[David Garber is a DC neighborhood blogger and real estate entrepreneur. His mission: help bring back DC’s neighborhoods, one rotting house at a time. You can read David’s first post here.]
The U Street House is at the center of the photograph, just steps from MLK Ave. In a couple of years, a streetcar stop will be located just left of this intersection.
It’s month two and progress is finally being made. Because I am essentially fixing the shoddy work of a previously-attempted flip, a lot of this initial work is less Crazy Wow That Looks So Different stuff and more invisible and less exciting things: “old” wiring ripped out and new wiring put in, recessed lighting re-aligned, plumbing adjusted and replaced, and window holes measured and cut.
I found some awesome brand new transom windows at Community Forklift that I am using in the back bedroom at eye level. If you’re stranding tall, you will be able to see views out of them, but they’re meant to add a little bit of a modern feel while drawing in dappled sunlight.
There was one hiccup that stalled the project since the last update – the realization that I actually had a few more steps to complete with the bank before I could get the construction money. Although I had been totally approved for the money and the loan was closed on when I purchased the house, the fine print was that I needed to create a draw schedule with my contractor so that the bank had a way to regulate the disbursal of funds. That took a couple weeks to work out: schedule made, opened a new bank account in my LLC’s name, and gave the first big fat check to the contractor.
For those of you interested in how I got the loan in the first place, here are the Cliff’s Notes: approached Washington First Bank – because they are headquartered locally and deal with me like a human rather than a number, pitched my idea and included numbers and neighborhood development narratives, and found both an equity partner and a guarantor for the loan. Banks these days aren’t just giving money on whims, so they make sure to cover all their bases – but I ended up with a construction loan in one of the worst ever recessions. My suggestion – deal with local people. The 1-800 number name-brand banks don’t really care about you or the neighborhoods as much.
The new wiring is pretty gorgeous – neat lines and bright colors. When renovating an old house and are already opening walls and floors (okay, yes, this house essentially a brand new house in an old shell), I recommend redoing all the plumbing and electric if you can afford it. Definitely worth it considering it’s an investment against future nightmares.
Despite the sort-of slowdown, the project is still moving – and some excitingly visible things Are finally happening. From the exterior, the U Street House looks like a complete hodgepodge of stucco styles, and window sizes. It’s a cute little house, but it has some awkward features on the outside that I am going to try to unify through the use of windows, trims, and a new coat of stucco all around. Continues after the jump. (more…)
