House in our neighborhood for sale

[jp1]

Yesterday one of the units in our townhouse development went on market at virtually the same price we paid ($725k vs. $727k that we paid). It's 300 square feet smaller and one less bathroom, but otherwise quite similar. Since I have a contractor I like currently working for us, and am paying, he and I went to the open house today with an eye towards what would need to be done if I were to buy it as an investment. The kitchen and upstairs bath are both original with crappy cheap builder grade wood cabinets and a bizarrely ugly tile kitchen counter. That would be $100k work right off the bat. All the cheap quick fixes have been done. New floors, updated outside areas, etc. The realtor is being aggressive. She is asking for "best and final" offers by next tuesday. I won't be submitting one because the cash flow for turning it into a rental just doesn't make sense. It will be interesting to see what it ultimately sells for.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...il/M2342653395

[iris lilies]

it is a happy and bright space, it’s so California – bright – sunny. I think the flooring choice is unfortunate. I don’t hate the kitchen even the ceramic tile countertops, but I know most people wouldn’t put up with it. I certainly don’t want to clean the grout, yuck.

the outdoor space is nice. Does that entire double garage go with the unit? That’s a huge garage. The exterior is uninteresting, it is garage and fence and a little bit of a second story. But man I love those big black double front doors they are substantial, they make a statement.

Today I was looking at real estate in Las Cruces and I saw this condo in an area I really like. I have always liked this condo complex. It reminds me a little bit of the unit you’re showing only look at the price difference.



https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...=srp-list-card

[ToomuchStuff]

No decent picture of the front, and down below, makes it look like that wall was put there to keep peoples cars from going off the street and into the front door.

[pinkytoe]

I would be concerned about the sloped land (it appears as such) behind the unit. Drainage, etc.

[jp1]

The outdoor space IS nice. And I know from experience that's the easiest space to upgrade.

The garage is all for that unit. I wish ours was off to the side like this one. The living room is much brighter as a result. Our garage is directly in front of our unit. I hate that but accepted it as the cost of getting an otherwise lovely place. The wall around the front porch is more an effort to hide the ghetto development across the road. Those townhouses are all densely packed together and have car ports instead of garages. And I agree that the super narrow master bedroom balcony is silly. Ours is much bigger but we never use it.

The front door is actually interesting. We'd looked at a unit in this development that had the same layout as this place. Only one front door opened. The other was fake. In this unit they both open so the owners spent money making that happen. Much nicer. We only have one front door, which is fine.

After we'd looked at it contractor asked "would you be moving there" and I was like "uuuuuhhhh no. Our place is bigger, and now it's nicer." And then I started crunching the numbers out loud and by the time we got back to my house I was like "we won't be buying this place. don't waste any time figuring out total cost of the renovations we discussed." The cash flow of this house as a rental was almost $800/month negative once it was upgraded. And the sale price if we were to flip it was also negative unless our neighborhood has just had a big bump in value. But without this place selling for near asking as it is now the neighborhood isn't worth that much.

[jp1]

I would be concerned about the sloped land (it appears as such) behind the unit. Drainage, etc.

We were too when we bought since we face that same hill in the back. It's turned out not to be an issue. Six months before we bought our unit it and the ones on both sides of us flooded so the HOA invested in a concrete drainage ditch and sump pumps and even in the worst storms (15 inches in 3 days was probably the worst) our backyard hasn't even come close to flooding.

[jp1]

These are pics of the view of across the street from the for sale unit and secondly of the unit itself.

across.jpg
for sale.jpg

[catherine]

I have a hard time imagining that updating a couple of cabinets and replacing the tile countertop would cost $100k but that's how out of touch I am. I think that place is a showplace! (It helps that it has been staged beautifully). I'm shocked that it would be that much. And would renters really care? Yes, the tile countertop is a pain to clean and certainly not in style compared with granite or even quartz, so that should probably be replaced, but that would probably be--$5k? And you wouldn't need custom cabinetry for the bathroom, right? Home Depot and Lowe's sell good quality cabinets. Would you have to replace the sink/bath/toilet, too?

In any case, it sounds like a risky move to take it on as an investment.

[Rogar]

A relative recently redid his kitchen with high end cabinets and granite counter tops for around $30K, although I'm sure the cost varies by region and who you can find to do the work. If I were doing things as a rental I'd be tempted to look into cabinet refinishing rather than replacement, but the tile countertops would have to go. Otherwise it looks like a very nice place. The all white interior paint is pretty sterile by my preferences, but it's a personal thing.

[iris lilies]

A relative recently redid his kitchen with high end cabinets and granite counter tops for around $30K, although I'm sure the cost varies by region and who you can find to do the work. If I were doing things as a rental I'd be tempted to look into cabinet refinishing rather than replacement, but the tile countertops would have to go. Otherwise it looks like a very nice place. The all white interior paint is pretty sterile by my preferences, but it's a personal thing.

My condo’s kitchen renovation, a tiny kitchen, was around $22,000 but it had custom cabinets, high end marble counter and backsplash and expensive small appliances with DH doing all demolition, cabinet installation, and tile work.

Our Hermann kitchen was around $35,000 with higher end factory cabinets ( they go to the ceiling) dishwasher with panel, granite counters, marble backsplash, semi-expensive stove. Again, DH installed cabinets and tile. But this is in no way a “luxury” kitchen.

I was disappointed to see how they cheaped out in my old family house, newly renovated. Kitchen cabinets are short and stubby in that tall room. The proportion is awful.