@coralbrook, take a deep breath. You’re in the big leagues now with this house, and if it’s going to cost upwards of $10K to get the permits and the plans together, then that’s what it takes. You’ve got a fantastic property that is going to be absolutely amazing by the time you’re finished, and it’s going to generate lots of interest. Consider it money well spent.
Since we’re on a college board, look at it this way: It’s like paying for tutoring for your HS junior, to get him/her ready to be admitted somewhere awesome so you can pay tuition so he/she can go on and earn good money. It’s a small investment that you need to make before making a larger investment before the payoff comes!!
…Other than the island, with a silly little dropped shelf for eating. I know it is silly because we made that mistake with our house, and called the fabricator back to make a new countertop for the whole island to push it all up to the same level. And…I don’t like the chandelier they hung over the island. Other than that, I’d move in tomorrow.
House in Washington Post is beautiful. I especially love the huge doors that open up the whole wall to the outside and the gorgeous tall windows everywhere letting in so much natural light.
Flip #5 is not exactly located in the hot pocket neighborhood of Granger where the small old homes have sold close to $1,000 / square foot.
If you look at the maps of these homes… The area between Point Loma Ave and Hill Street are considered North Sunset Cliffs (very desireable). But these old homes on Granger do not have sweeping views. Their views to ocean are usually from a living room/bedroom that looks down the street to the view. You have to build up (which immediately ruins neighbor views behind you) to get a bit of view. I’m not understanding the value, but it is obviously extremely desirable.
Once you get past about Leon or Hill Street you get into South Sunset Cliffs - highest value homes in the area. Here’s an example
4435 Algeciras 92107
4/3 2516 sq ft outdated Grandma house
Sold in 11 days $1,360,000 with multiple offers driving way above asking price of $1,195,000
Average lot size of about 7,000 sq ft and views only out corner window in front of house
Regarding Flip #5… it is about 7 blocks north of the Point Loma Ave boundary, but high on the hill which means values are higher than down in Ocean Beach town. However, we have been seeing ridiculous prices paid for homes on Orchard and Santa Cruz which are in the same neighborhood. It’s all about the views or potential for views. Sale prices are just all over the map, it’s really hard to pin an exact number for future sale. This one is a huge huge risk.
This weekend I am making a list of everything we can possibly do a) before the plans are finalized by structural engineer and b) while plans are at City waiting for approval but we know what our structural requirements are (headers/shear walls)
One of the key things we are working on next week is building out the fireplace surround because it is ‘decoration’ and does not need a permit. These links show what style we are going to go with. First photo is most relevant because we are going to keep the ceilings natural wood. The architect that visited project confirmed that they should stay natural for the architecture. Also, we need to get fireplace surround real thin at top to tie into ceiling (I don’t want a box on top and try to box it around the beam). But the 2nd photo highlights that we want to let buyers put a TV up there if they want (it is wired for TV), so we need to have some type of flat area for TV. Buyers can cover the area with a large mirror or painting if they don’t want a television mounted above fireplace
Both of these designs have an arched firebox. But we have a square fire box so I have to decide if I should arch the plaster surround or square the plaster surround. I need to play with a cut piece of drywall or something in order to make the design decision
Reminder of what our fireplace looks like. I will probably paint the brick white to blend in with the new fireplace surround. I’m also going to take down the top row of bricks because they are loose and broken and I want the mantle to go down a little lower. Don’t really want to tile the brick because I think it will look cheezy and it will be very difficult to find an ‘edge’ to the tile
Yes, and our fireplace is centered on the room so I want to make sure it makes a really nice statement, going tall to the high ceilings, without being too distracting. The living room will appear much larger than it does now because we are opening up the walls between dining and living and foyer - hopefully it will appear larger and more grand
During my meeting with structural engineer yesterday he started mumbling that we need a shear wall somewhere to replace the dining room wall that is coming out. So, we are going to have to add a 4 ft shear wall. After analyzing, I have decided to add the 4 ft shear wall on the eastern side of entrance to living room. First, it doesn’t block the view as you enter the house and Second, it kind of gives a little ‘enclosure’ to the foyer entry area.
I have decided to keep the original red clay tile in the entry area because it is true to the period, defines the entry area and matches the fireplace floor hearth. This is going to cause a little bit of ‘tie in’ issue when all the walls are down. Need to tie it into the pegged hardwood floors. There’s going to be a lot of wood floor patching required in the areas where the walls are coming down.
It is a total mystery who ‘owns’ that area. I believe that it is considered easement area because usually a home has a sidewalk in front of it and then a planting strip to the curb. Unfortunately, I don’t have rights to that easement area… it is in front of the neighbor’s house. They put up the new wood fence, but are not planning to paint it - they want the ‘natural’ wood look… I think it is glaring ugly but I cannot do anything about it. I’m just grateful they put up the 6 ft fence to block view through their yard right into my house.
I’m pretty sure it was prior owners of my house, at some point in time, who put in the concrete pathway to their front entry. Because the pathway continues all the way to the front door. But the same railroad ties are on the other side of the dead end street also so I’m guessing it was a little community project or something. Since they are surrounding the whole dead end street area I need to leave them alone. Buyers will just assume it’s something the City put in and I can’t help it.
We are going to dig out the landing area in front of the gate and put in large flat stones that we have found throughout the yard to define the entry area better.
I think that will sell fast because of the architectural value. The futon thing in living area is really pretty weird. Owned by the guy who owns Maitre du Temps - million dollar watches.
We are six weeks into the project and probably another 7 weeks before we can start foundation and raising walls for the major addition. I have decided to slow down a bit. We will work with the core crew (2 guys)and I have a list a mile long of things we can do while waiting for permits… mostly landscaping kind of stuff. Then I will give the crew a week off before we start working 6 days a week.
In the last couple of weeks we have accomplished the following:
New 200amp electric panel installed and wired
More rewiring inside the house
New exterior lighting
New front gate, wall and pillars with white stucco
Scrubbed and cleaned out fireplace and primed brick to get ready for new surround
Demoed out back closet and re framed
Closed up a hallway linen closet and rebuilt drawers to go into alcove (uggh… 2 days of carpentry just because I wanted to ‘save’ the old drawers)
Moved toilet enclosure and plumbing to new location (that’s an Ooops on my part and it took 2 days x 2 guys)
Moved furnace into attic and set new ducting
Demoed out hallway and built in new attic access and intake register in hallway
Tore off a lot of plaster in more areas
Shotcrete on slope
Tore apart the wood deck
Shear wall in dining room
We have huge piles of debris in the back yard right now in 3 piles; general trash/plaster, wood for recycling and greenery for recycling
SPENT TO DATE: $40,000
ESTIMATE TO COMPLETE: $205,000
I may be way off on my building costs but I can only go with costs from previous projects and a gut check with a couple of contractors. Have never built a 2nd story before. Luckily, the engineer said that the foundation work will not be as bad as I thought it would be and I have my concrete guys lined up to do the work. I also have two extremely experienced framers that are going to start on May 1st for 6 weeks. Years of experience, know all the building codes and I am going to get them for $30/hour!!! Things are lining up
Our closest comparable just closed escrow. This is the beautiful home on 3 levels with garage under house and unobstructed ocean views. Same size as we will be… 4 bedrooms / 4.5 baths 2683 sq ft. Lot is smaller at 8700 sq ft. Advantages are that kitchen has sweeping view and there is a roof top deck (I’m still thinking about this). But, note the master bath in the pictures… very tight and toilet is open. But there is a view window in shower and big window above tub.
Multiple offers, in contract within 4 days and sold above asking price at $1,681,000!!
