We purchased this house as a tax certificate and knew it had been vacant for a while. Our intention was to do a minimal rehab and sell the property quickly for a small profit. In fact, we even entertained selling the house as a “wholesale” before we even started our rehab. When the wholesale option fell apart, we started our rehab which attracted attention to the house and someone ended up stealing the garage door and siding for scrap material.
After this rough start, we also ran into a problem with the gas service. Since the house had been vacant for so long, we had to wait in a multi-week line to get a gas meter installed from the main line. Until the gas was turned on, we couldn’t turn the water on and verify the plumbing in the house. After waiting for the gas and water to get on, we finally finished the rehab and listed the house. We were concerned for the security of the house due to the neighborhood and our prior experience with the garage so we used a security company called DAWGS to put heavy duty security on the house. Another lesson - this security system scares potential buyers.
We had over 30 showings for this house and finally found a buyer just before the holidays in 2018. The final product turned out really nice despite all the headaches.
