FINALLY CLOSED!!!

At long last.... we closed on a really sweet 3/1 near Portland and 23rd today.  Pictures coming quickly.  Meanwhile, I am getting the 2/1 cleaned and painted and having a new kitchen floor put in.

Followers know that I normally do the cleaning/painting myself but due to a shoulder surgery, doc says "NO." Unfortunately, that means everything is taking longer but I'll keep this site updated as things go along. 

Right now, I'm mostly spending lots of time on the phone getting utilities transferred on the new property which doesn't make for  very exciting photographs!

More Properties Coming

At this moment, I anticipate the 31st Street house being rented, however, stay posted here as two more homes are coming.

There is a 2/1 that we're putting new ceramic in but should be ready mid-January and a 3/1 that we plan to close on next week and  should be ready to rent in late January/early February.  Pictures of both coming soon but here's a teaser on the 2/1...

Looking forward to showing these new properties as soon as they are ready!

Open Sunday Update

Clearly I need to let people know that this is NW 31st Street.   Sorry for any confusion.

Open Sunday 12/12 2 to 5p

This is a great two or three bed, two bath home in a quiet neighborhood near 36th and Youngs.

There is a bed and bath on the first floor and two beds and a bath or it could be a huge master suite on the second floor.

It has original woodwork with a mix of ceramic and carpet flooring.  Central heat and air keep the house nice and cozy.

A formal dining room makes a great place for family meals

and the bright kitchen has ample cabinet space and a gas stove.

House has a separate utility room with washer dryer hook-ups,
mini-blinds and a fenced yard.

Well-behaved pets are welcome
 $700mo/$500 deposit

No Section 8

Inspections on the new aquisition...

We have all the inspections lined up for tomorrow then a brief lull while we wait to close on the new 3/1.

Until then, I do have a 2/1 coming vacant near 23rd and Drexel. As soon as the tenant has vacated I will post pictures and we'll schedule an Open House so folks can come and see.  At this time, unless some repairs are needed, I expect the Open House to be on 12/12 so folks can move into their new home for Christmas.

Lastly today, I just have to share a quote from one of my tenants because it made me smile... this was for helping them with an issue at the property "...you are one of the few good people left today and we're lucky to have you as landlords."  What a day-brightener!

Patience is Rewarded

Found a house, made an offer and after a bit of an ordeal with the paperwork and an out-of-state seller, we have a deal!

We will close in mid to late December and get to work right away.  This is three-bed, one-bath in a nice neighborhood near Portland and 23rd.

Pictures to follow but I won't post them until we've closed.

It still looks like we'll have a 2/1 available around the first week in December, stay tuned here for updates.

House Shopping

Out looking at houses again today... I'm pretty sure that if you walk into a house and the floor goes squish and there are pieces of the ceiling on the floor... it's time to walk away, or run away, but in either case, I'm not interested.

I did see another property of possible interest but it was raining and there was no power on so back to see it in the light of day tomorrow.

2 Bed Coming Soon

My goodness, where does the time go?  I didn't realize it had been so long since the last update. At least I know we're not overwhelming anyone's in-box.

At this time, it looks like we will have a 2/1 available around the first week of December.  As plans firm up, I will post pictures and more detail.

Still looking at additional properties but haven't found exactly the right match yet.  It seems like more houses are beginning to come available so I am optimistic that by year's end we'll at least have something in the pipeline.

Still Searching...

We made an offer on one property but I don't know if it's going to be accepted and I can't go any higher.  The property needs to have air conditioning added which will also require an electrical upgrade so we'll just have to see.  I drove by more houses yesterday but nothing to get excited about, lots more to look at so that's what I'll do, keep looking.

House Search Part II

I finished all the drive-bys then yesterday, looked at four houses with an agent.  Of course, they all have challenges but there was one possibility.  We will do some more research on that and keep watching the MLS. 

No new property yet but the goal is to add one by the end of the year so there is a little time. It's just so beautiful out right now it's nice to have reason to drive around.

House Search

Still no vacancies but I'm actively looking for the next house. 

I've initially evaluated 165 properties from the MLS listings and now I'm off to put a little reality with the pictures.  I'll drive by a couple of dozen properties today and make some decisions on which ones to look at with the agent.

This is just my unscientific impression but it seems to me that the number of foreclosures is way down locally.  It's been good to know that Oklahoma hasn't been hit as hard as the nation on the housing front.

Still, there are lots of properties for sale so it's a good thing I like looking at them!

No Vacancies

Just posting an update for those who are asking about availability.  We have no vacancies at this time.  I am starting the search for the next house, will keep you informed on how that's going.

I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous fall weather.

An afternoon adventure

When we bought this house, there was a large refrigerated unit left in the back yard...

I posted it on Freecycle, a site where people can recycle goods and keep them out of the landfill and received many inquiries about the unit, however, it was really heavy, it was behind a chain link fence and folks were stymied as to how to get it out.  After a month on Freecycle, there was no solution.

I gave it a rest but now the house is rented and it was time to try again.  This time I posted it on Freecycle and in the free section of Craigslist.

That's how I found John, the man with the plan(s)...

He came yesterday afternoon with 3 burly young men, some 4x4 posts, a large trailer with ramps and... the magic tool...  a tractor with a front-end loader attached.

I wish I had a picture of the first attempt but I wasn't fast enough.  They put the posts under the unit and tried to pick it up.  It barely moved.

Time for Massey Ferguson...

I think plan B might have been to flip the unit up on the bucket and just carry it out to the trailer, using the tractor.  Ingenious but the balance wasn't going to work...

On to Plan C...Use the bucket to push the unit around and align it with the gate...

Then winch it on to the trailer.

Mission accomplished!

Tools and ingenuity made a fine combination and everyone's happy. I never know what adventure is going to come up next but it's never boring.

3/1.5 in Bethany

Looks like this house is rented, thanks for all your interest and inquiries.  We always get to meet the nicest people at the Open Houses, I wish we had room for everyone that needs a home!

OPEN SUNDAY 9/19

The Bethany 3/1.5 is ready to go!  This is terrific house on a nice street in Bethany.

We did a lot of updates to the kitchen including a new gas range and a Bosch dishwasher.  The kitchen already had good lighting with huge windows and I added a pantry cabinet for even better storage.

It has three roomy bedrooms with large closets

.

And 1.5 baths with ceramic floors and wood cabinets.

We have installed mini-blinds and there are ceiling fans throughout.  The heat and air-conditioning unit is brand new as well.

The house has been professionally cleaned and is ready to go.

Pets OK, No Section 8

Open Sunday 9/19 from 2-5pm

New Storm Door

The house has great windows which makes it nice and bright and a little hard to picture because of all the light pouring in.  We have installed new window blinds which helps,

There is a nice wide front step area which is pictured here and showing off the new storm door.

Off to picture left you can see the beginning of a really large two car garage.  I need to get a more complete picture of the front, will post when I have it.


.

Almost Done

Well, I hope our visitors will understand that if I'm not posting it is because I'm busy working on the latest project.  We're at a great place to start sharing pictures so here is the before and after on the kitchen.
This is a large eat-in kitchen that had been gutted and all appliances removed.  The hardwood floors still looked good.

With a little help from my friends, I found a good finish carpenter and together we built a new kitchen, including refurbishing the cabinets and adding a pantry.

My phone photos don't do justice to the before but here's a pretty good after picture - including a brand new Bosch dishwasher.

Keep watching here for updates, I am anticipating an Open House 9/19/10.

3/1.5 in Bethany

I closed on this really nice 3/1.5 in Bethany on Thursday.  Of course, with the temperatures hitting 100+, not to mention the heat index, installing air conditioning was my number one priority.  In fact, the property was virtually unworkable without so on Friday the installers came and the project began.

I should note that the house in the background is not the one I bought, mine is to camera left. This house is,
however, representative of the neighborhood.

It took all day to cool to the 80's, at which point I started to remove the existing carpeting.  Nothing much to show yet but stay tuned for pictures as this progresses.

Update

Just a quick update, plans are going forward for the next house.  If all the paperwork gets in timely, we'll close on Thursday and I'll post pictures.  In the meanwhile, I've been lining up contractors and pre-scheduling the work to be done.  Hoping for a September availability but if nothing else, I've learned that the time frames are unpredictable.

In my time "off" I've been doing some much needed work on my own house, the yard thanks me but I am looking forward to the next renovation, it's just fun to see a finished house emerge from a sometimes rough beginning.

One Last Picture...

I just can't resist posting one last picture of the stone house.  After getting the inside all squared away, I was able to finish up outside, specifically I painted the last shutter and trimmed the shrubs that were obscuring the front window.

It's kind of a cloudy day but you can see that we've come a long way from the poodle wallpaper and putting on a new roof.

Now it's on to the next adventure which, if all goes as planned, will be a ranch style house in Bethany. 

For folks with a little longer time line before they have to move, it's looking like we may have a 3/1.5 available as soon as September.  I'll post all the details here as they become available.

Stone House is Rented

We have had a huge amount of interest in this house, thank you to everyone for your time, emails and kind words.  The house is rented.  As soon as we have another available, I'll post it here.

Stone House - OPEN SUNDAY 6/20 2-5p

The house will be Open this Sunday, June 20th and it's ready for tenants!

This is a two bed, one bath home with a large kitchen...

and dining room...

Two nice bedrooms...

And a comfortable bathroom with new ceramic tile floor.

In addition, there is a deck, a terrific fenced back yard and attached garage with washer hook-up.

Open Sunday, June 20th  from 2-5pm

Pets OK, no Section 8

House Update

Just a quick note to let everyone know we are still processing applications at this time.  We had a very high turnout for the Open House which was great fun.  Thanks to everyone for your time and all the positive feedback.

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY

My alert readers have pointed out that I failed to mention the time of the Open House.  It will be Sunday, June 6th from 2 to 5pm.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone then!

OPEN SUNDAY 6/6/10 from 2-5 pm

This is a beautiful stone house in near Northwest Oklahoma City

There are two beds, one bath, a formal dining room and a large living room as well as CHA, ceiling fans and newer windows.

This photo is of the north bedroom.

The house has recently been updated and has hardwood floors with new ceramic in  the kitchen and bath.  The kitchen has lots of counter space and includes a built in range with double ovens.

There is a  large fenced yard with numerous flower gardens and perennial planting in place.

Pets ok, no Section 8.

Kitchen on the way...

I finished staining the bedroom doors today, the color is coming out really nice. I also re-set some loose tile in the bathtub/shower stall, that will need to dry for 1-2 days before I grout it.  While waiting on those things to dry and be ready for the next step, it was on to the kitchen.

I got the first coat of paint on everything, lots of brush work because of corners and angles and so forth but it came out nice and bright. 

A second coat tomorrow then I start putting the kitchen back together and, dare I say it, hauling some tools home which is always an exciting moment in the project.

Kitchen Counter

We have the new kitchen cabinet completed and installed - including the countertop.

The guys at Munger's Paint and Wallcovering did an amazing job of matching the finish color.  I walked in with a sample drawer and said "uh, it's a different kind of wood and it has some tonal change from age, can you match it? And they did.  They just kept trying and fiddling and testing until it was right.  Munger's is a great store.

You can tell from the photo that I am still finishing the wall repair, trying to match texture at this point.  That just needs a little sanding and on to the paint job.

Closet Doors

I had mentioned a while back that the closet openings were an unusual size and getting doors to fit was proving to be a challenge.  Finally got them installed and they look pretty good - it's a nice match to the hardwood floors.

One more challenge off the list. Now to finish stripping, staining and re-hanging the bedroom doors. They actually stripped down to a pretty light shade, I'm going to try toning them up closer to the floor color, then on to finish the kitchen and we'll be done. 

I'm looking forward to showing off the finished project.

Back in the Saddle

Well, first we had weather delays, specifically, finishes were taking forever to dry and then I had to go out of town for several weeks. I did get the new kitchen cabinet/counter installed just before I left so that's looking good.

If you've been following the house closely, my apologies for leaving the information hanging.  No Open House yet, the house still needs just a little work and I need the weather to cooperate because some of the work is outside.

I expect to be back on the job tomorrow and will keep the updates coming.

Making Progress

You might have to be the person doing the work to appreciate a bathroom shot but the floor is in and looking good and I've had some fixtures updated.

I've also started on painting the shutters and exterior doors,

as well as stripping the old paint off the bedroom doors.

As we make progress, I'll keep everyone posted here.

Time Passing and Work Getting Done

Well, it was a very busy week.  I found and installed a new dining room fixture but can't find my photo of the install so here's just a picture of the fixture.

We got the base for a section of kitchen counter, and installed it so it would be in when the new floor is laid.

I also met with the flooring company,  picked out ceramic tile and now the tile guys are started on laying new floors in the kitchen and the bathroom.

Meanwhile, in the back yard, a Wisteria started to bloom and it's absolutely lovely.

I've been shopping for a counter top for the kitchen base and tomorrow I'll meet with those folks and have a counter top made.  While I'm waiting for that I will stain and finish the base and finish painting the shutters.  Grout will go on the floor tomorrow and we'll get the bathroom fixtures re-installed.

Things are moving right along and I see completion in sight, it's been a fun house to work on.

Floors Done!

It took me the full week but it was so worth it, the floors are done and looking good...

This view is standing in the living room, looking into the dining room and down the hall.  Now onward and upward to finishing the kitchen, installing a dining room light fixture and cleaning/unmasking the bathroom.

We're enjoying some terrific blooming trees in the backyard.

I think this is a quince of some variety,

And an Oklahoma Redbud, framed with Forsythia in front.

I'm getting close to done, stay posted for what this week brings!

Closet Doors

Well, hmmph.  The door vendor I was talking about earlier doesn't do custom bi-fold doors, "too hard", so that will make getting closet doors that fit an interesting challenge.  I suspect that now I know why there weren't doors to start with.

That leaves three choices, 1) batwings, 2) sliding doors - still would have to be custom made, or 3) the accordion pleated doors.  None of those would have been my first choice but they're all better than a curtain.  It does make me wonder what was in place originally.  It appears that there were straightforward hinge mounts but with no doors in place it's hard to tell.

I completed the rough sanding and started the finish sanding today but the difference doesn't show in photos so no new pictures.  Tomorrow I'll finish the fine sanding and lay down the stain, finish should go on Thursday as our predicted temperatures should be very good for stain and finish to dry.

It's coming right along and looking good, it's going to be a great house when we're done.

Refinishing Hardwood Floors

The moment of truth has arrived, I've started stripping the floors down to bare wood.

You can see the heavy finish and staining in spots.  This is the room with the most damage to the floor and will be the most challenging to refinish.

As the time goes by, the work starts to accumulate and I get closer to bare floor.

This image is of the north bedroom, down to bare wood and ready for fine sanding.  Now, to get the living room and dining room stripped. The gloss is actually light from the window, not finish on the floor.  The tones and patina are gorgeous and are the reward for the hard work.

I continue to have staining on the south bedroom floor but tried bleaching it with hydrogen peroxide last night, we'll see what it looks like today.  One more day should see the heavy sanding done, then I'll switch to a pad sander and start the finish work.

We've had a minor setback in that the closet doors are going to have to be custom made but we have a great vendor that does that so it should just be a few days.  I'm looking forward to the finished product!

Finished Painting...

Finished with everything except the kitchen, because that's where all my tools and gear were stored while I painted the rest of the house.  I am scheduled to get the drum sander and start stripping the old finish off the floors tomorrow.  I'll know a lot more about about the floor condition after getting started, it's simply impossible to tell what will happen with these old floors until then.

This is a much better photo showing the finished paint job in the north bedroom...

And on a completely unrelated note, a picture of a Cedar Waxwing I saw when I was running errands yesterday...

They're just beautiful birds and not commonly seen around here.

Today I'm mostly doing maintenance at other locations, I'll update more on the stone house when I get an idea about the floor.

What a difference a day makes...

So after all the slow, patient work of masking, patching, getting ready for paint, the actual paint goes on in a relative hurry. I started on the walls yesterday morning, you can see the overlap from the fresh ceiling paint, I like to drop that down so I have a nice edge when finished.

By the afternoon, there were two coats on most of the interior, unfortunately by early evening the light was shot so the camera flash is distorting the finished look.  I'll try for a better image today.

So today, I'll finish the walls, pull down the masking, open the windows, do any needed touch ups and  I might even get the new light fixture back up in the bathroom! I don't know if I'll make April 1st but it will be close.

Update on Available Houses

Just wanted to let readers know that we have no vacancies at this time.  thank you for all the inquiries, I appreciate your interest.

The stone house is coming along nicely and should be ready soon but as of today, everything available is rented.

I am painting ceilings today, 7 gallons of paint into the job, everything is looking bright and a whole lot lighter.  Next, I'll paint the walls then get to re-installing fixtures.  With this beautiful weather coming on, it will be nice to un-mask and open the windows.

Next week... the floors.

Deborah

Deborah

Return to the Stone House

Well, I got 26th completely painted and I think I've solved the 19" mini-blind problem so back to the Stone House.  This week I've been masking everything in preparation for painting, which is the time to make a few more design decisions...  I've decided it's possible to be vintage yet NOT charming so the Dining Room light fixture has to go...

Even if it does have one of those nifty fabric rope pulls that makes it go up and down...

Now I'm off to the store for ceiling paint and a new light fixture.  I plan to have the major painting done by Friday.  As much as he'd like to help, the dog's tail and wet paint are a bad combination so he's ready for me to be done and let him come back to work with me.

Now that I'm at the putting-back-together stage, things should go quickly.  Watch here for updates.

Deborah

Utility Services Page

Just a quick note to let readers know that I have been updating the Utilities page.  I have added Cox Communication and AT&T.

If there are other services you would find useful here, please just let me know and I'll see about adding those as well.

Deborah

Update on 26th Street

Almost finished with the painting, it has brightened the house up beautifully...

  

And it's just a perfect day for painting, with the sun pouring in the windows plus I can have both doors open and let the fresh air clear out the paint odor...

I really like the built-ins in these older homes and this bookcase in the living room is classic.

So... one more day to finish the interior painting and this house will be in move-in condition. 

Two beds, one bath, fenced yard with detached garage. It has a stove, refrigerator and dishwasher.

Pets are ok, no Section 8

You can contact me at blcllc@yahoo.com for a private showing.

Deborah