Boxy Babe is on the Market and Looking Good! 4132 Oleatha, 63116.

It has been a journey, but she is ready to go! Check out the link now!

Just listed: 4132 Oleatha Ave, St Louis, MO 63116 for $104,900

Into Every 'Hab Some Water Must Fall, or SPEW

Today, the copper thieves struck. After gutting this bath and replacing bad lines, those jerks came and cut them. This newest acquisition is is one of my favorite hoods to renovate, Tower Grove South. A perfect bungalow with a garage, on a sleepy street with awesome neighbors has been robbed. Now, I know what you are going to say, "Leigh, doesn't that mean it is in a bad neighborhood?". The answer is, "NO". I don't like defining neighborhoods in those terms anyways. In fact, it is against the law and besides that, some of my best friends live there. Good and bad are subjective, unless you are a copper thieve. Then you are just bad for business. Copper jerks are everywhere, looking to pull of the most cowardly crime in the world. For a little bit of money, they damage thousands in property and YOUR property values. 

Have you ever wondered why that foreclosure next door has sat so long? More than likely, it can't be financed because lenders don't like to loan on properties that don't have working plumbing. No copper=no loan in most situations. So, the property sits until someone willing to take on a project like that comes along with CASH. 

Unfortunately for me, the owner was out of town. Which meant, I was in charge. GREAT, I know it sounds fun in theory, but it's not. I don't get to stand around and be bossy bossy. Besides that, a good crew won't respond to a leader that won't work with them. Luckily, Dan (the contractor man) was there early and called me to tell me they had stuck and the water needed to be shut off. Fabulous, they didn't turn off the water before snipping  away. He then called the cops and made a report. I showed up while the Crime Scene Unit was there taking pics ('cause that helps). They didn't get much, which means they more than likely will be back. We than shut off the water  and Dan pulled the stain glass (they love that too) , boarded up the windows, secured the doors and started to paint the copper. You paint it and it is worth less at the scrap yard.


The neighbors LOVE the board up look, let me tell you. Hey, it isn't our fault. Blame the thieves...


Bottom line: You see someone suspicious, call the COPS. Make noise, turn on your lights. Every single house that is sold more cheaply in your neighborhood due to crimes of destruction perpetuates low property values.  Good renovations, help to raise the values. A lot of projects are abandoned due to the fact the contractor/rehabber has ran out of money because of going over budget from these shenanigans.

Monday Morning Meetings

Most of you who know me know that I am up really, REALLY late. I love the evening, it is when I am finally alone to jam on my work. However, construction and everything else happens in the morning sometimes before the sun comes all the way out. Monday is my Friday, but for the rehabbers and contractors it is the beginning of their work week. Rehabbing is a circus for sure. In this case, it is a three ring circus. Everyone has a role to play but we all have to be in communication. There is the Developer (Starke Group), the Contractor (Dan Carter) and Me (Real Estate Agent). What we realized after working together for quite a while now was that someone was mentioning something to someone else that was supposed to pass it on to the intended recipient and it wasn't happing. What a shocker, right? Another thing that was happening was we were discussing things WAY TOO much causing for annoyance and not enough time for action to be taken. What we came up with as a solution was Monday Morning Meetings. They start at 7:30 am and items of mention are discussed over hot coffee, that flows way faster than the stuff at Starbucks. Uncle Bills is the perfect location, it is close to the rehabs, close to my office, fast on service and accomodating. This is all very important since time is money in this game. Topics up for discussion today were coordinating installation of cabinets around the floor refinisher's schedule, organization, carpet, marketing, deadlines and many other topics (like they need to be taking more pictures for the blogs). Today there wasn't much to talk about because so much got done from last week's meeting. Very exciting, I think the meetings are working!

PS Due to having to rise so early and being close to work. Mondays have become my most efficient days in terms of getting work done. Just in time for wrapping up for my day off TUESDAY!

ERRRRRRR....Back up and REWIND! You never want to admit that you have to...

OK, so I told you guys that the floors on Ginger had been redone, and they had. In fact, they had taken days and days of hard work and some good money. Not to mention, they had eaten up several days of time on the schedule (time is money in the flip biz). So, imagine the pain of having to admit they look like crap. That's right....I SAID IT, they LOOKED LIKE CRAP. When the dust settled and the floors dried they were not looking so sharp. Here is some friendly advice DO NOT TRY TO REDO FLOORS YOURSELF!

 I am never quite prepared for the conversations that as an agent you have to have with your clients that aren't so nice. Let's be honest though, real estate isn't always wrapped in a nice neat package. I wish it was, but if it was anybody could sucessfully help you buy and sell real estate. Right? So, armed with my best ally on how finishes are supposed to look, Dan Carter I waded into the muck and told the investor that the best possible thing to do was to have the floors redone. This wasn't easy for me to say. I mean, basically I was saying, "You need to spend a couple grand and stall a week to have this crap fixed. Oh and by the way, that puts you further behind schedule and you may miss your window to draw the largest number of buyers." Yay! Go Leigh, way to make them love you. To my surprise, I didn't get much fight. His statement was, "Will it affect the sale? If the answer is "yes" then let's have them redone."

Needless to say, I am now waiting on floors so they can go in and get the rest of it done before it can go on the market. Anyone who knows me knows that patience isn't my virtue, but it is going to look hot!

More Hidden Architectural Details!

We found MORE windows on Ginger. Yes, that is right...there was a second set of hidden stain glass at this quaint bungalow. Luckily for me, Dan the contractor was there to satisfy my need fro instant gratification and cut them out. Ladies, I do have to say that being a female on a job site can have some perks :). I have posted the photos so you can see the discovery unfold. We immediately removed the windows and took them off site to prevent theft until the project is done. When a property is occupied thieves don't tend to target them. However, a vacant site is a different story.

Dumpster Diving Dan...

Last blog we talked a little about Ginger missing some of her original charm. Some things we found....We found original doors in the basement, hardwood under the carpet, stain glass behind the drywall. Which, as I am sitting here writing this blog I wonder if we are missing another set of glass that is common in those bungalows. I think I need to have the Investor take a look. Anyways, onward we go...

One thing we didn't find was the original mantel. We know that one had to be there because we found the floor tile for it. Curious, we went into the foreclosure a couple doors down to see what their looked like. What we found was a total shame...Most of the stain glass had been stolen, copper was gone on top of the fact that it never had central air/systems whoever purchased this one had a long way to go to get it back to right. The mantel however, was still in tact it was a typical flag stone decorative mantel with the same crazy tile mosaic at the base in front of it. We knew that we couldn't replicate something similar without incurring a HUGE cost and started brainstorming other options. I just knew that I didn't want it to be too fancy. It had to be simple and clean. With those basic parameters in place, Dan set to work creating a replacement piece.

What Dan crafted was beautiful and resourceful. Unbeknownst to me, Dan had started collecting remnant pieces from other projects and looking for pieces of wood that were going to go into the dumpster. I always prefer to use what was originally there if at all possible, but when it is not I like to reuse materials. Dan made the mantel surround out of completely reclaimed wood, not to mention that it was handmade by a local craftsman :) Here is the masterpiece that trash built!!!

I am sure that whoever gets to purchase Ginger will be glad to have this in their home.

A girl has to have some secrets! Eventually, we all tell...Including Ginger!

In the very beginning I told you that we would be showing you how rehab was possible using "old" materials. A big focus with my rehabbers and contractors is reusing what you already have to cut costs and be kinder to the environment. In this particular case we had discovered some hidden things on Ginger. Most of the time when you run into something hidden on a rehab property it is not so good. In this case, we have a lot of good blended with some, "how do we fix it?".


Earlier in this blog series I had shown you that Ginger was covered in carpet. I don't know about you, but I personally hate carpet. Carpet is full of dirt, mites, sticky stuff and who knows what else. Boo hiss on carpet! Did I just say that? Yes, yes I did. So, needless to say I was eager to learn what was underneath Ginger's beige carpet...Unfortunately, you can't go ripping up the carpet to see what is underneath before you buy the place (or I would have). You just need to take your chances that the floor is probably wood given the architecture (OK, you busted me. I sometimes do peel back a small portion of the carpet just to see. Like my rehabber says, "I'm not stupid, just slow").

The day we closed on Ginger we peeled back more carpet and found that it was indeed hardwood underneath. They removed a large portion of the shaggy grossness, but because they were going to paint they didn't do more than a quarter of the room and left the carpet in place as a drop cloth. Work went along as scheduled....Until, another house 2 doors down came on the market as a foreclosure. This house was just like Ginger, so naturally we went to see it. Dan the Contractor, the Investor and I viewed the house together and we were bummed that our house didn't have the features that this one did. Its floors were hardwood with decorative inlay. It had loads of stain glass, and a mantel with a decorative mosaic motif on the floor. Ginger, as far as we could tell was missing all of this. We had a few brainstorming session about how to make up for the missing architectural details and then proceeded with the rehab.

In the next few weeks Ginger would reveal several things about herself that would indeed thrill us and send us back to the drawing table. One day, about three weeks ago, I got an email from the Investor that was doing most of the rehab on Ginger himself featuring 2 pictures of the same wall. One picture was taken from the inside and another was taken from the outside. Again, both of these pictures featured the same wall. The subject line of the email read, "Can you tell the difference?" I felt like I was playing along with a Sesame Street game... Here were the 2 pics. Can you tell the difference? It took me a minute.

The stain glass is on the outside, but not the inside! Someone had covered it up on the inside to make the wall completely smooth. Why? I have no idea...These unique details are like gold now. Maybe when they covered it up (in the 80's) people took it for granted.


Shortly after that the Investor called to inform me that the floors had decorative inlay and a tile mosaic for the hearth, but was missing the mantel. Here is what the mosaic looked like without the mantel...

So, what do we do now? We have a mantel made and cut out the windows,of course! The windows will more than likely need to be retrimmed and the mantel will need to be replaced somehow. Have you ever seen those BS ready made electric fireplace things they sell in Home Depot? Gross! Look to your RIGHT if you don't believe me.To me, that was just not an option. We needed to replace the mantel, make it non functional (it never was), look good and keep it cheap. For this mission we will call in our best agent. His mission? To craft a mantel from recycled materials, make it look hot and keep costs down. Should Dan Carter be willing to accept, he will be held to Leigh's picky standards (which actually, don't even begin to match his own) and risk being laughed at as he crawls in dumpsters looking for materials (SERIOUSLY).  I wasn't really expecting much.....What Dan produces exceeds my wildest expectations. In fact, it was SO SPECIAL that I am going to save it for the next blog. Until then!

Cut a Hole, Cut Costs and open up the floor plan

Earlier, I told you that I would post pictures of Victoria's transformation. We needed to open up the space between two rooms to make a living and dining room. Anytime you can improve the "flow" in a floor plan you should do it. Sometimes it can be rather expensive, but in this case the fix was simple. I always tell my buyers, "There are two things that you can almost never fix. One is the floor plan. The second is the location, everything else is doable".

Dan was able to cut the hole and save the extra 2 x 4 material for use on another project. This not only saves the investor money, but it is very earth friendly. Way to go Dan!

Meet Terracotta

I bet you have all started to wonder why I don't identify theses houses by address. The reason for it is simple, theft. When rehabs are taking place there is a risk that your tools and work can get messed with. So, until we get a little further along I will refer to this lovely Tower Grove South home as, "Terracotta". Eventually, you all will know where it is because I will announce it going on the market.

Terracotta is in need of a little more extensive rehab than Gingerbread. Not to mention, that it is a larger property. Located in the trendy Tower Grove South Neighborhood it's all about location with this one. The new owner will be able to walk to Tower Grove Park for kickball and then to S. Grand for Vietnamese! Starke (the investor on this project) bought the 3 bed/1 bath house out of foreclosure a couple months ago. It needs all new plumbing, a new kitchen, some electrical tweaks, a new deck in the back, a double garage door and many other things.

Everything that needs to be done to this house can prove to be too much work for many investors to do on their own. For this job, Starke brought in Dan Carter. He does excellent work and has proven to be reliable. I like Dan, we have a good working relationship. I am the one who helps pick out finishes, colors, kitchens etc., and frequently I have to collaborate with Dan on what is actually feasible. So, when you hear me mention Dan from now on, you will know who it is. Dan also did the work on one of my listings http://www.6525westpark.com/