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Reverse Rehabbing !?!?

We previewed a wholesale property a while ago that we found very interesting. Its a 1950′s two story colonial. Overall in pretty fair condition, but another example of a rehab gone bad. The rehaber was trying to bring in today’s more popular open concept design to the first floor living area. First impression – unique and very interesting! But there were a few things that raised our eyebrows.

Opening up a load bearing wall was the key to creating a new open space. But, guess what? – not an ounce of understanding that if the 2nd floor would no longer be supported by the wall, it would have to be supported by something!

Here’s what’s cool! We found out that, at least in this case, if you take out the load bearing wall of a house, it does not necessarily mean eminent collapse! :) We always wondered about that! In fact, this place was looking pretty good – just a few small crack in the drywall!

We always thought that if you cut out a load bearing wall you’d better run for your life! So we did learn something here – sometimes the house comes down immediately – sometimes it needs a year or two!

Then we looked in the basement and realized that to create the open concept, the rehaber decided that the 1st floor half bath was in the way too! So that ended up in the dumpster along with the wall! We know that in this neighborhood a 1-1/2 bath home sell for $13K – $14K more than a one bath home. Oops!

This rehaber was pretty fortunate, all things considered. The second floor is still up there and the problem can be fixed. We’re pretty sure the 1/2 bath needs to go back in too, but – well, at least it will be new! :)

We love to work with rehabers.

We’d like to see you add value – not subtract it!

We can be your resource, your partner or both. We’re pretty sure the point of rehabing is to add value and profit from it. Call us if you agree!

Have a question about a wall – not sure if it’s load bearing or not?  We can help; just give us a call.

- written by Glenn Gohlke

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Help You Become a Successful Rehabber

Copyright © 2008 Gohlke & Associates, LLC – All rights reserved

A Story About a Very Sick House

We visited a very sick house a while back. It was a house that at the time was dying because its reluctant owner, a bank, wasn’t paying any attention to its immediate medical needs! We think “medical needs” is the right phrase. This house WAS SICK – having become a health hazard in just 5 or 6 weeks of complete neglect. The “disease” (mold), if left unchecked much, longer would have left only one fiable fix for this once loved home – a bulldozer!

This was a solid house when the bank took it back. But with that year’s heavy rains and commensurate basement moisture issues, residual dampness in this basement was creating a mega problem. A $150 dehumidifier and some much needed ventilation was all that it would have taken to keep this cancer from getting a foothold.

We list foreclosures and help buyers find them. We get inside an awful lot of these properties and sometimes “awful” is exactly the right word – our tour of this home was testament to that. We’ll spare you more about the sites and smells when we got to the bottom of the basement stairs – let’s just say the idea of inhaling while we where in the basement was not very appealing and we didn’t feel much like eating for awhile!

We know that many banks are overloaded with foreclosures and are struggling to keep up. But mold doesn’t wait for protocol or paperwork. Bad financial situations can become financial disasters in only a few short months without at least some minimal property management. We’ve seen too many vacant foreclosures that sell only after a long time and only after large price cuts. Its a shame.

Copyright © 2011 Gohlke & Associates, LLC – All rights reserved

We can prevent problems like this & keep values from melting away like ice cream on a hot summer day. If you are a bank, mortgage company or distressed property owner, give us a call. We can help!

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