All Forum Posts by: Dzmitry Zakharau

Hello John, Go Dawgs! Good luck in your endeavors. Since you're familiar with Athens, are you not interested in acquiring anything here?

@Marian SmithI like the way you think, if all goes well, timing should allow for plenty of color.

@Jack TuckerWhat makes you think they'd want the headache? I'm sure they'd rather move on to the next 3 as well. Besides, learning by doing is by far better than learning by watching. And, BP allows me to have wonderful unbiased advice from folks around the country that might produce something even the master haven't considered, you know? Speaking of the next 3, what you got?

Thank you, Jim Adrian and Jeff Berg for suggestions. I'll look into getting this puppy dressed up and continue working on the front porch. Jean Bolger it would be nice, but I can't touch the front door way because there's a structural beam in the middle of it above and all solid concrete around and on sides supporting it. I'm afraid it might compromise integrity of structure.

Thanks a lot for all the advice! @Jim Adriancontractor thought that the porch is oversized for the size of the house as well, so we essentially came up with the design below. Just like you, I would  like to see block covered up if possible. But my choices are as follows:

1) Siding. It would have been my preferred choice, but to go this route I have to do cornice since it will bring the walls out and there is no eave at all right now. There is also a possibility of block cracking (house was built in 1947) and us having to revert to alternate choices after all. So, the expenses would look like this: 2.5K cornice + 10k siding + Extra boxing on windows + potential for re-roof.

2) Stucco. It would still dramatically change the look, and would only cost 8.1k with no significant extras and no cornice. However, there are still quite a few folks that run away from stucco and it's not all that common in GA. My wife does not like the idea at all, I don't mind it, so I figured I'd reach out here and gather more feedback samples. 

3) Repairing the block, sandblasting, and painting it. This would only be around 3k for repair+sandblast. Obviously, painting would have to be done no matter what route I choose.

I do like the addition of the brick to the bottom, I pondered that from the start, and if I go with option 3 there will be plenty of room to have it done. 

Sarah Masteller Apologies, I misspoke. The contractor thinks new shingles we put on the cornice would most likely look different than existing ones even if matched requiring re-roof at the end of the day to make it look uniform. The block is in pretty decent shape but would require sandblasting before painting to get peeling paint off and new paint to adhere properly.

Flip. Every house in the neighborhood is different, not one has the exact same features. There is hardy, vinyl, and even one Spanish style stucco house. Majority are dated 30-50 years, however. There are a couple of high end new construction with ARV higher than I'm shooting for. I'm looking for something middle of the road. I'm doing complete rehab inside, so figured outside needs to match and be fully revamped as well. The block walls have several areas of solid concrete that I think would look odd if left as is. Not going the siding route would save a significant chunk, of course. Let me know if I can provide more detail.

So I'm about to start rehabbing this house, and in my opinion adding a cornice all around would make the house not look as boxy and add character for little money. Maybe even add siding. My contractor is trying to talk me out of it, saying that I might find myself having to re-shingle the 2-year old roof because it would be hard to match siding exactly. He suggests oversized gutters instead, paint the block, and forget about siding. What are your thoughts on this?

Welcome to BP, Brian!

This is hands down the best real estate investing website on the net, so if learning is what you seek, plenty you will find here.

Cheers!

The market in Athens is hot and prices are rising quickly. Atlanta market was in the top 10 markets in the country last year based on the recently released BP index. I need to know your comfort zone price wise to recommend areas to focus on. We also have Athens REI meeting every last Monday of the month. PM me for more info if interested. We'll be glad to welcome you to Athens and see you at the next possible meeting.