The Zion House (BEFORE)
It’s one thing to renovate a property, but it’s absolutely crazy to try and renovate two at the same time. Well, I’ve always been a little crazy.
We are driving back from our visit to The Zion House, this was our OUR FIRST VISIT (it’s very common for us in a competitive market to put down an offer before seeing the place, waiting just means you might lose the opportunity). I have 3 hrs to tell you all about it. Well, I’m not going to use all 3 of those hours because unfortunately a play-by-play might not capture your interest — but I’m going to tell you all the juicy details about this property.
Before I dive into it – there are a few things you should know about Andrew and I when it comes to investing in real estate. These are tips that will hopefully help you as you find your next place!
First, we look for potential. We want to buy the absolute worst house on the block, because the worst often just means it needs a good paint job, new floors, some TLC in the backyard, and new fixtures. These are called cosmetic changes, and don’t take hiring an expensive architect, engineer, or contractor to help.
Second, we often put in offers without seeing the property – this allows us to be quick and grab things under market value (which is hard right now with the Hot Market). Just be sure the necessary contingencies / clauses exist that you can back-out penalty free before doing this.
Third, We DO NOT make full cash offers as tying up more money in one house means you can’t buy a second, a third, or even your 10th. With interest rates so low — pretty much the bank is giving you free money, keep your credit score high, put 20% down, and let the bank be your partner in this one!
Fourth, every property is its own business. We have to know we are making money going into the purchase, or we don’t purchase it. Is there risk involved, yes. But that risk shouldn’t be whether or not you will make money – it should be whether or not this is the BEST place to put your money.
OKAY now let’s get into it — here are all the details about house #2, a property I like to call “The Zion House” as it is located in a quiet community less than 30 minutes of Zion National Park, one of our favorite parks in the United States. Although we might be biased, because we live in and love Utah.
This is a prefabricated house, originally a double wide with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms that was expanded and 2 studios were added to the back (bedrooms with master bathrooms, and one has a loft to add some pizazz). The foundation is solid, meaning it is permanently fixed to the land on .25 acres — a descent sized lot with a spacious backyard.
We have NEVER purchased a prefab before so we had no expectations of what the house would look like. Truthfully the cabinets, counters, and fixtures all need to go — they are cheap material and very old. The floor is already out, thanks to the sellers who decided that halfway through their renovation project they wanted to sell — so the project was halted mid renovation. This is where we would take over…
I have a lot of ideas for this property, and am impressed with how solid the structure is (2×4 construction) and LOVE that you can rent it out to 3 separate parties. This would be a nightly rental for tourists coming to visit the Greater Zion Area, and it could easily be a beautiful Hacienda style property — with a little (okay A LOT) of TLC.
I’m going to link the BEFORE photos here and then share a Pinterest board of my inspiration for what it will become. Scroll on!
This would be our first “pre-fab” purchase (meaning it was made in a factory and transported to the site) so we truly don’t know what to expect, but we love that it’s a blank slate.
What do you think —
Close or Back Out?
