I couldn’t be more excited by how our latest renovation project turned out. Last winter we did our first mailer to neighborhoods where we have renovated houses in the past. We got two phone calls as a result. One was from the long-term (and out of state) owner of 1198 Forest Ave. He was getting out of the rental business, and this was his last one in Memphis. We went to see it and immediately knew that we would like to buy it. We loved the location (walking distance to Crosstown Concourse), and we loved the fact that there were five bedrooms. His estimate of how much it would cost to renovate the home was too low, which meant that the price he wanted wasn’t going to work for us. We were able to settle on a price we both thought was fair, and a few weeks later we closed.
Here are some photos from when we purchased the home.
The home had a newer roof and HVAC, though the entire system had been stolen a year or so ago. So we had to install a new system. In addition, we decided to add a second system for the upstairs. We knew that we needed to replace everything in the kitchen (flooring, lights, cabinets, countertops & appliances). We would also be painting the interior and exterior, and refinishing the hardwoods upstairs. The other main issue was that while there were five bedrooms, there was only one full bathroom downstairs plus a half bath upstairs. We would need to figure out how to have at least two full bathrooms.
Our solution was to enlarge the half bath to accommodate a full bathroom. To do this we just made one of the bedrooms a bit smaller. I was very happy with the design decision.
The entire project took about four months. Normally we start looking for tenants once the project is complete, but this time we were able to find someone a month before we were finished. Final touches are today, and our new tenants move in tomorrow!
Here are some photos of the finished product.
