May

A Little Background First

By ALD

So where do we start? That’s often the question with a rehab. In any case you have to close on the property first. It’s not smart to start work on a property you don’t own. So step one, close on the property, Check.

Actually step one comes before you write the contract and that is, what are we going to do with this property? In other words, what is our exit strategy? In this case the property is a Katrina flooded gutted double. The neighborhood in question is increasing in value for single family homes but is stagnant and maybe even declining for doubles. There’s no rule that says we can’t make a double into a single family home, so that’s what we are going to do.

The next step is obtaining permits. Since this is a Katrina damaged property it has been sitting vacant for almost 10 years now. That means there’s a little more involved in the permit process. There’s a damage assessment, a pre-Katrina appraisal involved, and a quote from the contractor for the repairs. If all works out we get permits. Long story short, we got the permits. If you have questions about the process shoot me a note and I’ll fill you in, it’s a little bit of a process but it’s nothing too terrible.

We’ve already met our contractor at the property, we did that during our due diligence process after getting the property under contract. But now that we have the building permits in hand, and the permit that allows us to convert a double into a single, we want to meet with our contractor, give him a little cash to get him started, and go over the scope of work one more time.

This is going to be a pretty big project. When we are finished this place won’t look anything like it did when we started. Here are a couple of day one photos. Stay tuned, we’ll post more.