The WI-1 House: Before Pics
Here are some BEFORE pictures of The WI-1 House:
Front of House
Dining Room (from Living Room)
Kitchen
Family Room (from Kitchen)
Family Room
Downstairs Half-Bath
Master Bedroom
Master Bathroom
Secondary Bedroom
Secondary Bedroom
Guest Bathroom
Basement
More Basement
Back of House
Back Yard
this is just like the houses in michigan. very curious how it will go and how much it will cost you. just be looking at some pictures, i can tell what kind of problems you will have. and contractors….they will be more expensive than what you are used to. i can’t wait until you get into the project to hear the rest of the details.
good luck!!!
It shows horrible, but it looks like a relatively easy one.
That ceiling tile in the kitchen is horrible and every surface needs updating. Just the way we like ’em.
I think you should rename it Mirror House 2.0. That oval mirror would make a nice Milwaukee souvenir for C, and this time it’s all yours! Or do you and Marty own everything 50/50? Those dropped ceilings are usually hiding issues. What did you see up there? Great house. Can’t wait to see what you guys do.
George – I’m already experiencing the higher contractor prices! I’ve had to say “no thank you” to a couple contractors already who I really would have liked to work with…
Mark –
This is going to be the biggest project we’ve ever done. Between the foundation work, finishing the basement, doing some major exterior work and then touching every interior surface, there’s a lot of work to do! Hopefully we can find some reasonable prices from contractors…
Hey Kristine –
Marty is entitled to 50% of the mirrors… π
The mirrored tile in the first floor half-bath is awesome too! As for the drop ceiling, they apparently put it in so they could put recessed florescent lights in the kitchen. It appears there is sheetrock and a lot of loose wiring up there…not too terrible, but the electrician is trying to charge us a fortune to rewire the house!
J: I think you’re in for more than the higher quotes. Scheduling methods/habits and follow through for contrators are so different in some places. It’s why you’ve heard people say their rehabs take 4-6 months and you can’t figure out why. Hopefully you won’t be figuring it on this one. In some areas contractors, and subs are taken at their word and suffer no consequences (except client grumbling) when they schedule you two weeks out and then don’t show and want to reschedule. Hopefully your local guys can guide you right on this one.
Not saying you’ll have any on this one, but it’s cool that you post even your negative experiences. That’s the way we all learn.
The house we’re doing now was reroofed after Hurricane Ivan by someone who didn’t know what they were doing and every vent stack leaks. So, we have unforeseen termite damage around three of them. It’s minor, but things happen. I let my guard down because the house appeared so well maintained.
Hey Kristine –
Schedule is definitely the least of our concerns on this one. I’ve accepted the fact that this project may take quite a while, and hopefully our guy-on-the-ground up there will be able to wrangle the contractors well enough that things go better than my expectations. But, I certainly agree that there will be LOTS of challenges… π
Hey Mark,
I always post my bad stuff (that’s the most important stuff, in my opinion), and I already have a lot of learning experiences on this one (I was in Milwaukee all week). I’ll post more in a couple days, and much of it will be the “bad stuff”… π
J Scott ,, with me being local
If I can help you out anyway ,, just send email or 414 795 3229
Weather becomes issue here around September
Hopefully I can learn a lot from you also
Ramon
JMWPS Ventures , LLC
Thanks Ramon!
If you want to recommend any inexpensive, high-quality contractors, I’m all ears! π
I may get in touch with you next time I’m in town…
Sounds good ( lunch / dinner – I’m gain )
If youβre looking for more property deals or need someone local
to check or handle anything, please let me know
Right now I know foundation repairs #1 priority for you guys
Contractors here
1st (try avoid let them know youβre from out of town )
2nd current economy here – if you asked immediately after written bid
if he/she could provide a better price – 98% of time at least $80 savings –
If you every offer mentoring training – I’m definite would have interest –
Like everyone else – I’m tired of all these gurus –
Your website show true investor investing
We all most start from somewhere
I’m on email probably 8 hours a day ( at least )
take care
Except for the basement, this house looks ALOT like houses we see down here in TX that haven’t been updated since the 70s. Lots of paneling and drop ceilings. I’ll be following every detail, as usual π
Please tell me you are keeping the brick backsplash in the kitchen…ja, ja π
I know delegation is a strong suit of yours but wouldn’t it be easier to hire a GC or construction company or a local project manager? I am sure you thought about this already but unless their prices are out of whack I would think that holding one guy accountable for the whole thing might be worth it.
I know first hand other rehabbers that have tried the long distance rehab once and only once because of the obvious logistical complications. I am rooting for you on this one, I am still ways away before I give a long distance project a try.
I’m curious, did you put together a new LLC for this or were you able to use the same one you use in Georgia?
Hey Luis,
I have a project manager up in Milwaukee who will be overseeing the project for us. He has a couple rehabs under his belt, so he knows what he’s doing, but I still want to be the one to interview contractors and put together the team the first time around, just so that I know who we’ll be dealing with and ensure that the prices are aligned with my budget. Once we get our contractor team assembled, our PM will be handling all the day-to-day stuff.
As for business entity, I’m partnering with another investor from Arizona on all the Milwaukee deals, and we have a separate entity designated for this — and other — properties.
And that faux brick will be the FIRST thing to go… π
As others have already said; I can relate to this one. It looks like 98% of what I look at here in little Rock. But, that is where the $$$ are. You and Marty are braver than me venturing out of state like that. Best of luck.
Don
Maybe you can use the kitchen brick to build an addition? Or just use them for foundation repair… π
When I looked at the first few pictures, I swear I was thinking it was a finished basement, with no other possibility coming into my mind. Thank God you put descriptions under to put us int he right place…
The family room could be turned into a giant pizza oven. Pizza ovens sell houses. Just throwing out some thoughts π
Hey Uwe,
I thought I asked you not to divulge our design decisions…now everyone is going to start putting a pizza oven in their family room and we will lose our competitive advantage… π
When I viewed the pictures of this rehab it reminded me of the the older Texas homes. They are all over the place. I am surprised one of the suggestions was to get rid of it. That would be half of Texas! :-$
Anyway, I stumbled across this site looking around for properties to flip. I like the fact that progress is posted.