Fern Hill Extreme Makeover

Playing Housing "Leapfrog" on Huntington

Where: 28xx Huntington Ave. South, in St. Louis Park's Fern Hill neighborhood

What: whole house renovation

Who: Mike Sward, agent; Edina Realty, broker

When: due back on market late Summer

How much: projected selling price = low $800's

No, you won't recognize this home driving by -- it won't look like this for a few more months, when the new dormers are added.

For now, it's a hive of dumpsters and contractors, who are busy remaking this 1949 Fern Hill Cape Cod.

When it's complete, the home will go from the runt of the block (1,949 FSF; sold price $390k this March) to the "Charles Atlas," complete with all the bells & whistles.

Extreme Makeover - Fern Hill Edition

Worst-to-First on Huntington

You're not likely to recognize the home pictured above -- 2820 Huntington Ave. South, in St. Louis Park's Fern Hill neighborhood.

And no, it's got nothing to do with the snow being gone.

Rather, it's because there are multiple dumpsters in front, and the place is swarming with contractors.

Extreme Makeover

What's going on?

The new owner, apparently a spec builder/remodeler, is doing a major addition upstairs (finishing the expansion, and bumping it out towards the back of the yard), as well as totally renovating the first floor and widening the garage from one car to two.

When the work is complete, the home is likely to be put back on the market somewhere around $800k, probably sometime in late Summer.

That's more than double what the buyer paid for it, $390k, and still leaves a nice profit even after subtracting what is sure to be $250k or more in labor, material, and financing costs.

Makeover Economics

Extreme makeover candidates share many of the same attributes as tear-downs, about which I've blogged numerous times previously ("Tear-Down Economics," "Contender . . . or Pretender?" "Attributes of Tear-Down Neighborhoods").

Namely, they have the potential to go from "worst to first" in a neighborhood where the ceiling on homes is much higher than the asking price. (I've also referred to this phenomenon as "playing tear-down leapfrog").

In this case, Huntington has a huge, 2,000 square foot foundation; sits on an almost quarter-acre lot; and is on a block where the top end is high six figures.

Check, check, and check.

Real Estate Happy Ending

Extreme Makeover - Minneapolis Edition

In its hey day, this 1930 Tudor near Minneapolis' Cedar Lake was a masterpiece: custom tile everywhere, lath-and-plaster construction, hand-carved crown moldings, high-end masonry, walnut and cherry wood throughout. Not to mention a grand staircase, and a surprisingly modern floor plan.

However, the owners hadn't been able to keep up the property. In fact, years of neglect had left it with major damage and a long list of deferred repairs.

Given its location and large, .33 acre lot, it could easily have been torn down and replaced with an over-sized, out-of-character McMansion. But the owners, who'd grown up in the house, had a strong emotional investment in it, and wanted to see it bought by an owner-occupant who would rehab it.

After two weeks on the market, it sold for $405,000 last August.

The new owner, a contractor and his wife, began work the next day, and have had workers on the property 12 hours a day, seven days a week ever since.

The couple (and their new baby) are just now making the finishing touches on an amazingly restored and updated home that features, where the garage used to be, a brand new sunken Living Room with over-sized windows and French doors; an opened-up, modern new Kitchen; $50,000 of new, energy-efficient windows; gloriously restored hardwood floors, and many, many other high-end improvements. As they say, "the best of old and new."

The former owners are thrilled; the new owners are thrilled; and the neighbors are thrilled (especially the one two doors down, who was also the Realtor who handled the sale: me!).