Diary of a Rehab, a mini series.

I have been working with investors more lately. Which, has been good and at times very challenging. I hadn't been doing much work with rehabbers at all until I started helping my broker, Christopher Thiemet find good deals. I almost looked at rehabbing as the antithesis of what my business model was. I specialize in historic and vintage in Saint Louis City and surrounding areas, not vanilla flips.


A poorly done rehab can ruin a perfectly good home. I can't tell you how many times I would walk into an architecturally awesome house in Tower Grove South (and other neighborhoods) and be saddened by the fact that an investor had laid beige carpet everywhere, painted the walls a slightly different beige and installed a cheap ready made kitchen. I understand that spending the least amount of money to maximize your profit is the name of the rehab game, but did it have to be so poorly done? I had watched my broker do some awesome rehabs. He would modernize the house while keeping original features. Buyers in turn would get the best of both worlds.

Could I find a rehabbing client that would work with me on preservation?. After all, saving some historic features while modernizing isn't always the most economical route to go. I truly believed if you spent a little more on the kitchen, bath and nice little touches you could generate a great product that was in demand.

My thoughts were...

1. Find a good rehab project in a neighborhood that was anchored by local businesses and other walkable attractions. Sure, you are going to pay a little bit more for this project due to location, but selling the property would be much easier on the "flip" side.

2. Help out the surrounding neighbors by buying up a potential "problem property" that was affecting the values of the homes around it.

3. Spend a little more on higher quality finishes and work.

4. Modernize while keeping as much historical finishes as possible.

Well, guess what? I stumbled into a client that would work with me on these things. So, I figured I would share with you all a lot about the process as we go along. I am having a blast working on these projects. It never ceases to amaze me what we uncover good and bad on a daily basis. Keep posted. All rehabbing posts will start with, "Diary of a Rehab".

Loved so much, it was never lived in.

Circa has a new and interesting listing:

http://www.2204stephen.com/index.shtml

Almost everything in the house is original from 1955. Loving the house, and wanting to preserve it for the future the family resided in the unfinished lower level. Kitchy and cute, it takes a special eye to see value in a house like that with the "Update and Beige" culture that is now dominating real estate. While HGTV is helpful for keeping up with trends it tends to de-value vintage. If you were an agent and got called to this house would you suggest removing the furniture and putting in new kitchens and bathrooms? If you answered, "yes" you are in the majority. However, with as well put together and immaculate this home is, it turns out that virtually nothing was needed to be done to generate tons of buzz on this house. Kudos to the listing agent Christopher Thiemet for having an eye for style.

I am thrilled to work with a small group of people that thinks outside the box. We are encouraged to see the potential in the quirky and unusual. I am not ashamed to say, "I value vintage". Don't get me wrong I love a great gut rehab...but I also feel like preservation is important to our future.