages… here it is!!!!!

Dead dog in Cage

Dog in Cage

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hahahahah, just kidding…. that’s my dog Teddy. He is a furry Pomeranian that likes to sleep upside down!!!
 
Ok, enough shenanigans, here are some photos from today….
102_5123
 
102_5126
 
Breezeway After Cleanout

Breezeway After Cleanout

Kitchen after Cleanout and Demo

Kitchen after Cleanout and Demo

Wall being removed between Kitchen and Living Room

Wall being removed between Kitchen and Living Room

Bathroom after some Demo

Bathroom after some Demo

 
 
I’m looking forward to starting another exciting week. We’ll be getting contracts on a few short sales that should eventually turn into deals and we also should be closing on the fire damaged three family.
Peace Out**
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Work is underway at Bessemer

April 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

We closed on Bessemer on Tuesday and work got underway today. The guys cleaned up the yard and began airing the house out. A dumpster will be delivered tommorrow and clean out of the inside will begin. It’s gonna take a few dumpsters on this job as their is quite a bit of trash in the house.  The Humane Society will be coming tommorrow to get the four dogs.

The contractor we are using is actually one of the guys I found on the Craigslist ad I posted about last week. He has rehabbed a few houses for himself in the past and he was actually already on my buyers list… and I didn’t even realize it. He has been doing new construction for the past two years but wants to get back into doing rehabs. This will be a good one to start on.

Here are some pictures from today, including photos of the inside, you can see how trashed the place is: 

Bessemer Before Day One Work

Bessemer Before Day One Work

Bessemer After Day One of Work

Bessemer After Day One of Work

Breezeway

Breezeway

Kitchen

Kitchen

Most Disgusting Bathroom Ever

Most Disgusting Bathroom Ever

 

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen 2

Kitchen 2

Dining Room

Dining Room

Bedroom Where Fire Started

Bedroom Where Fire Started

First Floor Bedroom

First Floor Bedroom

Back of House

Back of House

 

 The hardwood floors will be done over at Hartford Terrace tommorrow. I’ll put up some pictures of that.  We have two of our finished rehabs closing at the end of this month. Still waiting for clear title on the Fire Damage Three Family…. I don’t think we’ll be closing tommorrow on that one. We also have a rental house that we bought  in February on Ladd St getting finished up, we should have the new tenant in there May 1st.  

 

 
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17 Bessemer St

April 15, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Today we closed on the fire damaged Cape that I referenced in a previous post. This house is really nasty. Here is the newscast video from the fire:

The dogs are still in the basement, we have the Humane Society coming over to remove them and give them a proper burial. The plumbing in the house was not working … so the toilet is absolutely disgusting, overflowing with waste. Once the firefighters went inside the house and saw how nasty it was the city condemned it.  Maybe I’ll post some pictures when I get a chance. The rehab on this house should cost $55k-$60k. We are going to be adding a full dormer to the second level, which will give us two very large bedrooms and room for a second full bath. It will need all new windows, new vinyl siding, a new roof, new furnace, new plumbing, new kitchen, new bath, some new electric, and a new water heater.  This house is in an awesome neighborhood so once the work is complete it should be an easy resale.

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Three Family

April 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I met another contractor over at the fire damaged three family today. While I was there I took some additional photos:

The fire damage isn’t too bad…. it really only charred the rear clapboard siding and burnt up through a small section of the roof. Fortunately there is hardly any fire damage to the interior of the building. Unfortunately the units are in pretty rough shape so they are all gonna need rehab. We are probably going to end up spending around $100,000 for the renovations…  It should be a fun project, as long as we get the right contractor in there doing the job.

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Another Day…. Another Deal

April 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment

For the last week we have been looking at a vacant 3 family home that has some fire damage to the rear exterior. I don’t know what it is with these fire damaged homes but I have a knack for finding them. I’ve brought contractors through and have been running some numbers. We finally met with the owner today and put it under contract for $20,000 with a closing next week.  Heres a picture:

102_4987

 

 

It’s been empty for over two years and all the copper pipes are gone (big surprise lol). It’s gonna need three new boilers, three kitchens, three bathrooms, alot of new windows, siding, roof repair and new porches. This is a very large three family with all three bedroom units. Each unit should rent for $900 when renovated. We may keep this as a rental when the rehab is complete.  This came as a referral from an insurance adjuster we recently had worked with on another deal. The kicker on this property is that we may be able to get some of the insurance money back when we finish the rehab. I’ll post more details and photos as things progress with the property.

 

The hardwood floor guys are over at the house on Hartford Terrace and they should be wrapping up over the next three days. That house is gonna look good when the floors are complete. After the floors are done we will clean, stage, and than put it on the market.

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Busy Day

April 9, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Today was a busy day for us.

       I started off the morning by going over to our rehab on Hartford Terrace. Our contractor is just finishing up and he was looking for a final punch list. The Hartford Terrace house is a large 4 bed 1.5 bath colonial that is just over 2,200 square feet. We picked this house up via a short sale. Here are some of the photos I took today.

 

Hartford Terr Exterior

71 Hartford Terr

This is a view of the front. We did all new vinyl siding and replacement windows
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
102_49602
 Here is the view looking into the kitchen from the dining room. We opened this wall up and added the breakfast bar.
 
 
 
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This is the main living room. It is very large and open. This house has alot of great wood work.
102_4965
This is the full bath located on the second floor. This was a complete gut. We added new tub, tile, vanity, lighting and shower panel.
Shower Panel
Shower Panel

 Here is a close up of the Shower Panel. It is a big hit with buyers (especially the women). It is european stlyle complete with rain shower head and body sprays. It looks very “space age”.

 

 

 

The hardwood floors will be refinished at this house on Friday, then it is ready to be cleaned, staged and put on the market!!  I will post some before and after photos when I get a chance.
We are still waiting to close on the Fire Damage Cape. There is a lien on the house that the sellers attorney has yet to clear up.  In the mean time we met one of our plumbers over there today to do a walk through and get his numbers. I will be lining up a whole slew of contractors to take through there over the next couple days, a few of which came from my Craigslist search I posted about yesterday. So far I’ve heard back from four of them… two seem very promising.
We had lunch at the new Golden Corral that just opened up in Springfield… the food is real good. I ate way too much, it’s 11:00 oclock at night and I’m still stuffed from lunch!!!
After lunch it was off to a small REIA Group that meets in Southwick. It was a pretty good turnout and I got a chance to do some good networking.
Now it’s about midnight and I’ve got to get ready for bed…
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Searching for New Contractors

April 7, 2009 by 3 Comments

I spent this morning searching for new contractors. One of my mentors says that you should always be looking for and prescreening new contractors just like you do motivated sellers. We have two good crews right now working on a couple jobs… but I don’t want to overload them, and with the prospect of two big fire damage jobs coming up… I want to make sure we have some back ups in place.

What I did was search the skill’d trade section of Craigslist for Licensed and Insured contractors. I found seven who have advertised over the past two weeks and sent them an introductory email. Heres how the email went;               

”  My company is looking to expand our network of professional contractors and I saw your ad on Craigslist. We buy, renovate and resell 1-2 properties per month in the greater Springfield area, and need additional reliable and affordable contractors. Job size varies from light cosmetics to full gut rehabs. Our larger projects will require permitting so you must be licenced and insured.  We buy these properties for investment purposes and will not be the end user, therefore affordable pricing and timeliness of job completion are of utmost importance. Also, the ability to work with other tradesmen (plumbers,electricians, HVAC) and orchestrate a job site are key.
 
 
     If this sounds like something you may be interested in please call me or email back as I may have 1-2 projects for you to look at.
 
 
 
       Thanks,
                  Matt Kearney
                  Hampden Homebuyers ”

 

As I get responses I will further prescreen them and have them come out and bid a job or two. I also ask for references and a portfolio/photos of previous jobs.  I have been burnt by a few contractors in the past because I was too lenient in my prescreening process. (Just a side note, If your contractor needs you to provide the work truck and/or tools, they are probably not your right guy).

If any of you readers have good tips for finding contractors feel free to share them in the comments section!

We should have a closing coming up over the next couple days. It will be a nice rehab.

Heres the house:  

Bessemer

Fire Damage Cape

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Welcome to My World

April 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment

 

 hello-world1

 

Day 1 on my new Blog….. what to write about??  

Well, I have set this up to chronicle some of my day to day activities as a full time real estate investor and house flipper. I will post pictures and vidoes of some of our recent deals and future projects, as well as provide some education to those who follow. Also I’d like to do some case studies of past deals. 

My company, Hampden Homebuyers, specializes in the purchase and renovation of single and multi family homes in the greater Springfield, MA area.  We buy, renovate, sell and rent  residential properties, doing 1-2 houses per month.

 

My City... Springfield, MA

My City... Springfield, MA

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