Here's an idea, add art

Maybe it’s the area or just my own desires but I decided to hire a muralist to paint on one side of my storage garage. When facing the front of the house, there’s a huge cement block wall with no character whatsoever. I had been visiting Detroit often up to this point and wanted to include something in my own renovation that fit with Detroit’s own renovation. Detroit is all about being a little different and artsy. So why not Ypsilanti?

I went on Craigslist and finally committed to an artist with some experience. My questions for interviewing him was as follows:

Do you have a portfolio of recent work?

What is the largest project you have taken on independently and how long?

What do you need from me, supplies, storage, cash advance?

How many hours will the project take and how will you manage your time?

After being satisfied with the answers, we parted ways and he did something that surprised me and made me feel like I picked the right person for the job. I gave the artist a general direction and later that night he sent me a sketch of the piece, a list of supplies, and costs. I could tell he put some thought into this and was motivated to get started.

We waited for the weather to clear up before starting this project. The day of, we went to the store to get supplies. Total cost less than $200. This was shortly after noon and I did not expect him to start working, but he did. The guy worked for a little over a full day and was able to cover the entire wall with color. He was not only confident in the project but required no help from me, sweet!

I ended up paying the artist $1000 when finished. I was ok with spending this seeing as though I was paying for something unique. The wall really makes the property stand out in a positive way. Since finishing the piece, I’ve had countless people knocking on my tenant’s doors and asking if there was a unit available. All of this because of a little clean up. It’s amazing how a clean property that looks like someone cares about it will make an impression.

I don’t care if the house value diminishes. The way I see it, the property is likely better than most places in the immediate area. The point of this experiment was to clean up that wall and offer something unique that would make people look.