Fixer Fixer Real Estate

FixerFixer.com was my first blog site. It was Blogger based, and tough to learn. What I was talking about was how a home owner can do work on their own property, with help. You don’t need an expensive contractor adding ridiculous mark ups on casual labor, or materials.

Well, a HVAC mechanic in Boston took exception to what I was writing. At first he made highly technical comments about what the home owner needed to know about zone heating, or cooling, and home heating, or cooling audits. His suggestion is that a home owner needed his expertise.

I pointed out that a home owner can get, and pay for a home energy audit for between $300 to $800, and work from that. That just put him over the edge. From that point forward anything I wrote got a comment from this guy. Multiple comments, and then spam started coming in. I couldn’t keep up so I had to close the site.

Geez, that was in 2003, I think, it may have been a little sooner.

The next incarnation of FixerFixer was in 2005 on another platform that was expensive, and went nowhere, until I found WordPress. The site has been up a couple of times, and taken down, because of the learning challenges that I have.

Now most of the content is here, in one place with today being the last upload.

Take a look, share some stories, and I’ll spend a little more time with this site.

We are coming into a time of year for paint projects. There are some things to do, and keep in mind about getting surfaces cleaned, and ready for paint. What this post is about is a common problem with using latex paints over some surfaces that have caustic chemicals below the surface. In this case it is a tannin acid from old growth cedar that was painted over with latex paint. The staining shows through the surface, and we will prime it with a stain blocker before we paint.

This is what it looks like:

We were in another house today cleaning up after a five year old remodeling project. The owner added a bath room to the two bedrooms that were upstairs. They had also added a tile floor in the kitchen on the main level that butted up to a hump in the living room floor.

It was an artful transition, but unmistakably the floor on the main level was uneven.

If it were me I would have gone to the basement, and leveled the floor before I went up stairs. The way it is now the “farm house” feel is fine, but there is nothing of substance in the work that was done.

The argument is that the walls will crack, and make a bigger project out of something that is simple. Well it will need to be done some time, and honestly the times I have leveled a floor the house seems happier. There has been a lot more damage done by a house shifting under the weight of a remodel than by the correcting the structural issues first.

People get scared about messing with the structure of the house. They think nothing about adding two tons of bathroom to the second floor, but the structure seems out of their expertise. I probably would have looked more closely at how the bathroom was supported, but that wasn’t what we were there for.

We bid a property yesterday to prepare for sale. It was kind of cool in that there was a labyrinth of outdoor covered areas, with skylights. The effect was pleasant, but the feeling was odd, the place would never sell to a family. The problem is that all of the outer extensions are tied into the roof line.

From what I could tell the main house was still intact. If we remove all of the additions it would be a normal house, and may have more appeal.

The other thing that I noticed is that the skylights, some, or many, of them, were all leaking. The main roof, and house itself was in good shape. I think we could Sawzall off the additions, repair the roof, and have a normal house. The house has a view, and a deck that wraps around, that has partially been enclosed. So I think we can have a desirable home by removing these obvious home projects.

It has happened before when some one has a great idea with poor execution. In this particular case it is all about demolition to make the improvements that will add a return.

No!

My reasoning is that there is always risk, but right now the risk is great. There is a lot of talk about a lack of inventory, good inventory, so it seems like the perfect storm, with buyers ready, willing, and able to pay. What I have heard though is that those price reductions come fast if the property doesn’t sell right out of the gate. Another interesting thing about todays transparency in Real Estate is your buyer sees what you paid, can figure the cost of what you did, and offer accordingly.

A lot of Real Estate agents are on the flipper band wagon. They will tell you that if you buy this property you can turn around and sell it. Well, it’s not their money on the line.

Now let me back peddle a little bit, because there are hard evidence examples out there that I call the idiot factor. I may have a post about that. There are people who bought well, or had property, who sold for what I consider top dollar. Some buyers are so frustrated that they just have to buy, right now, and you may be lucky enough to find that person. That’s a risk you have to figure.

A lot of people never do anything with the house because it is time consuming. I learned that I could hire three people and get something done quick. Here in Seattle I use Casa Latina, which is a day labor organization. They take information about the workers, can get you day labor, which is where the taxes are paid, or you can have casual labor where you pay cash.

I usually pay cash because, like I said, I only have labor for the day, maybe two. Here’s what is the most cost effective: be prepared.

By far I do the yard the most. This year I’ll paint the house. I do my own pressure washing. Never give any one a machine unless you know, they know how to use it. For the preparation of the house I’ll get three sets of scrappers, and let them at the house. I’ll get some 36 grit sand paper, and let them sand. I’ll rent two ladders rather than one. 

I’ll have them dust the house before we oil base prime. I have to use oil base primer because of some of the finish on the house, but they make some great latex primers now.

At this point I can take paint bids. The painter won’t like it. OK maybe I won’t prime the house, just get it scraped, really well. What’s the painter going to say? You tell him you started, but can’t finish the job.

Maybe you could get the whole place masked, and ready for paint. Then what? What’s the cost to spray a couple of coats of paint?

Contracting the labor may save you a few bucks. I’ll talk about this more when we demo a kitchen or bath before taking bids.

There’s is a lot of nuances to buying a fixer. You need to buy good bones, that’s what all the people say. That means structure. In many cases it means architecture. Even more often it means buying a property that has been left in original condition.

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that when we look at a property we figure it needs to be gutted. We’ve done a lot of repairs, but drywall is cheap. Finish carpentry is expensive so you have to consider that in the pricing.

When looking to buy a fixer, you start with the asking price, and begin deducting. You never listen to what’s been done unless it’s systems. Updated electric panel is a plus, but look at it, make sure it’s big enough to expand. Updated plumbing is a plus, new water service is a plus, new furnace, great, a new roof even better.

You deduct for paint, really, really deduct for refinished floors, deduct for new fixtures, and maybe appliances, depending what they are worth on Craiglist. Deduct for carpeting. You need to really deduct for carpeting because chances are they won’t let you lift it up to see what’s underneath.

Then start looking at what you can salvage, and what’s in your way. You can’t deduct for the full cost of remodeling, but you can add, and subtract for what you want to do.

In simple language, pencil out all of your costs before hand. Look at the numbers, and see where you are at in terms of market value, then base your offer on that. Be open to negotiation. Make your offer low enough that it’s good for you, but be realistic in terms of getting the property.

I’ve put up yet another www.FixerFixer.com site.

This site has almost two hundred articles, and has been reinvented about six times. FixerFixer was my first blog.

I love working on properties. I have a ton of absolutely useless knowledge from working on properties for forty years. My business partner and I did all kinds of crazy stuff with property in the 1970s. It was like a kid, I was a kid, in a candy store. Property was cheap and people with money spent it on houses.

A guy paid me for two months to strip a hand rail in his house. The hand rail was all turned mahogany. When it was done it was spectacular. There was no way to recreate it. There were huge beams of mahogany in the living room ceiling which is how he knew about the banister.

I guess I did some plaster work, and painted a room or two along the way, but my point is those were the days.

FixerFixer is a national site, it started as a national site. I wanted it to be more local so I interjected Seattle into the title. Well, now we are recreating it.

This site will remain the same, but new posts will go to FixerFixer.

The internet is a learning curve. When I first put up the fixerfixer.com blog it was a new world to me. Now my typing skills have improved so it’s easier to get thoughts on paper.

First and foremost I was a contractor for many years. We now have a contract cleaning business where we establish cleaning companies, and refer them work.

Over the forty years that I have been in business there are some things that are easier done than they appear. Collecting bids to do home repair is one of those things that can be extremely easy. It gets complicated by the shear number of people who are desperate for your business.

You can talk with a National Company, and pay too much, or the local guy who has his own problems. It’s hard to sort out what will work best.

I have my own ideas, and do most of my own work. That means a lot of deferred projects, and a wife who is constantly unhappy with the condition of our home.

So we’re going to puzzle this out together. You can tell me what you think are important elements in getting a house project done. I’ll just keep adding content.

FixerFixer dot com was my first blog site. It’s about fixing houses, rather than flipping them.

You need help, and the deck is stacked against you. That’s what I found. Every time I turned around some guy was standing there with his hand out wanting $2000 to do anything.

When I tore apart my first house it was in my thirties. Everything went wrong, except the wiring. That turned out good, OK the place turned out fine, it’s just that I wish I knew more about what I was doing while I was doing it.

There are several projects that my partner of twelve years, and I had done at other people’s direction. It’s different when it’s your own, and much different as you get older. There are things you can do with a property you own. Many of those things are much easier than people will let you think.

You can pull wire, you can run a drain line for sewer. You can do a lot of things before you start taking bids to take the mystery out of the bidding process. It’s sticks, nails, and concrete. The more you save, from things you can do, the more you can pay a professional to get it done correctly.

Now, I know that sounds strange, but I learned as a teen ager that paying a carpenter to sweep floors isn’t a good use of your money. It’s the same for demolition, yard work, or ripping up carpet to see what’s underneath.

You need common sense, a workable plan, and admit that you need help.