Turning an ugly duckling into a swan

The end of the month is a good one when it means closings, negotiations and more business.

I sold (closed actually) a great investor property today. A  builder is going to take the ugly little 1970’s house that is surrounded by charming old bungalows and make it charming too.  He plans to gut it, build a second story and change the front to give it the bungalow style.

This house sold for $225,000 (it was listed for $257,900).  The surrounding  homes sell in the $260’s and higher.  This home would have sold for much more but it had a few things working against it;

1. The facade of the home was not popular.
2. It was tenant occupied and the tenant was a pack-rat.  The home showed poorly.
3. The home was owned by an estate. They just wanted to “not lose money”.

Funny by not getting rid of the tenant they ended up losing value.  True, they kept the rent income, but lost potential value because of the condition of the interior.

So Mr. Builder comes along, sees potential, does his numbers and makes an offer.  He got the house.

Let’s watch over the next few months and see how he takes this ugly duckling and turns in into a swan.

Related posts:

1. Turning a WAG into a SWAG
2. Tenants find themselves Homeless…
3. Homes for Sale in Denver Face Scams from Craigslist…Still.
4. The Value of Curb Appeal
5. Denver Investment Strategies Workshop