Moving Forward

Inspired by the progress in Sierra Madre, I'm going to start thinking about Trees House again. Rather than a journal entry, I'll keep updating this entry until it represents a prioritized list of the things I want to address about the house. I'm thinking that the full-blown remodel is unnecessary, but maybe all the little things add up to it, in which case...

Heating system. I have a bid for about $8000 to replace the oil furnace with one that runs on gas. John Jones says we can do it for $4000 or so. I haven't done it because I would like to get rid of the ducts. The current electric heaters x 6 were running about $350/mo last winter (I should nail that down) and winter is coming round again.

Extend garage. It doesn't work to park a car under those trees. A lockable garage seems important--people in this neighborhood leave for days and weeks. It would be nice if burglars couldn't tell by the presence of a car whether you're home. Doing a carport instead would mean losing all that storage to passers by.

Site development - Front yard. This is urgent. Things are dying, other things are overgrown. The crumbling path is starting to say 17th c. France. Also, the Douglas Fir's roots are burgeoning and I'd like to realign the drive a little to stay off them. We have no walk to the second front door at the moment, but front yard development can help with the front door confusion.

Kitchen. Now that I'm using the kitchen, I am terribly frustrated by its inefficient layout. I want that Kohler sink with the built-in cutting board and drying rack. In addition to lack of counter space, there's no storage space. A new gas range, a real vent hood, a larger refrigerator--hard to see how that yields more storage and counter space.

New roof. The roof is at end of life, but maybe a pressure-wash would be enough. I don't know, but the roof is a major part of the curb appeal. A garage extension would need to tie-in at the roof somehow. I suspect that once the shingles are off, we'll need to repair sags and gaps. A whole new roof (26 squares) and 260 linear feet of gutter is probably $10,000 or so. My concern is that the trees rain junk on the roof, so a new roof will look old soon enough. It's great that we don't seem to have any leaks, despite the clogged gutters.

Site development - Rear yard. Clearly less important since I never go outside and Carkeek Park sells itself, but the deck is half torn-up and partly rotten. The hot tub space just sits there, with an unpainted wood railing. The hole where the palm tree was ruins the pond's ability to hold water, and the pond is still ugly blue. Also, I don't like the mish-mash of railings at the top of slope.

Bathroom #2. I hate this layout, from the plastic shower to the pocket door. But if I just want to dress it up and sell it, I need to address the broken vanity and medicine cabinet.

Master Bath. I don't want a spa tub, especially if it means I have to high jump to get in the shower. The slit stained glass window is horrible--energy-wise, hack carpentry-wise, no light-wise. I would really like a real window and a tile shower. Ideally, a no-step shower, which involves notching the floor. I'm sure they could do it for $20,000 or so. Maybe a curb shower. Sigh.

Mother In Law. Let's assume I rent out that room. I could improve the bath a little, perhaps. The heater works fine. We could take out the exercise equipment. The renter would come into the breezeway, or the garage, I guess. The window is still cracked, but the heater works. Replace the crappy carpentry at the trim.

Attic clean-up. The "Clean Crawls" bidder said I should leave the rock wool insulation in the attic and cover it with fiberglass batts. To do that, I'll have to un-bag the insulation and fill in where it isn't. I'm not sure what's going on over the kitchen, but I think it's un-insulated. I don't want to think about it.

Insulate under main house. The ducts and joists are completely uninsulated.

Fireplace damper. Repair the flue and install a damper--bids were like $1000-$1500.

New front doors. I don't like the builder-quality doors I have, but they are both good quality in good condition. Not clear it's worth it.

Zillow lists a bunch of projects with costs and added value. Pretty general, but if they are right, they recommend:

• Fiberglass Attic Insulation - 50.3% return
• Garage Door Replacement - 36.8% return
• Vinyl Window Replacement - 13.8% return
• Bathroom Remodel - 13.0% return
• Major Kitchen Remodel - 7.7% return
• Entry Door Replacement - 4% return
• Siding Replacement - 3.2% return

They include Basement Remodel, but it works out at -5.8% loss on investment.

Thinking about the front yard

The big Douglas Fir next to the driveway is acting up. The roots are pushing up the crumbling asphaltic concrete driveway. Peggy suggests routing the driveway around the tree more, which would (generally speaking) cause the driveway to overlap the drainage swale.

The Douglas fir is pushing up the driveway

So, I'm thinking--what if I just make the swale a pipe and provide off-street parking there?

Imagine this paved

The cedar's roots are already causing a problem

Studs out remodel on 9th Avenue

I was surprised to see this on a short walk this morning. The address is 12042 9th Ave. NW, a 10,166 SF square lot (101' square, roughly).

They left little bits of each rafter...I don't know why. Big plate glass windows are still there, but with no protection as the ceiling and roof were removed around them.

Meet the neighbors

I introduced myself to the new neighbors down the street at 11804 9th Avenue NW. I met Madeleine and Ryan and their young daughter. They are just moving in over Memorial Day weekend.

Redfin says the house was 890 SF when they bought it in 2010, but Ryan says it's now 2900, including the basement. Madeleine's mother acted as general contractor. I gave her my contact information; I'd really like to talk to the mom.

Madeleine said their neighbor to the north, Mary, was from the family that homesteaded the whole area (my record shows that the 890 was the first house on the block, like 1939).

The house is very nicely done--wood casement windows with the same Craftsman trim that we did in Johnson. The kitchen, dining, living area is all laminate floor designed to look like recycled barn siding. Not sure it's the best choice, but they cleverly used it on the kitchen island (the back of the cabinets, where children's feet will kick). The railing at the stairs is also very nice--gray powder-coated steel with wire mesh squares and a stained wood handrail. They have a back den that could be another bedroom with a pass-thru bathroom, and a mother-in-law unit downstairs. They don't seem to have a garage anymore.

I like the interior colors they chose, mostly a slightly warm gray, with a narrow panel of very dark blue near the kitchen.

Comparables in the Neighborhood

Update 5/27/2017: Circling back, I see that both these houses sold:

12023 9th - Ask: $1,225,000 Sold 5/18/16: $1,188,000 (3% under asking)
13017 3rd - Ask: $849,950 Sold 3/24/16: $819,000 (3.6% under asking)

13017 3rd before flipping:


I toured an open house Wednesday, 2/10/16, around the corner at 12023 9th Ave NW. It's a well-done contemporary right off the street with a driveway to a flag lot next to it. The house downhill in the back (the flag) is for sale, too, perhaps because the new house looms menacingly over it.

They did a lot of things right with this house, though--10' ceilings in the basement and first floor, 8'-9' on the second floor. Hydronic heating throughout, with mechanical air circulation to supplement. The garage opens to the great room right next to the kitchen with no steps--the realtor, Chuck Cady, pointed this out. The coming home experience is just right--park in your garage, close the door, step through a single door and put down the groceries.

By comparison, the house at 13017 3rd Ave. NW is overpriced junk. I took a lot of pictures during construction and saw shoddy work at every turn. It's a slab on grade on a busy arterial with hardly any yard. It's not surprising that it hasn't sold. Listed at $884,500 on September 12, the price dropped to $849,950 on September 30. And there it sits, 152 days on Zillow. The Zestimate is $572, 33% below asking. $347/SF.

4 BR, 2.5 Ba, 2450SF, Lot:8,158 - almost a tear-down of a 1948 house bought for $340 9/2014.
5 BR, 4 Ba, 3831SF, Lot: 7,497 - built new 2016

The new, well-done house, by the way, has a Zestimate of $958, 22% below asking. It seems like it should have a sound view, but it doesn't. $320/SF.

There's another new contemporary, 720 NW 125th Street, that isn't listed on Zillow, Trulia or Redfin. I watched them build this one, too, with radiant heat in the slab. It's extremely well done and it does have a gorgeous sound view. No yard, unfortunately, and 125th is a busier street than some--the new house is across from a bus stop. I think they're asking $1.2, but I'm not sure where I got that.

From city records, I see its an 8400 SF lot, 3765SF. The architect was Novion Group (206) 361-6188, 8634 3rd Ave NW. Structural by SSS. Built by Kohary Builders, 5600 Kirkwood Place N, Suite A, (206) 784-4505.

We're still here

After at least three months hiatus, I'm being forced to think about the remodeling project by Filco, the oil tank remediation people. I got the boss (Nate Montgomery) to say that they'd be done by the middle of February back in January--it seemed like an easy goal, but of course they've taken all the time.

Henry, the foreman, drives the Volvo Compact Excavator

The hiatus works because the house has been surviving the winter very nicely. The gutters are still clogged, various eave issues still exist, but there is no sign that the roof is leaking. (To be fair, I haven't looked.) I have six electric heaters (two built-in) running to convert the outside temperature of 43-55 into 65-69 inside. I put plastic over a few windows, closed off BR3 and BR2 and it's been okay. The electric bill doubled, but my gut feeling is that it's a win over $1400/year oil (but I haven't even verified that number).

Henry showed up with three big trucks this morning at about 7:20 a.m. (Nate said 8:00 a.m, but I was ready for them.) I'm prepared for "3-5 days" so I expect there will be a hole filling with rain over the weekend. Changes one's attitude about redundant front doors.

The Zestimate on the house is $594,792. I would need to spend $25,000 on a furnace, roof and gutters, perhaps, but if this inflation is true, that's a gross $127,792. I'm out of pocket for the survey, soils report, half the building permit, and structural engineering. The excise tax would be $9,517.

I need to hold it two years, to avoid capital gains, so I can't sell before October 27, 2016. Rather than sell in winter, we're talking about March 2017. The no remodeling scenario, then, is $467 + $12 (plans) + $25 improvements = basis is $504. If I list for $619 and sell for $595 my profit (minus excise) is $81,500. That's a 16% simple return, which is not bad.