We made the best of a bad situation with difficult tenants.
Today I’m here with Jon Whitener of Legacy Builders in Templeton, California, who has a story to share of a nightmare house with nightmare tenants who had to be evicted.
Back when the pandemic hit, I had a client with some tenants who decided to stop paying rent at their rental property. They weren’t impacted by COVID income-wise; they just decided not to pay their rent, and there was nothing that my clients could do. The homeowner needed the income from the rental, as it was a tough year. With the help of the sheriff’s department, I was able to eventually get the tenants out.
While the sheriff was there serving the papers, the lady who lived there told her young child to trash the house, leaving it a wreck. The home had a ton of potential, and though I didn’t see the beauty under the mess, Jon did. Together, we were able to lay out different scenarios for the homeowner.
“Sometimes it pays off to make the best of a bad situation.”
The landscape was overgrown and had no curb appeal at all. Honestly, it was the ugliest house on the block. Ultimately, Jon partnered with the homeowner. He charged $40,000 for a $150,000 renovation of the trashed home, which the seller paid zero out of pocket for. They went in and did a facelift on the exterior, cleaned up the landscaping, repainted the inside, redid the kitchen, installed new flooring and baseboards, as well as little touch-ups all over the place. They even reconfigured the master suite to make it more functional.
From the time the first shovel hit the ground to the point when the home was listed on the MLS, the process took 30 days. Our target price was $595,000, but in the end, the house sold for $650,000! Again, the best part was that the homeowner paid zero out of pocket. It was a gamble, but in our case, “the juice was worth the squeeze.” Sometimes it pays off to make the best of a bad situation.
If you have any questions about difficult tenants, renovating your home, or preparing your home for the market, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.
