House 3: End Of Week 3 Update

Wow.. I had to go back and check my blog entries, but it really has only been three weeks since Mark started working on the property. Feels like it's been four weeks to me.

I stopped by the property unannounced today. Mark wasn't there, but it was lunchtime, so he may have been off eating. My first thought was not much had been done since the last time I was there, but closer inspection revealed that not to be true.

All the doors have been replaced except for the front door. That's 9 doors total and most had to have the doorframe rebuilt. The bathroom was pretty much finished. The shower enclosure was installed and looked very nice. The new medicine cabinet was in and the vanity plumbing was connected. The linoleum in the bathroom and the fireplace room (for lack of a better name) was removed in preparation for new flooring to be installed. The linoleum in the kitchen and dining area still needs to be removed. A new kitchen countertop was in the house, but not yet installed. The old car and engine were still in the backyard, however, as were the old appliances in the house.

Later in the day, I called and spoke with Mark. He said he's planning on replacing the front door tomorrow (Saturday) and starting on the kitchen countertop and sink. His painter will be in towards the end of next week and while the inside is being painted, Mark will work on the outside.

He said on Monday he's going to send me an invoice for his second of three payments, which means he is two-thirds of the way done. I asked about the car and he said the people he's calling say they want it still, but they haven't picked it up yet. He says he's calling them every day. He's going to try some other people on Monday. He also said he received a quote from a drywall guy to put drywall over the two walls with wood paneling in the fireplace room. The quote came in at $850. He doesn't think he could do it himself for much cheaper. That's more pricey than I expected, so I'm going to skip this step and just leave the wood paneling up. With the old shelving taken down, it doesn't look so bad now.

He did tell me that several people have stopped by while he was working and asked if the house will be for sale. He gave them my phone number. I haven't received any calls, but it would be nice if I did. If I can sell it FSBO, I can save a few grand on commissions. The next time I stop by the place, I'm going to leave a stack of business cards for him to hand out.

Since he is now at the two-thirds point, I'm going to call the carpet installers on Monday and get that ball rolling. I'll also stop by a Lowes sometime and get the new stove ordered.