I’m interested in the property and I think I can be the right buyer for them with terms that will help the family move on. They have to sell it to get the equity out and pay off the reverse mortgage.
We need to name this property. Shall we call it the Reverse Mortgage property?
What can you tell us about the house, cb? How big? Any views, or potential views?
The reason I said ‘not sexy’ is because i t is in area with no views. Neighborhood is still desireable in the larger scheme of things. The house just will not bring a strong future sale price so I have to be careful not to overdo it.
3 bd / 1 bath, about 1100 sq ft basic square box with original kitchen and baths. At some time the original one car garage got converted into a den with fireplace and a new 2 car garage was added in the back on the alley. But the alley is not paved, even though some neighbors have their garages in the back on the alley. I need to investigate how easy it is to access from the alley. I am planning on adding 450 sq ft master suite addition to the back of the house. Why only 450 sq ft??? Because the minute you go over 500 sq ft you have to start paying huge school fees and recycle bonds and permit costs. Best to stay under the radar below 500 sq ft.
I’m waiting for my agent to help me try to do some comparable sales analysis before I can figure out how much I can offer for the property. It’s listed $699k to $750k range. It’s hard to comp because values are running between $850k and $1.2mil depending on exact location and views. This one is at the lower end of the range because no views and not west of Catalina Blvd, although it does have the same desireable elementary school. I’m just not sure if spiffing it up and adding 450 sq ft will bring enough future sale value.
We will call it Reverse Mortgage house
Update on Reverse Mortgage house
Listing agent tells me that she has verbal offers above the $750k top range. I’m going to call her tomorrow and see if any offers arrived in writing
I can squeeze it if I am careful with costs (which I don’t have a good history sticking to a tight budget). If I use the current house I just did as an example I know I can do it for $60k but that doesn’t include deck and landscape or the new master suite addition.
Good luck, @coralbrook! Sounds like the Reverse Mortgage house might not be too much work, compared to your most recent gorgeous #6, plus shlepping all the stuff around with folks living in the premises you’re renovating.
Just to entertain you folks wile we are in a holding pattern waiting for #7 to materialize…
After being away for a long weekend, I came to House2 today to check on the progress of the minor repair project going on there… Oy! The place reeked as if a raccoon or something like that died in there. My nose led me to the basement… The contractor’s workers pooped in the toilet in the basement - apparently last week - and did not flush because they broke off the handle! I was livid!!! Poked and poked until I fixed it, then taped the lid shut! They were supposed to use the bathroom in the garage… Tomorrow, the head guy will get an ear full of my disgust!
Ewwwwwww . . . .
@BunsenBurner sounds like you are officially a member of CB’s Poop Club 
Wow BB. We had a similar problem. Someone pooped in an old and broken service toilet in the garage and it was running water for days. We call it the $800 poop because that was our water bill. We had the toilet removed.
The workers also ran the AC while they were sanding plaster or something and choked the air handler. I heard later that we should have taken the thermostat off so that they couldn’t cheat and run the unit. You should do that too if you are having any sanding done.
Good to know. I am taking that sucker off today because there will be some drywall work done.
And people ask me why we like to do things ourselves… I am never, ever hiring any painters or appliance installers.
Well, BB, it’s an investment in either your time (assuming you have the skill) or your money. Now that I have more time than money, I’ve learned I don’t have too many skills. 8-|
Lol. Have the skills, no problem. Contractors take a lot of my time in addition to $$$, as I discovered. Then there are things we have to fix after they are done…
@BunsenBurner - My H and I are a lot like you. He is an electrical engineer and is very handy around the house. When the girls were younger he built a loft office to increase our space. He is currently doing most of the remodeling work in our master bedroom and bath. The only issue is that sometimes it takes awhile to get things done since he has a day job and his own consulting company on the side.
My H is handy but VERY meticulous and SLOW about getting things done. Quality is great but he chooses which projects get done in what timeframe. It’s ok tho because he doesn’t grumble that it’s taking so long.
^^^But I bet you do, @HImom, albeit silently.
Nah, it’s ok. At least he’s happy with the quality, which is always excellent. It works.
@BunsenBurner
That is a poop story right up there with the TV shows! Why are the poop stories always much more interesting than the complex plumbing we had to do in the walls??? I wonder… probably because we can all relate to that kind of mess
Is House #2 the new purchase? Or your residence that you are trying to fix up to sell?
ROFL!!! I sent Mr. B to talk to the contractor. Uhhhmmm… Mr. is more diplomatic when it comes to poop issues.
I think the crew had a grande Cinco de Mayo celebration… the result has been steeping all weekend (we had lovely weather here, apparently) while I was gone. Shaking my head… Thank goodness this is a basement house, so no crawl space “presents.” 
Flip #7
I did not get the Reverse Mortgage house. It was open for two hours early Sunday morning. I met the agent and had a discussion with her. Then I called to follow up yesterday afternoon. She told me she had a ‘verbal’ offer over $750k. I told her to please call me when she had written offers because I would like to make an offer with her representing me as buyer’s agent.
Just now the property came across my computer as ‘Pending’ in contract. What the hey??? She didn’t even bother to call me back. How does she know that I’m not going to put in a $770,000 offer? I never mentioned dollar amount with her. I just talked through what terms she felt would be meaningful to the Seller. Probably just as well, the Seller (Trustee in Chicago) wanted to sell fast, get the cash and then negotiate a Rent Back until he could get the holdover relatives out of there. Didn’t sound like an ideal situation to me.
Meanwhile… the expensive property on Sorrento just came back into my lap. This one makes me nervous because I will have to borrow a ton of money to make it work. Another large stressful ordeal. I was hoping for something easy… I cannot seem to find something easy Well, I guess if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
The local agent who was so slimy that he wouldn’t return my calls on the Chicken House has been calling for me to write an offer. Listing price is $1,395,000. We know that he has some offers in the $1.3mil range. I’m going to submit a very aggressive offer with very favorable terms. We will see!
House2 is the “new” pain in the rear. House1 only need minor touch ups before we put it in the market. I have painted a couple of windows (trim) today. We have re-seeded the grass, put in some new French drains, beautified the front landscaping, and ordered a new fridge. Only need a new vanity for the bath, and we will be good to go.
But I need the poopers out of House2 before we can move our crud out of House1 there… I feel like a Trump - we currently own 2 houses! 