After notifying us that they weren’t planning to renew their lease-option, the lease-purchase tenants for The Corn House apparently didn’t want to finish out their current lease (they told us they were leaving in March, when their lease was up), and have vacated the property after two years…
The good news is that they left the property in great shape — they spackled the walls where they left holes, the laminate hardwoods are in great shape, the appliances (other than a broken microwave) are in perfect condition, and there is very little any wear-and-tear given two years of living in the house. The bad news is that it will still likely take about $10K worth of work to get the property into saleable shape. At very least, it needs a new roof, both interior and exterior paint, some deck repairs, carpet cleaning/stretching and some other minor fixes.
The other bad news is that the property values in this area have dropped about 15-20% since we purchased the house in August 2008, so even with the rent we’ve earned and the lease-purchase escrow we’re keeping, we’ll only break-even (or fall a little on one side or the other) on this entire project. Another option would be to rent or find another lease-purchase tenant, but to be honest, I think we’re all ready to get rid of this house, even if it means losing some money long-term.
We’ve already started renovations, and I’ll have more updates in a couple days…including more to say about the new roof we put on that needs to be torn off already… 🙂
Considering it was your very first house… coulda been worse.
#1 is always a lesson think of all the great deals you are getting now and let it go.
question what type of wood floors have you been using i am thinking laminate what brand have you been happy with? keep up the good work