Following the Miller, the second project happened during my Junior and Senior summers of High school. This story is actually best told through the eyes of my sister, for a school assignment shortly following the project. Word for word, enjoy:

Double Summer Job

About 3 years ago (1995) my parents approached Jordan and I to talk about a summer job.

They brought us to a house and showed us around. We were both trying to figure out what the job actually was.

They finally explained to us what we would be doing. I could see for myself that the house needed a lot of work. I could hardly breathe just standing there, due to the smell of the old place.

Jordan and I decided to buy the house after figuring out what most of the expenses and other financial situations would be. It was a lot more complicated than just this, but that would take a lot of explaining.

***Yup that’s my mom there, arms crossed, surely thinking “Am I really going to do this again?”

We finally started to gut the entire house. Mostly to get rid of the smell which was in the old ladies couches, carpet, and clothing.

This was way too much work for just the two of us. My parents helped us out and we hired several friends and classmates.

Adam and Jenny Kramer, Jordan, and I had to take down all of the old rotten wallpaper. There were about 15 layers on every wall and ceiling. Some of it had been on there since 1887 when the house was built.

The four of us also had to strip the varnish off of all of the doors so that way they could be redone. All of the doors were huge with carvings and design, so it took along time to strip all of them.

The whole house had carved woodwork as the trim. It all had to be sanded and filled over and over for the paint.

It took us about one whole summer to get the whole place gutted, resided, plumbed, and heated. We thought that it would only take one summer to finish the whole thing from start to finish. I guess that when you leave your work for vacation and basketball camps, projects take much longer than planned.

The next summer we got back at it again. I was still tired of working from the summer before. Luckily the second summer was easier. This was the rebuilding portion of the project.

We started out by rewiring the whole house. I learned a lot about electricity. When all of the wiring was done we sheet rocked almost the entire house and then mudded all of the cracks and corners.

We definitely built our muscles up when we had to sand down every wall after the mud dried.

It was getting close to start the wallpapering. We started this by figuring out all of the colors. It takes a lot of time to figure out what kind of wallpaper is going to go into every room, in order to match the carpets, and then figuring out how much to buy. Jordan and I let my mom figure this out.

Every wall in the whole house had to be wallpapered. I did one-half of the hanging and my mom did the other one-half. Jordan did all of the cutting, pasting, and running around for supplies. She was our gopher and we really enjoyed it.

Wallpapering is very simple. I was very glad that I learned to do this, because when I buy a house, when I get older, it will be very easy for me to redesign it.

The carpet installers moved in after we were done with the wallpaper. It took about two weeks for them to carpet the whole house. Every floor had to be covered.

It came to a point where we were finally done. We put the house on the market in October. It isn’t sold yet, but hopefully it will be soon. This is something that I will never do again. That is probably the most important thing that I learned throughout the two-summer project. I learned many building skills, designing, financial, dealing with business people, city fathers, and numerous items that I will appreciate when I am an adult.

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I’m asked often how I learned my home improvement skills. I can chalk my style and taste up as hereditary I think??? I didn’t really take any design classes, so I’ll thank DNA for my ability to visualize. I do however owe my ability to wire a light, change a faucet and drywall to 2 influential projects during my teen years.

The first being what my family called The Miller. My parents purchased the building in 1992, yes way back so don’t judge the pictures. The original 1908 plans of The Miller included fifty-six hotel rooms plus private offices. Also it had a bar, kitchen, lobby, ladies lounge, salesman lounge, and laundry and furnace room. It was fireproof and totally modern for its time.

Here’s what the exterior looked like:

The building was always a little erry, I remember as a child running past it quickly, fearing who might be lurking inside. The condition did not deter my parents; my mother had grand plans for this building. My mothers love for math and my fathers mechanical inclinations definitely helped as they undertook this project of designing and changing the hotel into apartment living.

Gutting began, with sledge hammer in hands I remember tearing through the lathing and multiple layers of wallpaper. Walls where moved and rebuilt as 56 rooms became 17 apartments. The project took almost 3 years, to make something neglected into a beautiful apartment building. There was a lot of work if statistics thrill you, 350 knobs for cupboard doors, all installed by us children. Count the doors, 100 oak doors, 81 closet doors with handles. What I didn’t mention before is The Miller is located in a small town, so the closet Menard’s at the time was a good 50 minutes away. I recall going to movies on the weekend as a family but making sure we left early enough to head into Menard’s to fill the truck with goodies for the hotel.

It was a family job, and the efforts were soon realized. This had been a longtime dream of my mother, to refurbish and old home which turned out to be a home with 15 apartments. Gee, I wonder where I get it from?

Later my parents were honored for their work in renovating the Miller Hotel at the Main Street Awards at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. They received the first place award for “Best Adaptive Re-Use Of A Building” from the Governor at the time.

Jumping to present time, the family managed the property until just last year allowing us children to learn the ropes of property management.

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I’m a little OCD, I don’t like clutter and I like everything to be nice and neat and well, perfect.  So FREE is a word that I like but also find a little scary.   If it’s free, why didn’t they want it, do I really want it cluttering up my pad?

It was early Saturday morning and my husband Brad had just pulled out of the driveway to head into town.  He’s quickly catching on to the things that I like and spotted a Patio set, glass and table and chairs for 6.  He comes back to tell me what he’s found and soon we find ourselves, me in my p.j. hauling the chairs and table back to our house.  4 trips later it’s sitting on the back porch and I’m working on making it perfect for our house.

BEFORE:

Do you remember this Before and After project:

It was Free as well, I just applied some paint.  It didn’t really go with our house and I certainly wasn’t attached to it so Craiglist here I come.  On the same day I scored $200 for this old set.  I set straight out for Home Depot and purchased these new cushions.

Here’s the after:

Now I’m on the lookout for the perfect umbrella.

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Jason Gorman | The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team 5982 Cahill Ave., Inver Grove Heights, MN 4BR/1+1BA Single Family House offered at $174,900 Year Built 1947 Sq Footage 1,840 Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 1 full, 1 partial Floors Unspecified Parking 4 Car garage Lot Size 1.46 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Lovely Country Cottage Estate on 1.46 acres! Lush green lawn surrounds this home with a huge 4 car detached garage- would make a great work shop! Original oak hardwood through out, fresh paint and much more! see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Central A/C - Central heat - Hardwood floor - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Washer - Dryer - Laundry area – inside ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Front Kitchen Living Room Garage Contact info: Jason Gorman The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Mar 17, 2010, 11:27am PDT

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Jason Gorman | The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team | 651-735-7653 6435 Dawn Way, Inver Grove Heights, MN Large Open Floor Plan! 3BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $150,000 Year Built 1978 Sq Footage 1,762 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors Unspecified Parking Unspecified Lot Size .21 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Large open floor plan with extra storage in kitchen. DSL hook-up in kitchen, big closets through out with closet organizers. Seperate lower level entrance, garage with built in storage. see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Central A/C - Central heat - Fireplace - Tile floor - Family room - Living room - Dining room - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Washer - Dryer - Laundry area – inside - Yard ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Front Contact info: Jason Gorman The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team 651-735-7653 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Mar 17, 2010, 11:34am PDT

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Jason Gorman | The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team | 651-735-7653 1194 Maryland Ave. E, Woodbury, MN One block from Lake Phalen! 3BR/2BA Single Family House offered at $100,000 Year Built 1927 Sq Footage 1,200 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Floors Unspecified Parking Unspecified Lot Size .16 acres HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION One block from Lake Phalen! Lots of space, front porch, large family room with fireplace. Main floor bedroom. Big fenced in yard. see additional photos below PROPERTY FEATURES - Fireplace - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Laundry area – inside ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Front Dining Room Kitchen Living Room Contact info: Jason Gorman The Jason Gorman Real Estate Team 651-735-7653 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Mar 17, 2010, 11:35am PDT

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It’s a standing joke amongst my husband and I that his Town House was his wedding gift to me.  He gave me the keys and the landlord responsibilities the minute he found the opportunity.  We’ve been renting this 2 bedroom, 1 bath end unit with a double garage for a few years now and recently come to terms with it’s value and we are ready to rip the band-aid off and move on.

It was a quick decision and with spring apon us and the tax credit nearing it’s end I wanted to get it on the market before the following weekend with a budget of $2000.  It’s amazing how much you can do with $2000 when getting your home ready for the market.

It’s always difficult as a home owner to know if they will see that investment back, it’s important to consider why you would make the changes.  In my case this unit will sit empty on the market until I find a buyer so I want my unit to be the most attractive unit.  I want it to be the next unit sold in the complex, not the 8th.

The unit was built in the nineties and my husband, bachelor at the time had zero interest in making updates?!?!  Since this wasn’t my first rodeo I new exactly where to spend my dollars to get the most bang.

Budget and Before and Afters as follows:

$200:  8 gallons of paint (entire unit)

$340:  New light fixtures out with the gold in with the silver

$1300 New Carpet through out.

$120 Misc. Home Depot/Supplies

I wanted my budget to have room to do something “special” or something that would make our unit stand out from the others.  With $300 I was able to install a beautiful modern back splash in the kitchen tying everything together.

These changes have made our unit much more appealing to the market and turn key for the first time home buyer.

Total Cost:  $1970

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It’s CRP time again I’m ahead of the game this year as I start to prepare to have these ready for mail the first week of January.  So you have about 6 weeks because Minnesota residential rental property owners and managers have until January 31, 2010) to complete Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) for each of their tenants.  That includes any tenant that paid rent in the last year, even if it was for one month only.

So, get out the books, or whatever system you have and devote a few hours to sorting through the dates of occupancy and amount of rent paid by each tenant.  Hopefully you have the current address of past tenants… if you don’t you’ll learn your lesson.  I’ve learned through trial and error to have my tenants fill out a exit form making my life easier each time this season comes around.   If of course, you don’t have the address or the address is incorrect when it comes back, hold on to the thing until you get a call and then forward it to the correct address of the tenant.  It’s bad enough sorting through the dates of occupancy if you’ve had a high turn over, but having to sort through which tenants had adult roommates and divide the CRP’s between the roommates (even if THEY didn’t pay), etc., is tiresome at best.  It must be done or the landlord can incur a fine for each incident.

The State of Minnesota has made the small landlord’s job a tad bit easier, though, by giving us the forms online with the ability to fill them out ONLINE.  That thrills me because I can type faster than print and I only have to change the tenant specific information on each form I print.  Regrettably, the form cannot be filed online, but they can be completed and printed for distribution to the respective parties.  The form and instructions for filling it out can be found here.

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Investing in a rehab home is an income producing opportunity I pursue in my free time.  It can be a tough job; if you’re interested in learning first you need to understand one question “What makes a good real estate investment?”

The answer isn’t necessarily simple – buy low and sell high.  It’s a simple answer, if you can do this it’s an investment.

Determining what makes a good real estate investment are the factors that allow you to by the home at a lower price and then sell it at a higher price.

One of the best factors in allowing you to buy a home at a lower price is a bad economy.  We’re witnessing this today as people are facing foreclosures and selling their homes as a short sale.

A second factor is condition of the property.  If the home needs a new roof, plumbing, electric, paint, carpet, updated kitchens and bathrooms it’s very possible these items are unattractive and can drive the price of the property down.

Remember though, in order to realize a profit you need to sell it at a high price than your investment.

I usually choose to rehab a home by putting in money through new paint, carpet, and landscaping.  These help me create value in the home many times over the cost of painting, carpeting, or landscaping.  I also suggest working with an agent familiar with proper staging to make your home the most attractive to buyers.

In a real estate market up or down, investing is an exciting and profitable venture if done correctly.  Remember buy low and sell high.

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