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Tag Archives: Mattress 8

Blast from the Past: Mattress 8 Progress

This is a HUGE improvement. Excess trees are gone, and you can see the house.

The Mattress 8 property was one we got in Temple and couldn’t line up anyone to work on, so we passed it on to another more local investor, Zoe Grant. She’s been kind enough to send us periodic updates on her progress as she tries to turn the house back into something people can live in. Her last update was in March, when she was just getting her team started. Let’s find out how it’s going.

In One Word: Scary

Everything needs help on this property, starting from the bottom up. Zoe says, “The foundation was scary; there were many rotted tree stumps for piers.” Imagine how long ago someone used big tree stumps to support a house. When they get damp over long periods of time, they will rot! That’s why today they use concrete piers or blocks for pier and beam construction (still common here in Texas).

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Guest Blogger: Update on Mattress 8

You might remember that we sold our property in Temple to a local redeveloper, because we were not able to give the property the time and attention needed to line up good contractors to work with it. The buyer, Zoe Grant of LanD Investor, promised to send updates, since we still have some financial interest in the property, and true to her word, she has done so. To say that the project is a challenge is an understatement, but she is making progress, and we are behind her all the way!

Let’s see what she has to say:

I expect surprises but I’m not quite sure how this is still standing. Many rat nests and maybe even a squirrel nest so far.

Can I say I love the wood that was behind the drywall? Having that open now with original wood floors, it will be something to look at as an accent wall and ceiling.

Trees down in front and back. It didn’t take long for the pecan lumber to be grabbed up. Seven trees removed so far, waiting to see if any others bloom before we move forward on any others.

My Comments

The house sure looks better without all those trees crowding it, doesn’t it? And I can’t believe that wall between the living room and kitchen came down to reveal something so beautiful and spacious (there used to be a wall with an arched opening there).

And poor little woodland creatures will have to find other homes. I think Zoe and her crew have gotten ahold of this house just in the nick of time!

We look forward to more updates!

 

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Goodbye Mattress 8 – Hello Hermit Haus

Lee gleefully clutches the plans to renovate our office building. This is his gleeful expression.

Mattress 8

We closed on the sale of the Mattress 8 property yesterday. It’s gone to a lovely woman named Zoe, who has lots of connections in Temple and will do a great job fixing that house up and getting it ready for new occupants. We are relieved to be able to take the For Sale sign down on that one, since we keep getting calls!

The Hermit Haus

Today, Lee met with Ken Smith of Venture 4, our architectural colleague, to get the final plans for the renovation of the Hermit Haus. It’s going to really look great. Now we can move forward on getting all that funding we need to actually DO this thing.

Even More Progress

Carol and Russell also did a closing this week, which means they have liquidated all their properties in Abilene and can move forward on their plans to acquire more properties south of Austin in the San Marcos area.

It feels great to move forward.

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The Lessons Learned in Mattress 8

So much potential.

It looks like Mattress 8 can go off the for sale list and onto the Lessons Learned list in our sidebar. We reserve that list for special projects that we had high hopes for, but just didn’t work out like we had hoped they would. I’m sure all real estate redevelopers and investors have projects like that (if you don’t, you will).

We’d sucessfully worked on projects in the Temple area before. We did the Ash house with the Andress team, and they had a great general contractor lined up who did a very good job. Lee and I did another house out there in partnership with our friend Vern, who lives in the area. That one also went fine, because he had local contacts.

We continued to include the area as we prospected for houses to buy, and were excited about the Mattress 8 house, which was in a transitional neighborhood with some nice looking houses and some not-so-nice ones. Once we cleared out all the junk and renovation supplies, we got a reasonable bid from the same guy who did the Ash house and all was well…until he had some serious family issues.

This wallpaper fragment was my favorite part of the house.

We waited a while, then tried very hard to find new contractors. The minute we showed them that they’d have to follow a plan and would be paid upon completed work, they’d skedaddle. That did not mean we were going to change how we did business. We want real names, real contracts, and real schedules, which a professional would be glad to provide.

Lee and Mandi went back and forth to Temple many times only to have people not show up, or disappear very quickly.

When we put it on the market, the same thing happened. So many no-shows, other than one neighbor who really thought we should just give it to them, because a family member used to own it (or something like that). They kept calling Mandi.

Kitchen. Before.

But as we know, Lee can be quite creative in selling a house, so when a legitimate fellow investor got interested, they worked out a way to sell the house for not much more than we paid for it, but over time, with good interest. The buyer didn’t pay more than the house was worth, but we do make a profit, just over time.

It’s not ideal, but we learned a lesson: there’s more than one way to sell a sad house.

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Farewell to Mattress 8, We Hope

It really could be a cute house, in a neighborhood where lots of houses are getting fixed up.

I wouldn’t blame you if you forgot about this property, the one in Temple that was chock full of mattresses when we got it. Lee says it’s the only house we ever got that looked better before we got rid of all the stuff inside.

We had a lot of trouble getting a contractor to work on the house, after the original choice, the team who did our previous Temple project, the Ash House,  became unavailable (we only got this one because we thought the first guy would be able to do it, but his life changed). Lee and Mandi went back and forth to Temple so many times to meet with folks who either didn’t show or didn’t bid after they saw the place.

So, Lee put it on the market, but really didn’t market it to anyone other than investors. Again, lots of appointments, lots of cancellations. But suddenly we have ended up with TWO potential buyers! One’s a new investor who Lee likes a lot. We are hoping to sign papers with her today. She’s local to Temple, so will have a lot easier time getting people to work on the place.

The mattresses HAVE been removed.

Our investor friend Vern also has expressed interest, so we have a backup plan, too. That is what you want!

We will be able to make a small profit on this house, which probably covers the gasoline costs of driving back and forth so many times. This one will have to go under the “lessons learned” category when the sale is complete. Don’t work on a house in another town unless you are VERY sure you have the workers lined up.

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