Had several more showings this weekend with a very high possibility of an offer coming in- will wait and see the details for a more complete post.  We've had a couple more suggestions- one of them about the interior paint colors.  One person mentioned the colors needed to be different for each room (another person loved the rooms all being neutral).  Paint color is easily addressed though so if the end buyer is seriously opposed to the current color it can be easily changed.

 

We have had a lot of traffic thru this house, more than any other house I have ever listed!  While we have received many compliments on the house and several offers the house is still available.  We had one offer that almost turned into a solid, binding contract but sadly for the buyer the offer was not enough. 

We are offering to pay closing costs with the purchase- all within reason.

We have also replaced the water service to the house to comply with new regulations.  We will probably also be adding more plants to the area immediately infront of the house to make it more lush and garden-y feeling.  Plants make a huge difference and will look even more amazing with those fully grown Dogwoods.

 

It is ready and on the market, listed with Global Brokers.  It has been on the market for about 2-3 weeks and has gotten visits from interested buyers and neighbors.  Feedback has been very positive, focusing primarily on the level of detail and the quality of the finishes.  This home is ready to be lived in and enjoyed, hope to have it under contract and sold soon!

The two projects are about 95% complete and will be available the second week of March 2008.  Both projects turned out exceptionally well.  They will be on the market in a few days and the new owner will soon get to enjoy all the details that went into each house.  Pictures of the completed projects will also be available.

There are two new projects under way.  Both are located in the 30316 zip code.  One is located in Gresham Park on a quiet dead-end street.  The second is on a main avenue in beautiful Ormewood Park.  Both are in-depth renovations with attention to detail, built-ins and functional finishes. 

One house is even going to feature a dog bedroom!  If you have pets you know it's great to have a designated area for your four-legged friend.  Stay tuned for before and after pictures, details and finish dates on both projects.

The house on Tilly Mill is complete- finally.  While renovating this house we decided to remove the old aluminum siding since there wasn't a way to repair the many holes on it.  Parts of the siding were also bent and again there wasn't a way to straighten it out.  The siding was removed and we found wood siding beneath it- the wood siding was mostly in great shape- BUT there were also holes on it that could not easily be filled and painted and made to look good. 

Hardiplank was the best choice for the outside of this house since it keeps the original look and it is also very easy to maintain.  The inside of the house needed mostly cosmetic renovations and a few key details- baths and kitchen.  The top cabinets that were in place were made of  plywood, the bottoms were the usual press board, they were in great shape so we gave them a slight coat of minwax and placed new hardware on them.  Replaced the old appliances with black appliances.

While repairing the stoop, we discovered rotten wood so we decided to remove it altogether and replace it.  Since we were already replacing the stoop, we decided to build in a big front porch.  We also repaired the side deck and re-stained it to protect the wood.  We recycled some of the old carport to make a partial fence to the backyard.

The basement is currently more of a storage/workshop area.  We cleaned it out and painted the walls white to lighten up the space.  We also replaced the exterior basement door and replaced a window that had been boarded up to allow more daylight inside the basement

We planted only a few decorative plants in the front and seeded the front lawn- since there is a water restriction and it is cold outside, we left the future garden project to the new homeowner.


As far as listing the property, we figured we would try the by-owner route and started advertising it on the usual spaces such as craigslist.org and other free sites.  Because we want to keep the houses affordable, there isn't much room for a 6% commission, however, we understand that sometimes Real Estate agents have to be involved.  There is definitely a growing portion of the market doing their own research when purchasing a home- those are the homebuyers we are hoping to reach with our renovated homes!

This time, in addition to postlets.com and vflyer.com - we also found Iggyshouse.com  This site not only lists the house on their website for free, they also list it on MLS for free.  We read varying opinions on their service but have found them to be very easy to use.  The house was listed on their site and added to MLS and was under contract a week and a half later.  Not Bad! 

The house is currently under contract and scheduled to close on November 30th, 2007.  I will post an update once the details on the closing are completed and closing is final!

Here is what the house used to look like:

Thanks for visiting the site and giving some input!  The house was originally listed on craigslist and other advertising websites.  We also placed flyers at local coffeeshops and local boards.  The house generated several phone calls- a mix of curious neighbors, vendors trying to sell a service and a few interested buyers.  The house was on the market for one day, we received an acceptable offer and closed on it on schedule on September 20, 2007!  The next project will be up and running soon.  We'll post more before and during photos to emphasize the upgrades and changes of the project.

Day One for the site. Take a look and let us know what you think!