The Fixer Upper Route!

Two of my closest and most stubborn friends who I’ve been telling for years they need to buy a house before they are priced out finally did it!  Riley and Lori were renting a really cute house in Kenton owned by this super cool 90+ year old guy, Hank. The rent was cheap, the location was perfect, and the idea of paying more in a mortgage and all of the expenses that goes with owning was overwhelming.   They tried talking to Hank about selling to them, and at first it seemed hopeful, but then he didn’t remember having that conversation with them.  He said he’d think about it again, and when he came back to them with an answer, he just didn’t want to deal with the tax burden of selling.

I kept pestering them to get going, but what finally convinced them to start the search was that they got pregnant and realized it was time.  Here starts the challenge because they had 3 criteria they would absolutely not budge on.  1. It had to be in North Portland.  They wouldn’t even look at anything anywhere else.  2.  It had to have a shop for Riley to do her wood working.  3.  It had to have a lot of natural light for Lori.  All of this was incredibly hard to find on a minimal budget and on a time crunch.  In addition, because they’re both working class punks and all around good people, they wouldn’t look at houses that were tenant occupied because they didn’t want to be a part of displacing anyone.

We became experts on every last turd in Nopo.  We saw all of the new and all of the old.  There was this one house in St. Johns that was originally cash only, but we didn’t go see it because of that.   It looked pretty shabby from the pics online, but the draw was the huge two car garage behind it.  A month later that house came back on the market as being financeable so we went to see it.

It was ROUGH.  You could tell that the seller did the bare minimum repairs so that a bank would loan on it.  There didn’t seem to have been love between those walls in decades.  It needed a roof, a new heating system, new floors, interior and exterior paint, a water heater, a whole new re-pipe, had structural rot, a kitchen, a bathroom, but they wanted it.  I am usually good at seeing the vision, but on this one I just wasn’t sure.  We weighed all the pros and cons but what it came down to is that they would not be able to compete in a multiple offer situation on anything new on the market.  If they wanted all 3 of their criteria, they had to do it the hard way.

We went through inspections and gathered a million bids.  We then presented the seller with the amount of work the house needed hoping for any monetary compensation but he couldn’t have cared less and threatened to terminate the deal and wait for an investor to buy it.  With no repairs or compensation from the seller, they moved forward.  Like the old punks they are, they called in every favor from any friend with a skill or ability to help.  Some people painted, one re-piped the house, others refinished the hardwoods etc…. Riley was over there every second she wasn’t working breaking her back to get it ready.  The transformation on their budget is truly amazing.  I can’t believe how cute it is now.  Congrats you guys, you wouldn’t budge from the dream and you made it happen!

Reg Martocci

Broker

Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts my love affair with real estate began when I was 19 and owned my first triple-decker. Being a landlady at 19 quickly taught me  the importance of learning DIY skills to turn an old junky three-decker into a place someone would love to call home.  There is nothing more satisfying to me than watching a property transform.  Since then, I have been fascinated by the idea of home and the aesthetics that appeal to people and warm a space up. What is it about a space makes a person feel at home?  Is it an open floor plan? A garden? Hardwood floors or a south facing kitchen?  It is different for everyone and I would love the opportunity to help you find it. I graduated from Umass Amherst with a degree in Sustainable Living and Natural Health and naturally moved to Portland to find my people. Waiting tables and bartending all over Portland for the last 10 years has allowed me to really get to know many of the neighborhoods this beautiful city has to offer.  I've lived in and rented houses all over Alberta, Concordia, Hawthorne and Division until buying a house and settling in Kenton two years ago. If I'm not working you can bet that I'm somewhere in Oregon thrifting, at the river, working on my house, or catching happy hour with friends. Reg Martocci reg@livingroomre.com 508-340-1456 t 503-961-8224 f

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• T: 508-340-1456
• F: 503-961-8224
• reg@livingroomre.com