My Manchester, NH 4 Unit renovation

My Manchester, NH 4 Unit renovation

Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes

I recently purchased a 4 unit off market building for $231,000. It was originally listed on the MLS. The numbers in my eyes weren't terrible so I requested a showing. The realtor wasn't very helpful and the seller wouldn't budge on numbers. I found the seller info and reached out directly with no response. A few months go buy and I reach out to the realtor again. The realtor says I can go look again but doesn't show up to show it. I knock doors and get a pissed off tenant who's sick of people coming to look. He calls the landlord to flip on him. When the landlord returned the call I asked to speak with him and got his number.

Long story short realtors out price comes down a small amount and we get a purchase and sales and our first appraisal. The property is in rough condition and comes in below average condition so conventional financing is off the table. I’m struggling to see how to purchase as a cash deal with renovation isn’t on the table for me. I check hard money options but with the added costs the number don’t work. 

I talked to a friend who recommends a different mortgage broker who says he might help. After a few conversations we agree to do another appraisal this time no condition was listed, appraiser says bank can make the call. That ended up getting conventional financing back on the table and the deal closes at $231,000 with 20% down. 

Upon closing and the first month one unit is empty and while I did get security deposits and remaining rent I notified the tenants the rents were going up and of course 1st month no one pays rent. Demand for rent and evictions are handed out!  One tenant moved out with no issues  2nd tenant says she’s moving in a month and will pay and 3rd decided he’s gonna push it and stay without paying a dime but claims he will be out in another week.  I’ll let you know if he’s out this weekend or not!

First round of permits have been granted so gutting has begun!

chimneys are coming out to open the floor plan up!

it took three nights to empty but finally we are down to the wall to wall garage carpet.  We ran out of dumpster space so we’ll have to wait for the next one.  I’m 90 yards worth of dumpster so far and we have a few more to go!

New garage doors are in!  $1400 installed with new tracks spring and hardware.  The guys got them up in one day and scheduled the install two days after we began talk so super fast which was totally worth it!  Now we can secure materials it’s not weather tight but it’s secure!  More progress to come in the next few month but here’s a teaser to start!

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Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 483 posts · 956 votes
6y

Looking  good! Can't wait to see the finish.

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  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I’ll need to grab some additional pictures but this week’s update is a little more progress. The lead contractor is absolute junk. What I thought was going to be an asset is a total liability and now I need to weight weather to sue or let things go. It’s so hard to accept sub par work when your forced to pay full price for it. 

    Thankfully my guys are still doing awesome work and we are correcting as much as possible as quick as possible. Drywall is done in 188-1. The kitchen bathroom and living room are in primer and should be progressing to cleaning and paint tonight. 

    This will be the site of the kitchen. I am working with Wholesale Kitchen Supply and will use JSI cabinets again. 

    Thankfully the rental market is heating up even with the Covid-19 issues. Everyone is in full swing panic concerned that supply houses and vendors will close. Thankfully none of that has happened yet and we are still progressing. 
    Granite countertops were installed yesterday in 190-2. This unit is small but to give you some ideas I paid $1100 for the counters installed with a sink. They look great and am very pleased. 

    countertops are scheduled for 188-2 next week which will close out the last major item needed. There’s a couple small projects left like tying in a dryer vent and staining and poly stairs but that’s about it for that unit. 

    190-1 framing is completed I don’t have pictures but getting inspections is tough right now. 

    Common areas are wrapping up as well I have finished the treads and just need to install the spindles of the stair case. 

    I went very dark on the stairs to try and hide the defects from the contractor not protecting them during work. 

    We are getting close to having two units done and a third taking up the rear. We will see how painting and electrical goes next week but should be closing in on wrapping up another.  

  • Investor · Cramerton, NC · Member since 2017 · 336 posts · 198 votes
    6y

    @joshua tessier,

    I just stumbled across your post.  I know it might feel miserable being in the thick of is but you are doing a great job pressing ahead and making progress.  You are building skills and muscles to do it again - it gets easier with experience and more systems.


    Keep up the good work, thanks for documenting the project and giving that to the community.  Well done.

    As for suing the GC, I'd recommend just focusing on getting the work done and moving on with life.  GC lessons are ones we all learn, don't waste your energy suing them, use your energy to finish this project and do the next deal.  The financial freedom is the goal, keep the long view!

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Josh Stack:

    @joshua tessier,

    I just stumbled across your post.  I know it might feel miserable being in the thick of is but you are doing a great job pressing ahead and making progress.  You are building skills and muscles to do it again - it gets easier with experience and more systems.


    Keep up the good work, thanks for documenting the project and giving that to the community.  Well done.

    As for suing the GC, I'd recommend just focusing on getting the work done and moving on with life.  GC lessons are ones we all learn, don't waste your energy suing them, use your energy to finish this project and do the next deal.  The financial freedom is the goal, keep the long view!

    An attorney has been retained as the out of pocket losses exceed $10k the lost rent from the contractual deadline exceed $20k and the contractual late fees have surpassed $10k. We will see what future update hold but I’ll keep you all posted.  

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    It’s been a while since I last posted but worst is still progressing. I have retained an attorney to go after the cities handling of this project, the lack of work and the quality of work that has been done. 

    My team is still hard any work and we’re checking things off and getting stuff done. I’m hopping to move tenants into 190-2 and 188-1 for the first of the month. This will help with the bleeding and get some money coming in. 

    190-2 The kitchen is complete minus a little paint touch ups but overall it’s a wrap. 

    The bathroom is small but efficient and finished up nicely 

    Everything is new here tub, lighting, flooring, plumbing all new. 

    the last project left is stripping these windows and putting a fresh coat of paint on. 

    188-1 has been getting lots of love. Me and my guys ripping into the flooring that was sagging to stabilize everything and jack up the rotted floors with new joists. 

    there was a toilet here that leaked for clearly a long long time. 

    floorings our and new joists are going in. 

    new sub floors are in. Unfortunately due to the corona issues we are not going to be able to get carpet in the bedroom in time. Home Depot isn’t doing in home measurements for at least another month and then lead times mean I’d loose more in rent than it’s worth so vinyl flooring it is. We will just keep the living room and kitchen flooring going into the bedroom as well. 

    bathroom tile is in and looking great! Next up is toilet installation and finishes. 

    flooring in the living room is being laid as we speak and looking great. 

    The kitchen has been ordered and should be here in three more weeks. Can’t wait to get this installed. 

    this is how the cities contractor for lead Abaitment has left the job. Baseboards are screwed in with drywall screws, angles aren’t cut correctly and drywall patches were supposed to be doors according to the scope of work with no work order changes.

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    A few more updates for today. 

    190-1 

    Framing has been completed and inspected 

    This is what takes this unit from 2 bedrooms to 3. I moved the bathroom into the center of the house in what was being considered a bedroom with no windows. I took the bathroom and laundry room combined the to make a bedroom opened up the entry way and porch to make a large living area and ripped out a set of stairs to make a living room or possibly 4th bedroom. 

    counters look great these cost me $1500 as remnants from my granite guy. The window looks great to and really highlights the beautiful sunsets. 

    Overall once I get the finishing touches on the place is turning out beautiful even if the budget and timeline and totally blown. Right now money is tight but I’ll at least have two units rented and bringing income in before I go broke. So wish me luck and lets see how much further I can get before the money runs out.  

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    A few more weeks and progress is still happening but still slow with a limited budget as my full time job is on hope with the whole Corona thing. On the bright side I have placed my first two tenants. Thankfully they were willing to move in and accept a few things outstanding. 

    190-2 Is pretty well wrapped up the windows are outstanding and need a final sand and paint. 

    188-1 

    I wrapped up the painting in the front bedroom touched up the pain in the rear bedroom but still need to paint thEx remainder of the unit. Unfortunately I’ll be doing that with a tenant inside so it will be tricky but I’ll get it done!

    The front bedroom was a scramble to wrap up paint before carpets arrived. I would have loved to have done a better job on the ceiling but it will do. Overall it’s a major improvement! Here’s the finished product. 

    that is basically the before and after for the front bedroom. Next weekend the cabinets should arrive and install will happen then it’s counters, paint and finish plumbing and we should be done with that unit. That about it for this update. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Here’s a few before and afters just to give an idea of how far it’s come. 

  • Lender · Manchester, NH · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 19 votes
    6y

    Hey Josh, 

    Thanks for posting all of this! This is great. I drive by this house all the time and I'm so glad someone bought it and is putting in the work to rehab it.

    It's great when investors are willing to post all of the gory details of their rehab. It really helps others learn!

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Zachary Richards:

    Hey Josh, 

    Thanks for posting all of this! This is great. I drive by this house all the time and I'm so glad someone bought it and is putting in the work to rehab it.

    It's great when investors are willing to post all of the gory details of their rehab. It really helps others learn!

    It was in rough shape that’s for sure. If you ever want to take a look just message me and I’ll show you the work in person.  

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I have been reevaluating financing and making sure I have the money to see another unit till the end. Covid-19 is well I to full affect. My full time engineering job has been eliminated due to the companies performance. While I work to find another opportunity it sure as heck has me salivating at the prospects of doing this full time and the freedoms it brings.

    I have had a few people looking in the windows of the house. As I now have tenants in place there’s more activity. In attempts to make things more finished I have been cleaning and wrapping up common areas. 

    new spindles will be installed shortly and the two hand rails will be reduced to one. 

    My electrician can’t seem to finish anything correctly and is constantly leaving projects unfinished. I am moving slower on unit 190-1 to ensure we avoid mistakes and ensure that everything is finished prior to drywall being wrapped up. 

    hopefully in the next month I’ll have lots more progress and actually be ready to wrap up this unit for good. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Just a quick update things are still progressing but the just me doing the work it’s a bit slower. 

    188-1 is where the bulk of the work is concentrated. Kitchen cabinets are installed and granite was templated. Electrical is wrapped up in this unit for the most part. 

    wrapped up the staircase as well with new ballasters 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I have also started on the shake work as the weather has improved and I had the material left over from another job. 

    I wrapped up the porch roof for now. Tied it into the house and now will work to clean it up and make it a little more weather tight. I most likely will hold off on installing a roof and instead focused on making it feel more like a trellis. 

    with the porches wrapped up a little more we can now enjoy the sunsets. Oh once we clean up the mess left by Dads Abatement LLC and tighten up the bolts they left loose after replacing the posts.

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I began to rip out some of the lead work that had been done and was garbage. These old windows were wrapped in aluminum but it wasn’t flat and wouldn’t be water tight. This will lead to rot so out it all came. 

    At this point I’m using scraps to keep things going. I replaced it with pressure treated plywood taped the joints and removed all the containment I set up. 

    I then ripped out the remainder of the swing set and cleaned all debri that had accumulated from the winter in the yard. 

    The front is wrapped up and ready for paint. 

    crazy to see the to-from on the garage!

    once the plumber finishes up it will be time for grass seed in the fall. 

    188-1

    The counter tops and pulls are installed now need to wrap up painting and plumbing and we will be done. 

    hopefully next week I’ll wrap up painting and get to the point plumbing can be wrapped up. Either way the progress is great!

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Work has been going slow on the house as money’s tight and I’m trying to push big for something else in the pipeline 😉. The city is attempting to walk away from the lead abatement portion of the project. The last email the side they were canceling the contract and done. We will see what that means but it’s never that easy. As for progress with the beautiful weather I’m plugging away all over staying busy as corona keep on trucking. 

    Garage

    First up is the never ending garage cedar shakes. Apparently I have no clue where my nail guy went so I’m hand banging them. 

    Stripped it closed over the old windows wrapped it and now the new shakes are going up. 
    I am doing cedar because these were left over from another house I had done years ago and wanted to use them up. 

    Outside the house insulation work has begun.  As the stay at home order lifts I was first in line!  We will see how much of a difference we can make but progress is good.

    188–1

    I have been doing some painting and bringing the tin ceiling back to life. 

    190-1 

    Electrical work is on going as I look to begin wrapping that unit up. Once it’s done drywall should be back on the docket. Then paint and flooring as money permits. Unfortunately it’s extremely slow as money has tightened up but I’m committed to seeing this through!

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Things are going to be slow for the next month or so while I figure out a couple things. But by no means am I stopped completely. I finished plumbing a sink in one unit and have slowly been demoing the last kitchen. Trying to get away with siphoning the debris into the weekly trash in order to avoid getting yet another dumpster. 

    lastly I have been patching siding where possible to fix damage done by Dads Abatement. 

    this stuff is so brittle but I think I can save it and hold off on the $20k expense to reside the entire building for a few more years. 

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 300 posts · 417 votes
    6y

    I love seeing all the progress photos - fantastic work! I'm excited to see more!

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    So today I was quoted in the news paper about the lead grant I accepted for this project. It ended up being the worst mistake of this project for quality of work and timeline and has set me back to where I’m still trying to recover. 

    https://www.unionleader.com/vo...

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I haven’t given up yet. Progress has been slow but I can finally let it be know that I doubled down and purchased an 8 unit property. Apparently I’m a glutton for punishment and really wanna see this through. 

    This is my newest purchase and  purchase I won’t bore you will all the details but the basics are 8 units mostly singles and studios with one two bedroom tossed in for gold measure.

    Purchase Price $500,000

    Monthly gross rents $7,800

    Down payment $100,000

    This one I begged borrowed and pleaded for almost every red cent used to purchase. I am extremely great full for everyone’s help in purchasing this and if it wasn’t for this dump and showing folks I can get things done none of this would have been possible. Now back to the main attraction. I ordered the last kitchen cabinets for the last unit. They came in just under $2,900 so now I have 30 days to get the electrical completed the drywall wrapped up and flooring in. 

    here’s where I’m at today 

    The old baseboards are out and the a few more small things I can close up the walls. 

    the subfloor is done in the 3rd bedroom. This originally was a bathroom and laundry room but I combined it to form one larger room when I relocated the bathroom. 

    This was the mess when ripping out the floor it was a disaster but it’s out and done!  So long story short it’s moving along but slowly and now that the newest addition has been closed I’ll be jumping back full force to wrapping this unit up. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Oh I forgot to mention I applied for a permit to repave sections of the driveway that were ripped up in the lead Abaitment and add new pavement. The city denied my permit and instead is saying I’ll lead a variance from the planning board. I should have the paper work in tomorrow and we will see how that process goes. Even though it’s been used in the exact same way it’s been used for decades. 

    in the meantime I guess I’ll take advantage of so good little laborers. 

  • Andrew SyriosPro Member
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    Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    6y

    Wow, that is quite the project! Looks like it's coming along really well

  • Developer · Boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 125 posts · 137 votes
    6y

    We completed a total renovation on a six unit in manchester earlier this year that was totally destroyed in a fire. I get it, that is totally a labor of love but the project is coming nicely and looks amazing. What was the hardest choice you had to make in the construction aspect? 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    @Matthew Perry the hardest part was to abandon the city. You feel you have a contract and you have documentation and you have paid for work. Coming to terms with the fact that a city a government is t going to honor its agreement with you and turn things around and blame the home owners not hold the contractors to the same standards that everyone else is held to and walk away was so disheartening and grotesque. I am not done with them and will work to seek resolution to the $17,000 in work that they walked from. 
    my goal is to have the last unit completed in 60 days. My stretch goal is to bring that down more and get it rented before the holidays. We will see if I can get that done but as of now I’ll be working day and night to get it done!  Then I’ll be onto the 8 unit and shifting gears. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    5y

    Back at it. Now that I’m working full time again in engineering I’m picking up the pace on the last unit!  

    A new emergency egress window has been installed in what was the bathroom which is now a bedroom. 

    The outside siding is matched we will see how close it is when painted. 

    the closet is in unfortunately the electrican droped outlets in the worst place, so we did what we could to make it work. 

    Next up is the bathroom. The floor has been laid so next up is grout to finalize it. I know I should have painted it but I rant out of time.  

    hopefully next week we will see some major progress on drywall. Then I can get to paint and finish floors and doors. 
    Also the kitchen cabinets should show up next week which will be exciting. But I’m not sure I’ll be ready for them 😬. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    5y

    After what feels like months of sitting idol I have finally turned the corner and finished hanging the drywall. 🎉🎊 Cheers to me finally!  Mudding started today which was a huge milestone, the goal is to have it ready for paint by the end of the week. That means doors and trim can start shortly hopefully around the end of this week and flooring and cabinets shortly after. 

    the cabinets have been delayed which is disheartening since they should have arrived a week ago. But I’m not 100% ready do I’m not throwing a fit just yet. Once paint and flooring are in boy will it feel like a lot of pressure has been lifted!

    Hopefully next week I’ll have some major progress as I am now past the 1 year mark on this nightmare. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Manchester, NH · Member since 2019 · 186 posts · 156 votes
    5y

    More progress this week. While I’m back at work earning money to continue investing more progress is happening. 

    siding work has started to attempt to get ready for paint. I closed up a window that was in a bathtub and resized a window that became the kitchen. Siding has been matched and is getting ready for paint. Will be nice to see it painted. 

    Doors are going in and being hung. Drywall is on its final coat and finish electrical has finally begun. 

    Goals for next week are to empty the unit clean up the floors in preparation  for carpet and flooring. New flooring should arrive middle of the week and the goal is upper cabinets and flooring. If all goes well next week will be a big turning point. 

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