The bathroom looked OK from a short inspection, but later, when our work crew got to work, we found that water ingress from the bath and shower, with  poor ventilation had rotted timbers in the wall. These had to be pulled out and replaced, along with a new floor, new wall surfaces and completely new sanitary units installed.

This work could have run into thousands for the ordinary owner who didn’t have permanently employed and experienced refurbishment personnel to hand.

Lots of other work has been done too:

- The plumbing has been revamped, with new boiler installed.

- Check and make sure electrical system makes Code, including fit new lights where necessary.

- Replace drywall in top floor bedroom

- Replace flooring in kitchen and new sinks, counter tops, new splashbacks and general makeover

- Re-point defective brickwork

- Sort out damp cupboard

Clean and varnish floors

- Re-decorate all house, walls and ceilings

- Trim trees and clean up yard

- Plus numerous sundry jobs

All this done and the property was still sold for 50% less than local unrefurbished prices! Another owner who nows owns a decent property ready to rent. And who will, given some time, pocket handsome profits.

This elegant, Tudor style property has now been restored to its former glory.

A wide range of jobs have been done: Hardwood floors shine, walls are repaired and look smart with new paint. Kitchen is new and bathroom looks great. Plumbing and heating are restored. Plus a range of smaller bit essentail repairs, such as new light fittings, new carpetting and sockets.

All now looks new, from repainted basement to roof. The owner is now in possession of a valuable property.

We estimate its value as now nearly DOUBLE what the client paid just a couple of months ago, with room for price to go further over next couple of years and beyond. If that isn’t a cracking investment, we don’t know what is!

We keep repeating the mantra – this is a once only opportunity to buy good American property for…peanuts. It’s very much for real, as this project illustrates. The key is to select a bargain like this house and let us take the hassle of refurbishing it. That way lies big profits.

As usual, checks are made on heating, electrical and plumbing systems, to see if they are up to code or in working. It’s not wise to commence decoration and find a leak when the plumbing is turned on later!

With this property the furnace and boiler were missing so we had to replace those. The plumbing and electrics have also been updated. The crew are well experienced on these sorts of jobs and did this within a few days. Good quality taps have been fitted in the kitchen.

All internal surfaces are being repainted in a neutral but attractive cream colour (that some in UK might call magnolia), with white ceilings and trim. We’ve often noticed that rushing work crews in Detroit tend to spray everything in the same colour. Saves time, but our background is in development where we have to attract buyers and good tenants.

No way to accept such an approach and our guys have been trained to make the extra effort to paint skirting, windows and ceilings in contrast colours.

The property will soon be finished and there is no doubt renters will be falling over themselves to rent this one.

Works have already well under way with this property and here are the ‘before’ photos below for this Detroit property.

The crew have been focusing particularly on the kitchen, fitting new cabinets and making a contrasting black splash-back – a modern aspect to this Tudoresque property. The floor now looks smart with new tiles.

A lot of work has been done on the “internals” of the house – electrics and plumbing and heating system, getting that potentially dirty work out off the way before decorating.

Below are some pics of the new kitchen in San Juan along with pics of the old one. It has a new floor, new white cabinets and the splashback has been painted black to contract with the cabinets. The room will now be painted again

In this house so far the furnance, boiler, plumbing and electrics have been redone, which doesn’t make for good photos really. They will now start on doing the visual parts of the house like painting, drywall etc.

Stairs to the basement have been covered in hard wearing tiles. And down there, further work has been done on the furnace. It’s proving a tricky machine to get running as the model isn’t common. However, we’ll find a suitable replacement.

Last major job is fitting the kitchen. The previous owners left in midst of refurbishing their kitchen and we have a “bare canvas” to work with. Once done, this will finish off a super house that will provide an excellent home for its tenant and good income for its owner.

Following on from previous post for US073 in Detroit, here are updated pics; so far all the old carpets have been removed, furnace, plumbing and electrical systems checked, some painting done and lights fitted to ceiling.

Another typical 3 bed single family unit, on a quiet cul de sac. The roof was completely changed as part of a batch job on a number of houses a few weeks ago, so now it’s time to deal with the interior.

All in all, it’s a good property. No major works. The biggest job is fitting out the kitchen. For some reason, the previous owners had started on completely refurbing their kitchen, stripping out the old, fitting new plasterboards to walls….then stopped, as in being foreclosed.

It’s remarkable how often home owners are spending money doing home improvements not long before the axe of foreclosure falls.

We’ll need to fit a complete set of kitchen cabinets, work surface and sink, plus tile the floor. The next biggest job is replacing the furnace. We’ve tested it and found the circuit board cooked, so we’ll fit another unit.

Apart from the furnace and kitchen, it’s just a matter of painting up and sorting out odd jobs, particularly substandard electrical sockets. And new carpet.

We like this property. It’s going to provide a very comfortable home and has a massive garage to rear. In fact, our rental manager already has a tenant lined up for the place. Only foreseeable problem is the contractor we have on it is a perfectionist! He took too long on US037 Courville house, doing it to a standard far beyond the standard city code. Had to be “3 coats” on everything sort of approach, even though it cost their guy in charge quite a bit of money. He’s old school and finds it hard to adapt to the faster pace of meeting code and moving to next job. But, better that way than careless.

Pictures below property pre-works:

The crew have pushed on well and just about finished this off now. Kitchen is looking very smart with new plumbing and decoration.

The hallway and staircase have been laid with very hard wearing green “grass” like material and the stair tread in non slip rubber. These material could be used outside such is their resistance, but inside they should protect the floor from hard use.

That’s one of the main points about renovating for tenants as against just for resale – reducing future maintenance is important. Keep paints and carpet neutral (hence beiges we typically use for carpets) and put down low maintenance surfaces like vinyl tiling.

Blinds have been put up (a lot of windows!) as required for general renting and work items are now being cleared for city inspection and tenant viewings.