Work in Progress The Ugly House
As you saw from the original pictures, "The Ugly House” certainly earned its name by not looking like much of a house, let alone like something someone would want to rent for $775 a month, even if it was in a nice area of town surrounded by attractive homes.
The Front of the House:
The first thing you should notice is that we painted the outside a neutral two-tone of light brown and white. Additionally the white room that was on the right side of the house has been removed and replaced with a patio area. We decided to fence it in as a value add feature to future tenants or owners. The house now has a secure play area for little kids, and a large front yard if they chose to use it. Lastly the boards are off the windows.
The Patio (Ex-White Room):
The white room ihas been replaced with a side patio that is fenced on both sides with access gates. The carport is on the left side of this picture and will allow easy access for moving items like groceries to and from the car. The right side of the picture leads to the large front yard. We decided to add a window to increase natural light in the house and to provide easy visibility to the patio area for parents to watch their kids if they choose to let them play there.
Carport, Fence and Rear Garage:
Every project has its own challenges and wrinkles that add costs and extend timelines, and the Ugly House is no exception. The good news is that we added a brand new fence the entire length of the property. In the original pictures the fence was falling over. Also the carport that was built poorly and looked like it would fall over with a strong wind is gone.
Now, for the bad news: we originally planned to convert the rear structure into a garage by cutting in access and adding two swinging doors. Unfortunately, this was not an option after the city got inside the rear unit and started marking off all the issues that would need to be addressed to bring the unit up to code. We decided to just scrap the storage area and build a secure carport. The city is working with us and even provided plans for the structure (see initial frame in this picture). I am very pleased that the city is working with us, but the days seem to tick by so fast as we schedule signoff’s almost every day and we can’t move on to the next step until they see and check each item. I understand why this is necessary and I am glad they do it, but as an owner, the delay does cost me a couple of weeks of rent.
The Neighborhood:
We should only be another week away from rectifying all the city issues, and the house already looks a lot better than it did several weeks ago, which I hope you agree with. I am convinced that someday in the future, we will stucco the house to better match the neighborhood. New paint is nice and all, but it doesn’t match the area. However, our plan is still to finish the city issues first, get sign off, and then move on to the other items like painting the inside, replacing broken windows, etc.
I expect to have this project completed and the property rented inside of two weeks. We actually have three applications already and we haven’t even allowed anyone inside yet.
