New Boxy Babe gets and overhaul! 4132 Oleatha BEFORE.

The latest property to hit the market from Starke, Inc. has gone from drab to fab. This little Mid-Century Modern Bungalow needed a little TLC. Clearly, it was neglected and not loved like it should have been, but things happen and owners get busy. We had been scouting for a new property in Tower Grove South for a while now. The goal? Buy the ugliest house on the cutest and most stable block possible, and then turn it around for an affordable price. Too often people think that a renovater/rehabber buys a property and sticks a little bit of lipstick on the "pig". Often, people are right. That is not the case when Starke and his team (myself included) gets involved. The name of the game for many people in the renovation game is, get in and get out with as little updating as possible. While it is smart on the pocket book, it isn't great for the neighborhood. Starke focuses on one geographic area at a time and then attempts to help the whole hood by raising values. This is easily accomplished when the renovation appeals to a wide audience and has stellar updates. 

Here are the before pics:

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.

Floors from Start to Finish!

Finding hardwood floors is like hitting pay dirt. If you know they are there, it's a bonus. Just like paydirt though, you are going to have to work for them. Ginger is a perfect example...Yucky beige carpet in the living and dining rooms, more carpet in the bedrooms, hall and kitchen covered in layers and layers of vinyl and plywood tile. What has tp happen is all of that crap has to be removed and then, and only then do you know what you are working with.

Here are the "Before" pics of Ginger's floors:

The kictchen has LAYERS of pressed board laminate. Gross.












The living room and dining have YUCKY BEIGE carpet.











The Bedroom has blue indoor out-door carpet.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of any of these looks! Below are some of the during shots.

As you can see, the carpet glue didn't come up very easily or well on the bedroom floors.  That just means more work when they sand. :(

In the living room we found that they have removed a large section of the decorative inlay. We aren't sure why. One side of the fireplace was OK, this side was not. This fix was not easy but we got creative. We found a decorative medallion corner piece in the closet under carpet. Needless to say, the closet is now missing a medallion and the living room has a new one. The floor was then patched in the closet with scrap hardwood and refinished. :)

The kitchen had so much glue on the floor that the original floors could not be saved. No worries, we will be matching the hardwood from the house and installing it here. The tools are not included in the sale of this house.














Now, on to the finished product:

The hallway no longer has pressboard tile!

Bedroom floors refinished!

Dining redone!

Kitchen floors redone!

There you have it! Floors from start to finish!

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/

Let's Do the Time Warp, Again!

The title of this blog is in honor of my good friend Lucia who does the Time Warp dance when feeling blue. Hey Lucia!

So, here is the Gingerbread I have been telling you about. This will be our subject project property for now. I may start blogging about other rehabs as they come along. I just hope it doesn't become too confusing.

All though the outside was cute as a button, the inside needed help, major help.There is "good" old, and "ugly" old. Not every trend is worth saving. There is a big difference between vintage and dated. A lot of what was in the Gingerbread was "dated" not historic. See what I mean?

That kitchen is SEXY, er quaint?