Hick has been working on the Beauty Shop half of the Double Hovel flip house. He was going to just leave it gutted, with the rotten floor torn out. That way a buyer could renovate it, or make it into a garage. But I suppose he was itching for something to do. Because after spending the first three weeks of January doing a paid job for one of his Senior Center cronies, he went back to working on flip house stuff. The main house is completed, ready to move in.
Hick and Old Buddy started by tearing out the floor in the front part of the Beauty Shop:
As with all of Hick's photos, you either get an extreme closeup like this one, or a wide expanse of scenery with a tiny subject in the middle, like The Pony's college visit to the University of Oklahoma. Here is Old Buddy's lower half, standing between the floor joists that can be salvaged. This was last Wednesday, their first day of doing anything to the Beauty Shop, aside from hauling the contents to the dump a while back.
Yesterday, they tore out the floor in the back half of the Beauty Shop:
Again, an extreme closeup of a torn-out floor. Nothing to get your bearings. No view of it before, to show why it needed to be torn out.
I asked Hick for a picture of the whole building. Like a look in the front door. He finally sent me one, which I suppose is good enough:
They have already repaired the front room floor, and put down the sub-floor. This is going to be an efficiency apartment. The area where the trash cans are will be the living room. The kitchen will be along the left wall. The back area will be a bedroom and a bathroom.
So far, the only problem Hick has encountered is that the building settled about 3/4 inch in the back corner, and he has to jack up the floor. He said that's because it was a concrete slab foundation, and the builder didn't use rebar.
Hick has already obtained a front door, which is metal, with a half-circle window at the top, and a 36-inch bathroom sink/countertop, for a total cost of $30, from one of his contractor friends. He is wishing he had bought the refrigerator another buddy offered him a few weeks ago.
Hopefully, Hick will take pictures of the progress, so I can share them.
Hick has put the property on Facebook, and we've had several people interested. A couple never contacted Hick after a walk-through, and another offered less than we were willing to accept. They couldn't bargain with Hick, because they weren't approved for a higher loan amount. I'm not that concerned. This all happened the first week of January. Traditionally not an optimum time to sell a house.
Hick says that if the property hasn't had a legitimate offer by the time the Beauty Shop is done, we will rent it through a property manager. That way we don't have the headache of collecting the rent, and with a renter already in place, buyers looking for income property will be more interested. Sounds good to me, and our silent partner The Pony.
Hi Val, I would love seeing pictures of the former beauty shop as it progresses through its renovation.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Hick will provide me with pictures! He didn't take many of the other house. I think The Pony has some. If I can get those organized, I'll show you the companion house to the Beauty Shop.
DeleteI think the property manager is a good idea as long as he/she doesn't eat up all of Hick's profit.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that wheeler-dealer Hick will sell items at his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2) for a 50-cent profit! Hope he doesn't settle for that kind of profit in this rental! I think he knows someone who did such a rental agreement for 10 percent of the rent. More would be worth it, just to know that the property manager is responsible for evictions and collecting the rent.
DeleteHick needs to always have a project, it seems. I am sure you will be able to sell it or rent it. People need places to live, after all.
ReplyDeleteYes, Hick is happiest when working on a project. I think we'll have more interest in March and April, when the weather is better and people go driving around looking for properties. That's how we've found all of our flips.
DeleteWhat did Hick do before his "retirement"? The beauty salon part looks like it needed the work that he did. I always wondered about Pony's house that the two them renovated.
ReplyDeleteHick was a facility maintenance manager for a company that makes saw blades for butchers. In charge of all the machinery. He made trips to their other plants in Brazil, Germany, Wales, Sweden, and NEW JERSEY!
DeleteHere are some Pony House posts with pictures:
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-sketchy-sketch-of-new-pony-house.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-blue-ing-of-pony-house-and-rue-ing.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/04/pony-house-done-kitchen.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/04/pony-house-done-master-bedroom.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/04/pony-house-done-master-bathroom.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/04/pony-house-done-bedroom-2.html
https://unbaggingthecats.blogspot.com/2022/04/pony-house-done-bathroom-2.html
Almost ready to Air B+B
ReplyDeleteNO! We don't want any wild partiers! It would look like this again in no time.
DeleteThat looks like quite a project. How many square feet is the building?
ReplyDelete400 square feet. An efficiency apartment for somebody elderly, or a young single person just starting out on their own. That's the plan.
DeleteIs that back section big enough for a bedroom AND a bathroom? Would it be just a shower and toilet or a full bathroom? And will there be a laundry?
ReplyDeleteHick mentioned 8 x 10 for a bathroom, which sounds big to me for that size living space. Our bathroom between the boys' bedrooms is the perfect size. I think it's about 6 x 8. Has a tub/shower opposite the door, a pedestal sink on the left, and a toilet on the right, facing the sink.
DeleteHick has not mentioned a laundry, so I'm thinking no. Unless he has a stackable kind in mind.
I see the whole building is 400 square feet, so that answers my questions. My own place is 400 square feet, plus or including my closed in back porch, I can't quite remember. Probably my porch is a plus, since the inside area seems big enough. Just not big enough for me. I want more SPACE!
ReplyDeleteSeems like you can have space if you don't have stuff, or have stuff but no space!
DeleteThis place would be good for a college student, I think. One who attends the local junior college about four miles away, and doesn't want to commute over an hour from the middle of nowhere. Plus, parents PAY their rent. The timing isn't right for this scenario with us, though. Fall or January would be the prime time for that.
Some students do start in the summer. Plus, a student may have lost roommates for the summer and need a place to stay until fall when roommates return. Please, at least put a washer connection in there, possibly in that large bathroom he is planning. Tommy's bathroom here is 6'x9' and could be a foot shorter and still big enough for tub, commode, and sink.
DeleteWe are trying to sell the property by May, because we have another one in the works for purchase. So that could be a suggestion for prospective buyers. There aren't many apartments available around here. One of my JC buddies rented a long-term motel room. No kitchen for him! But better than driving 90 minutes one way.
DeleteHick hasn't started on the plumbing or electric yet. I'll ask his plans, and recommend that. I've had an apartment with washer/dryer in the bathroom, and it was quite convenient.