Creating Luxury for less

One of my favorite ways to push up a property's value is by increasing the property's perceived value. 

There are many ways this can be done, including the usual paint and carpet, nice appliances, and flooring.

But there are other ways that many overlook, due to their high perceived cost, including using natural stone for flooring and bath surrounds, replacing perfectly good cabinets, and even really nice shower fixtures (the women go crazy for this).

We had one flip that was a perfect candidate for significantly improving perceived value.  At approximately 2,300 square feet, with a half acre lot, it was a step or two above a starter home.

The property looked a bit worn,  had a lot of issues such as a door that opened to a missing balcony (dangerous), and large missing pieces of drywall that scared away a lot of buyers.  This gave us a great value when we acquired the property.

There were quite a few of these holes in the drywall,

Those holes are typically cut to investigate leaks.

Sliding door to missing balcony.

Missing Flooring

Ugly Master Bath

Master Shower.

The sliding door to missing balcony, from the outside.

On this property, we installed:
New cabinets
Granite slab countertops
Travertine flooring and bath surrounds in the master
Stainless steel appliances
A ceiling mounted hood

We also removed the door leading to the missing balcony, and installed a window instead.

We originally considered building a balcony, but we didn't think we would be able to recoup the cost of it.

After rehab:

New Kitchen

Master bedroom with window instead of door.

Master Bath

New Master Shower.  We got the shower unit

for about $100.  People go crazy for these showers.

This property was one of the nicest properties in the area after we were done with it.  With that in mind, we listed it relatively high when compared to comparable properties.

We got a buyer for it relatively quickly from the MLS, but they backed out at the end.  We fought had to keep their $3,000 EMD for our troubles.

In the end, we sold it with a $41K profit, however, this property took approximately 6 months from acquisition to disposition, so it wasn't exactly stellar from a TVM perspective.

Acquisition Date: July 2011

Disposition Date: Feb 2012

Acquisition Source: Foreclosure Auction (Williamsauction.com)

Expenses

Acquisition: $136,440

Rehab: $32,000

Utilities and Insurance: $1,904.83

Sale Price:

$222,000

Closing Costs and Commission: $12,628

Retained EMD: $3,000

Net Profit $41,064