First Home Purchased

[Eliot Axvig]

Hello,

I recently purchased my first home and would like another opinion on what I should do with it.  The home is in a very established nice residential neighborhood, on a corner lot, and directly across the street from an elementary school, 2 blocks from a high school, and 1 mile from a large university.  The home is a one bed one bath and very small, 500 sq. ft.  The lot also has a distressed shed that will be torn down, no garage.  We have been considering adding on either a garage, or a garage and 2 bedrooms and remodeling the existing house to make it a 3 bed and 2 bath.  Other thoughts include just building a detached garage and fixing up the small house with no addition.  Not sure is the end game is short-term fix and sell or hold and rent.  I'm just looking for some feedback on what you would do.  Thank you in advance.

Eliot

[Eliot Axvig]

@Kinley Puzey ,

Just ran across your message again in my inbox and wanted to update!  

I ended up going big and added onto the existing house, over tripling the size.  The total add on included an attached single and double stall garage (parking for 3), 3 bed, 2 full bath, and laundry room.  The existing portion of the house we renovated into a living room and kitchen.  

I self contracted the whole project, finding subs to pour the foundation, frame the addition, roofing, and plumbing.  Work I did myself included siding, wiring, tiling, wood flooring, cabinets, insulation, and lots of drywall.  The work took about 2 years with me working after my 9-5 job and on the weekends.  My father was a huge help as he is a mechanical engineer and has access to drafting software, as well as having a great mind for electrical and general house repair.

1. Numbers: 
2. Purchase Price: $85,000
3. Construction cost: $160,000
4. ARV: $315,000

It was a fantastic learning experience for me.  Looking back, there are definitely things I would do differently, but am happy with the result.  I recently moved to Massachusetts with my wife and am excited to work in flipping another house and work on accumulating some buy and hold properties.