Imagine that you are in the exact middle of a mosh pit surrounded by a thousand people at Bunbury 2018 with Chainsmokers playing in front of you, and then somehow you see that you have a text and multiple missed calls from your neighbor. "There's something happening at your building and police are there now. I heard gun shots and saw someone firing into your courtyard."
Oh, shit.
By the time that I made it out of the sea of people and walked back home, the police and fire fighters had already been on the scene for a while. Another neighbor's cameras has caught a lot of the event on film like an episode of Cops, so we knew most of what had happened - just had no clue why.
My front gate had bullet marks. It turned out that I was "lucky" according to the fire fighters because since it happened outside, they could hose off the blood and bleach the smell; otherwise it would have been mine to clean up. After answering all their questions and waiting for hours for them to complete the investigation, we were allowed back inside and able to go to bed after a traumatic night. Not a lot of sleep.
Unfortunately, this was just the start of the bloodshed that weekend. It was the first of 3 murders in 3 days and a few more that week. The calmest summer yet for gun violence since I had moved here over 5 years ago had just spiked abruptly. Even the news media & 3CDC were on spin control, as they feared it would deter visitors to the neighborhood. It had been a while since anyone questioned OTR's newfound safety, including me, and suddenly it was now on my doorstep, literally.
The next morning I felt like I should do something. To prevent it again - but how, it was so random? To wash it away - it was already bleached, but another round helped clear my mind. As I sprayed, the family of the victim came by to just see where it happened. A police grief counselor came over to talk to them. As I turned to go back inside, the uncle drove his car to the curb in front of the building and stuck a 40oz Colt 45 out of his window. We both watched it empty and he sped away.
I still felt like I needed to do something. As the bodies continued to fall that week, it built on me. I decided to see if I could get a Before I Die art installation from an Art Academy student to help start a community conversation around these deaths. I made another board that said "Life is too short: to be/not to..." and put it in front of my building. The police and a few neighbors held a procession around the blocks and started writing with chalk on the boards to give some inspiration to others on what they could do before they die or in their short lifetime. It didn't seem to spark the conversation we hoped - more just as a target for vandalism and the anger. After a few weeks we took them down.
It was a little while after that that the memorials started in front of my building. It started with balloons on my front gate that I moved it to a nearby street sign. It quickly escalated to candles, flowers, and more balloons. As the flowers withered, I cleaned them up. As the balloons popped, I cleaned them up. Then they began to be plastic flowers and mylar balloons. After 3 months of playing gravekeeper, I had had enough and needed closure myself. I cleaned them up more frequently and it escalated further to them tagging the sidewalk with graffiti, then even the side of my building. The city power-washed the spray paint, but I had to send that this needed to be taken elsewhere. I posted signs directly memorials to his actual grave site. They took the signs down at first then eventually stopped. Every once in a while they'll be back and taken down promptly. It's been a battle over turf that the victim had only know for approximately a month.
The aftermath was the worst part for all involved. It turned out that the deceased victim had started dating my tenant about a month prior to the murder. That was the connection that brought him to his final spot here. And it started a ripple effect that caused a search of my tenant's apartment where they found a gun that violated her dad(also my tenant & living together)'s parole. Now her dad is in jail for 3 years, she can't make rent (and wasn't even on the lease officially), and I had to be the bad guy to end their MTM lease. They had been my tenants for 4+ years and steered clear of all of the drugs and gun violence in the area for much longer - it only took one mistaken month to sink their ship. It was really sad and hard.
Showing posts with label 203-205 E. Clifton Ave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 203-205 E. Clifton Ave. Show all posts
January 16, 2019
First priority: Refilling 203-205 apartments & short-term rental subletting
It might seem counter-intuitive, but it was actually my first action to take steps to shore up longer-term cash flow from my existing 6-unit building rather than to focus immediately on 201 E. Clifton.
I had converted all of the existing tenants' leases towards month-to-month tenancy in order to prepare for the impending construction. Now that the rehab was on hold, I went back to get them signed for longer term leases to cut my risk of them leaving.
I also had to refill the vacancy in 205#2 that I had intentionally not re-leased after the girls left. This was a big hole in my cash flows since it was the largest and nicest apartment that I have. I had actually tried to refill it for months (since February) but even after 75 showings and dropping the price, I was struggling to find a tenant. I had everyone from out of towners from all ends of America to locals to neighbors to city council candidates and nothing. The common refrain was not having laundry or air conditioning provided were deal breakers. Even those that would look passed these issues and fill out an application, they would vaporize and go MIA before signing a lease. Marketing while it's cold out didn't help.
Finally around the time that I closed on 201 E Clifton, I was approach by a local college student with a short-term rental business. He would sign a lease, completely decorate and furnish the apartment, add nicer locks, and manage the rentals if I would sign off on his ability to sublet the apartment. My monthly rent would come from him regardless of how often he rented it and he would keep the difference in what he earned. He also would clean the apartment and halls regularly as well as repair any damages.
To say that it has been a blessing is an understatement. Beside it making the lack of laundry irrelevant, the window units that he installed haven't had any complaints. It's easy to tell who is staying there and I've had positive interactions with his guests and gotten similar complements from my other longer-term tenants. The few times that guests were loud, it was only a few hours and then they were gone the next day (I wish I could say the same of my other tenants).
It's been amazing to hear the stories of people visiting Cincinnati. I never realized how many families come to town regularly for testing at Children's Hospital (really made me appreciate the quality of care we have locally). It makes me happy that they enjoy the experience of staying in my building while they are here (and want to come back). It's a good thing.
I had converted all of the existing tenants' leases towards month-to-month tenancy in order to prepare for the impending construction. Now that the rehab was on hold, I went back to get them signed for longer term leases to cut my risk of them leaving.
I also had to refill the vacancy in 205#2 that I had intentionally not re-leased after the girls left. This was a big hole in my cash flows since it was the largest and nicest apartment that I have. I had actually tried to refill it for months (since February) but even after 75 showings and dropping the price, I was struggling to find a tenant. I had everyone from out of towners from all ends of America to locals to neighbors to city council candidates and nothing. The common refrain was not having laundry or air conditioning provided were deal breakers. Even those that would look passed these issues and fill out an application, they would vaporize and go MIA before signing a lease. Marketing while it's cold out didn't help.
Finally around the time that I closed on 201 E Clifton, I was approach by a local college student with a short-term rental business. He would sign a lease, completely decorate and furnish the apartment, add nicer locks, and manage the rentals if I would sign off on his ability to sublet the apartment. My monthly rent would come from him regardless of how often he rented it and he would keep the difference in what he earned. He also would clean the apartment and halls regularly as well as repair any damages.
To say that it has been a blessing is an understatement. Beside it making the lack of laundry irrelevant, the window units that he installed haven't had any complaints. It's easy to tell who is staying there and I've had positive interactions with his guests and gotten similar complements from my other longer-term tenants. The few times that guests were loud, it was only a few hours and then they were gone the next day (I wish I could say the same of my other tenants).
It's been amazing to hear the stories of people visiting Cincinnati. I never realized how many families come to town regularly for testing at Children's Hospital (really made me appreciate the quality of care we have locally). It makes me happy that they enjoy the experience of staying in my building while they are here (and want to come back). It's a good thing.
April 6, 2018
Learning how to be a Developer - Part A
The biggest update of the last 2 years is what I have been spending a majority of the last 12-15 months doing. As alluded to in earlier update posts, my mindset switched when I got to the next band-aid renovation in 203#1. I was tired of beating my head against a wall doing the same thing over again and continuing to push off the more major changes that were needed to take the building to the next level. Sweat equity was only taking me so far and I was burned out.
So obviously I went to the other extreme. I decided to "go big or go home" and bite the bullet by planning a huge overhaul renovation that would require both a gigantic loan from a bank and a professional general contractor to spent all that money.
And so I did it. I did what I do best - make spreadsheets and put together a sales package to shop to banks. I built a market survey of every market-rate rental in the area to comp against (take that appraisers I thought), built a pro forma that was so complicated that most bankers were afraid to ask a question (take that mortgage underwriters I though), and designed maps and executive summaries to sell the story of the area (believe that loan committee). Along the way I delved into new areas for me like spending money on architects - over-analyzing each and every design detail (and learning how hard it is to both Tetris a bathroom into an existing building and meet code requirements for windows in bedrooms), spending money on entitlement approvals and permits (and bending to their will in the Historic Conservation Board), spending money on LEED certification (and just getting validation that the things I was already going to do check their boxes), spending money on Commercial CRA tax abatement applications (and navigating red tape that won't even let me start demo until I've kissed the ring), and spending time with general contractors (and continuously not understanding in any real detailed way where all that money is going to go!).
Now to be fair, when I started, I was green - like walk into a room and not have any clue green. I'm still a novice, but I think I'm getting to the point where I know enough to be dangerous. It's really been an expensive learning experience (bye $30k), but there is still a ton to learn before I'll ever finish a project; let alone a really good one.
But the bottom line is that I spent a bunch of time & money learning, and got there. On 2/9/2018 I had done it. I had two loan commitment letters in hand from two community banks that were at terms even better than I'd pro forma'd out at the start. I had a contract ready to sign with my general contractor. I had the final bill that my construction permits were ready to be picked up and ready to get started. My CRA tax abatement was ready to send to city council for approval and final blessing by the mayor.
And then I freaked the fuck out and decided to put it all on hold.
That day when I reached the no-turning-back moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror and ask myself if I was doing the right thing to commit to moving forward. The problem was that my gut was telling me otherwise. Yes, I convinced others that I could do it, and there was a very real chance that I could do it as it was laid out on that paper.
But it just so happened that that same week the stock market dipped hard for the first time in a long while, so I contemplated the downside risk. How confident was I if things didn't go as planned? Was I willing to risk everything I had (because it was all in there - and even more that my family had contributed)? Would I be able to achieve the rents that I had comped and projected if markets did turn south? Then I contemplated the yoga that I had already done to make the ever increasing construction costs work (it went up over $50k in 3 months); how would I handle it if that continued? Then I contemplated where else I could find money if the bank's appraisal didn't come in high enough; how would I fill that gap?
In the end the question that made me hold off was: why am I putting so much pressure on myself to do this now & forcing this project?
Nothing was forcing me to take this potentially fatal leap except my own expectations and the sunk costs. So I wrote down the flipside. What did my life look like if I didn't do this project now? And frankly it looked a lot less risky and like there were a lot more opportunities that I could take advantage of if I didn't do this project now. So here I am today, ready to do this project, but putting it on hold and instead looking for my plan B to get me to the point that restarting this project makes sense.
So obviously I went to the other extreme. I decided to "go big or go home" and bite the bullet by planning a huge overhaul renovation that would require both a gigantic loan from a bank and a professional general contractor to spent all that money.
And so I did it. I did what I do best - make spreadsheets and put together a sales package to shop to banks. I built a market survey of every market-rate rental in the area to comp against (take that appraisers I thought), built a pro forma that was so complicated that most bankers were afraid to ask a question (take that mortgage underwriters I though), and designed maps and executive summaries to sell the story of the area (believe that loan committee). Along the way I delved into new areas for me like spending money on architects - over-analyzing each and every design detail (and learning how hard it is to both Tetris a bathroom into an existing building and meet code requirements for windows in bedrooms), spending money on entitlement approvals and permits (and bending to their will in the Historic Conservation Board), spending money on LEED certification (and just getting validation that the things I was already going to do check their boxes), spending money on Commercial CRA tax abatement applications (and navigating red tape that won't even let me start demo until I've kissed the ring), and spending time with general contractors (and continuously not understanding in any real detailed way where all that money is going to go!).
Now to be fair, when I started, I was green - like walk into a room and not have any clue green. I'm still a novice, but I think I'm getting to the point where I know enough to be dangerous. It's really been an expensive learning experience (bye $30k), but there is still a ton to learn before I'll ever finish a project; let alone a really good one.
But the bottom line is that I spent a bunch of time & money learning, and got there. On 2/9/2018 I had done it. I had two loan commitment letters in hand from two community banks that were at terms even better than I'd pro forma'd out at the start. I had a contract ready to sign with my general contractor. I had the final bill that my construction permits were ready to be picked up and ready to get started. My CRA tax abatement was ready to send to city council for approval and final blessing by the mayor.
And then I freaked the fuck out and decided to put it all on hold.
That day when I reached the no-turning-back moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror and ask myself if I was doing the right thing to commit to moving forward. The problem was that my gut was telling me otherwise. Yes, I convinced others that I could do it, and there was a very real chance that I could do it as it was laid out on that paper.
But it just so happened that that same week the stock market dipped hard for the first time in a long while, so I contemplated the downside risk. How confident was I if things didn't go as planned? Was I willing to risk everything I had (because it was all in there - and even more that my family had contributed)? Would I be able to achieve the rents that I had comped and projected if markets did turn south? Then I contemplated the yoga that I had already done to make the ever increasing construction costs work (it went up over $50k in 3 months); how would I handle it if that continued? Then I contemplated where else I could find money if the bank's appraisal didn't come in high enough; how would I fill that gap?
In the end the question that made me hold off was: why am I putting so much pressure on myself to do this now & forcing this project?
Nothing was forcing me to take this potentially fatal leap except my own expectations and the sunk costs. So I wrote down the flipside. What did my life look like if I didn't do this project now? And frankly it looked a lot less risky and like there were a lot more opportunities that I could take advantage of if I didn't do this project now. So here I am today, ready to do this project, but putting it on hold and instead looking for my plan B to get me to the point that restarting this project makes sense.
April 5, 2018
New Neighbors and Safer Streets
Over the past 2 years, a few other key drivers should not be overlooked and, as it turns out, they are a little bit "chicken & egg".
The first one is increasing safety in the area north of Liberty. Cincinnati's Police Department has spent a lot of extra resources in our area and it has really started to pay dividends that are starting to be seen and felt today. For years down here I was the only one even reporting many crimes and drug deals that were happening in broad daylight. I can remember weeks where I called in a gun shot every night and some nights multiple. Looking back, I now question my sanity and laugh at my nativity.
But CPD does a great job of following the data points and it turns out that I called enough for them to realize that they had a hot spot up here worth the extra resources. It hasn't gone away, but regular bike patrols and cruisers are more than welcome in what used to be the wild west in the heart of the city. Another important tool that has been put in place are police cameras throughout the area. They help the police build solid cases against know offenders, so that they can keep them off of the streets rather than cycled quickly though the jailhouse. In my first days in OTR, I would hear stories of a "huge bust" then a few months later see the same offenders return back to the street and back to business. Not so around here anymore.
It will take a constant effort to keep these forces at bay because literal decades of miscreant behavior has been carved into the collective memory of many of the people now being released from jail and migrating back through the city. They keep coming back! Who are they I ask because I haven't seen them in the last 5 years that I've been here, yet they bring back memories of a past era when you litter on the streets 5 feet from a street can "because it's OTR" and you come to OTR from your other neighborhoods to drink in the streets and deal in drugs that you don't want in you own neighborhood! It's sad, but I don't know of a good way to fight this corrosive culture.
Which brings me to the second driver for change that has happened in the area and that's new neighbors. And while yes, there are new people moving into the neighborhood and visible signs of buildings being fixed and actual occupancy in buildings that were once vacant blight; that is not what I mean by this. I mean the new community of neighbors in the area that is starting to form. Who are tired of putting up with this bad behavior, who want to have a safe place for their children to live and safe parks for their children to play, and who are chipping in to take their neighborhood back from this corrosive culture. Many of them have been here for years living in fear while the wild west winds blew outside. That's changing recently.
Part of it has been new owner occupants filling empty buildings and taking more ownership in the area (more than just me on an island). But more has to do with turnover of the rental units and the police effort to eradicate the problem elements, so that the other residents can thrive. More neighbors of all types are getting to know one another and we've started to get more gatherings in Grant Park and elsewhere to further build these bonds.
Our part of OTR is starting to build a tangible sense of community together and in the coming years we hope to further build on this positive momentum. We've organized a group around Grant Park to tackle many common problems like Safety, Blight, Litter, and plan these type of neighborhood events. We hope to further improve the park, but also build a neighbors directory for easy communication, identify problem owners and find remedies, and help the city departments more effectively service our area. The more we can accomplish these goals and change the culture of this area the more likely we are to make it even safer and reinforce the same community of neighbors.
Lessons of a landlord: Compassion and Empathy
Amongst the greatest lessons learned since the last time that this blog was rolling has been on the personal side. It's probably something that will stick with me forever and I'm grateful that it turned out with a happy ending instead of turning truly ugly.
It all began with a common occurrence for most landlords: late rent. "I'll get it to you next week with the late fee" Um, ok... Then it took the form of griping to me about his girlfriend and how she'd "just go crazy" sometimes. Stories then followed: her keying his car (and I saw them), her hitting him or kicking him out of her place, and then it even escalated to her getting him fired from his second job by calling his boss and telling lies. It was entertaining and a "man that sucks, why don't you just move on?" type of thing. But then the next time, something was different. The rent wasn't just late, he wasn't there to tell me about the lame reason why. And the daughter that lived with him was the only one around the apartment. It took a while, but then I got a call that he was in jail. For what? Oh, domestic violence because he hit her. It shocked me because I've lived with him for 4+ years and he's not a hot-tempered or aggressive person. He must have snapped is all I can figure, but I don't really want to know the exact details. Apparently it was one slap and the cops were there in minutes carting him off. When he got out, I learned that his probation meant he had to stay with another daughter since the girlfriend's place was too close to this apartment. He also couldn't talk to her and every time he called is was on a private line without a callback number. But he assured me that he'd make up the late rent. He made little progress and the hole started to get deeper. Somehow he slipped on his probation and was back in the tank for a few more months this time. The hole kept growing and his 20YO daughter started babysitting kids after school to make extra cash and help out. She kept it at bay for a few months, but once the holidays came it started growing deeper again. By the time that he got out, it was a serious amount of money that I was owed. And now he also had to pay the courts a fee and do community service time that gave him less hours to work overtime. He made some initial progress then it began to grow even deeper.
I saw the writing on the wall. It wasn't looking good here and I had to start covering my ass. I took stock of where I could look to recoup what was owed. His security deposit, his car, and then .... not much. I decided that if it got bigger than what I thought his car was worth that was it. Then it happened. He came to me with a look of desperation on his face the next time that rent was due. We had a father/son talk with our ages reversed. He asked for help and I told him to meet me the next day to form a plan of action to get him back on track towards solvency. I spent the next 24 hours doing what I do best - making spreadsheets. What are his assets/liabilities, what are his expected incomes and expenses, where/what can he cut to make it back to the green, and then it became real of how screwed he was without some serious discipline and a long enough runway to dig himself out.
Until that point I had never been so intimately in the shoes of someone so unfortunate from sheer circumstance. His lack of financial preparation from the start & lack of a family to fall back on coupled with the firestorm of jail time had left him in a place that even a college educated person was having a hard time finding a way out of. It really made me appreciate the people around me that taught me to be financially stout from a young age and gave me pause for the thought of what it would be like to go through as destabilizing an event as jail was for him. Morally it was hard to know which path to take with him next. On one hand, he had been through enough already for me to now give him the boot; on the other I'm running a business, not a charity here.
Ultimately, I'm a pushover, so I had him sign away ever getting his security deposit back which gave him the boost that he needed to see that there was any glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. He started working harder than I'd ever seen him to get overtime and bring home more bacon. But after 6 months of progress, he began to slip again. It had been a year since his jail time and at this rate it was going still be a long time until he was back to square with me. There were 3 months until the end of the year and I gave him an ultimatum: Get to a $0 balance by January 1st or hit the road. It was the kick in the pants that he needed to cross the finish line. And he did it!
Today, we're square and he has continued to dig his way out of the other debts that accumulated. He's tried to make it back up to me by referring his brother as another tenant in the building. We'll see what the future holds, but yesterday he brought that girlfriend back around, so stay tuned......
It all began with a common occurrence for most landlords: late rent. "I'll get it to you next week with the late fee" Um, ok... Then it took the form of griping to me about his girlfriend and how she'd "just go crazy" sometimes. Stories then followed: her keying his car (and I saw them), her hitting him or kicking him out of her place, and then it even escalated to her getting him fired from his second job by calling his boss and telling lies. It was entertaining and a "man that sucks, why don't you just move on?" type of thing. But then the next time, something was different. The rent wasn't just late, he wasn't there to tell me about the lame reason why. And the daughter that lived with him was the only one around the apartment. It took a while, but then I got a call that he was in jail. For what? Oh, domestic violence because he hit her. It shocked me because I've lived with him for 4+ years and he's not a hot-tempered or aggressive person. He must have snapped is all I can figure, but I don't really want to know the exact details. Apparently it was one slap and the cops were there in minutes carting him off. When he got out, I learned that his probation meant he had to stay with another daughter since the girlfriend's place was too close to this apartment. He also couldn't talk to her and every time he called is was on a private line without a callback number. But he assured me that he'd make up the late rent. He made little progress and the hole started to get deeper. Somehow he slipped on his probation and was back in the tank for a few more months this time. The hole kept growing and his 20YO daughter started babysitting kids after school to make extra cash and help out. She kept it at bay for a few months, but once the holidays came it started growing deeper again. By the time that he got out, it was a serious amount of money that I was owed. And now he also had to pay the courts a fee and do community service time that gave him less hours to work overtime. He made some initial progress then it began to grow even deeper.
I saw the writing on the wall. It wasn't looking good here and I had to start covering my ass. I took stock of where I could look to recoup what was owed. His security deposit, his car, and then .... not much. I decided that if it got bigger than what I thought his car was worth that was it. Then it happened. He came to me with a look of desperation on his face the next time that rent was due. We had a father/son talk with our ages reversed. He asked for help and I told him to meet me the next day to form a plan of action to get him back on track towards solvency. I spent the next 24 hours doing what I do best - making spreadsheets. What are his assets/liabilities, what are his expected incomes and expenses, where/what can he cut to make it back to the green, and then it became real of how screwed he was without some serious discipline and a long enough runway to dig himself out.
Until that point I had never been so intimately in the shoes of someone so unfortunate from sheer circumstance. His lack of financial preparation from the start & lack of a family to fall back on coupled with the firestorm of jail time had left him in a place that even a college educated person was having a hard time finding a way out of. It really made me appreciate the people around me that taught me to be financially stout from a young age and gave me pause for the thought of what it would be like to go through as destabilizing an event as jail was for him. Morally it was hard to know which path to take with him next. On one hand, he had been through enough already for me to now give him the boot; on the other I'm running a business, not a charity here.
Ultimately, I'm a pushover, so I had him sign away ever getting his security deposit back which gave him the boost that he needed to see that there was any glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. He started working harder than I'd ever seen him to get overtime and bring home more bacon. But after 6 months of progress, he began to slip again. It had been a year since his jail time and at this rate it was going still be a long time until he was back to square with me. There were 3 months until the end of the year and I gave him an ultimatum: Get to a $0 balance by January 1st or hit the road. It was the kick in the pants that he needed to cross the finish line. And he did it!
Today, we're square and he has continued to dig his way out of the other debts that accumulated. He's tried to make it back up to me by referring his brother as another tenant in the building. We'll see what the future holds, but yesterday he brought that girlfriend back around, so stay tuned......
205#2 still ready to rent
It took me a while (3 months I think) to find someone to rent this apartment in the dead of winter, but I did it for $900/mo. I found two girls that were great and treated it well. I recouped my entire renovation amount and then a little. Couldn't ask for anything better.
Turning to this new longer-term mindset, I began to set the table for a larger renovation project by putting all of my tenants onto month-to-month leases to allow the flexibility needed to start construction when needed. It ended up back firing with this apartment as the girls came to me early asking for a 12-month renewal, but instead when offered a MTM, it caused them to look elsewhere. Again holding out for the imminent construction to start, I continued to hold this unit off the market and not collect rental revenue in the meantime.
Looking back on this, I kick myself for not heading to their desire for an early renewal. I left a lot of money on the table and now have this apartment back on the market looking for another long-term tenant after all. You'll find out why in coming posts.
Turning to this new longer-term mindset, I began to set the table for a larger renovation project by putting all of my tenants onto month-to-month leases to allow the flexibility needed to start construction when needed. It ended up back firing with this apartment as the girls came to me early asking for a 12-month renewal, but instead when offered a MTM, it caused them to look elsewhere. Again holding out for the imminent construction to start, I continued to hold this unit off the market and not collect rental revenue in the meantime.
Looking back on this, I kick myself for not heading to their desire for an early renewal. I left a lot of money on the table and now have this apartment back on the market looking for another long-term tenant after all. You'll find out why in coming posts.
203#1 got demolished
After seeing the work needed in 203#1 after my caretaker left, it really started the wheels turning that more major renovations were needed to the overall building than just the band-aid renovations that I had been doing. It became evident that the staircase was in need of a major overhaul in the long-run and it was hard for me to justify renovating another apartment without a long term plan of where the building was headed. Now that the building was cash-flow positive, I had the luxury of time to save and come up with one.
So 203#1 got demoed anyways (because demo is fun, duh) and there were major problems. That leak in the kitchen sink meant the whole kitchen subfloor was rotten. As I peeled back layers, I almost fell through the floor into the basement. Still today there is just an old door covering the hole. I gutted the kitchen and bathroom to studs and found mold and other fun things. Right now it's still just open studs and cleaned out. I moved the extra appliances to the back bedroom for storage. The front living room became a storage closet for all of my tools and extra materials. I even took the plaster off the kitchen chimney to expose the brick and determine that's how I want to redo the rest of the apartments.
Ultimately this was the apartment that turned the tide from short-term band-aid renovations to a more long-term vision for the building. I was then determined to bite the bullet, develop a plan with an architect, take out a big loan, and knock out this beast with a legit general contractor doing the work. Spoiler alert this isn't done today as I type, but it was an important step in my learning curve.
So 203#1 got demoed anyways (because demo is fun, duh) and there were major problems. That leak in the kitchen sink meant the whole kitchen subfloor was rotten. As I peeled back layers, I almost fell through the floor into the basement. Still today there is just an old door covering the hole. I gutted the kitchen and bathroom to studs and found mold and other fun things. Right now it's still just open studs and cleaned out. I moved the extra appliances to the back bedroom for storage. The front living room became a storage closet for all of my tools and extra materials. I even took the plaster off the kitchen chimney to expose the brick and determine that's how I want to redo the rest of the apartments.
Ultimately this was the apartment that turned the tide from short-term band-aid renovations to a more long-term vision for the building. I was then determined to bite the bullet, develop a plan with an architect, take out a big loan, and knock out this beast with a legit general contractor doing the work. Spoiler alert this isn't done today as I type, but it was an important step in my learning curve.
205#1 Now rented
After the tireless work of my mom (who I am so thankful for) and I, we made some basic touch ups to 205#1 to make it habitable again. It wasn't easy to clean off all the stickers and de-grease the oven, but we did it. It didn't bring it up to first-class standards, but luckily one of my other long-time tenants recommended a son to me and I cut him a deal to take the apartment "as-is" at a cheaper rent. Since it would have been a major undertaking to overhaul this apartment like the other one (205#2), I thought it was worth it and the new tenant has been great so far.
February 14, 2016
205#2 Electric panel project
As I've been showing 205#2 to people, I realized that one part of the apartment still seemed unfinished and it was right in plain view; the uncovered electrical panel right in the main hallway. So I set out to add a decorative touch to when building a cover for it with a writable chalkboard finish.
February 7, 2016
205#1 empty again
Well I thought I had this apartment full until September, but my tenants had other ideas...
There were two roommates living in this apartment on the first floor, and one hadn't been paying his half on time each month, so the other roommate as forced to front the money in order to keep from paying me late. Frankly I didn't care as long as I got my money because that was their problem..... until it became my problem.
The good roommate had had enough (and really who can blame her with the situation that she was in). I caught her on the 2nd after being a day late with December's rent, and was promptly informed that she was moving to Tennessee, the moving truck was coming at noon, I could keep her security deposit, and she'd put the keys in my mail box. With a shocked look on my face, she swung open the front door to revel all her stuff packed in boxed in prep for the moving truck's arrival. She was not kidding.
And that was the end of her. It took me 2 weeks to get her deadbeat roommate and his stuff out of the apartment, but I've moved passed that now.
So you might remember that this is the apartment that I once lived in. It was by no means in great quality, but these tenants had agreed to take it as is, so that I didn't need to renovate. Well now we are officially back to square one and it is in further need of renovation. In addition they had cockroaches that I've since dealt with.
They taped velcro around the entry door to attached a screen in the warmer months. This is probbaly going to be a bitch to get off with the glue they used to keep it attached.
As you will see stickers were their favorite and the adhesive is still everywhere.
This brand new stove is in need of some serious cleaning. Yes those burners are black from grease.
Honestly I think more people need to decorate their refrigerators like this.
Pulled the showerhead out of the wall
Pretty standard garbage leftover
These stickers were in her happy place.
And on top of everything, they got a satellite dish installed without my permission. So not only did they just drill through the masonry and into random spots like this, but they also tacked cable wires on the outside of my building.
203#1 fresh start & before pitcures
Time to look at one of my next apartment renovation projects.
It had been occupied since the time that I bought the building by the former caretaker for the past landlord. In exchange for taking out the trash, cleaning up the common area, putting down salt, and collecting rent, he had been living for free outside of paying his electric. He also preformed basic maintenance work, but after seeing the quality of the things pieced together throughout the building, I never really got to a point where I trusted him to do any maintenance work for me.
One other important service that he offered was to "keep the building safe" from a lot of the drug dealing and other activities that were happening on East Clifton (or "the EC" as it was known to most). He knew a lot of the players in the area and they respected him enough to listen to him when he told them couldn't deal in front of my building. (more on this later). He also kept an eye on my other tenants and their cars parked out front to keep them from being messed with.
I'm really grateful that he was there to help me when I started out with my first building. There was a lot that I didn't know about the building and the neighborhood that I learned from him over the past 3 years. He was genuinely a good guy that was working hard to support himself through school at Cincinnati State and various kids of his with other mothers. He fell in and out of health problems and issues with work when Toby Keith's stiffed him and the rest of its employees when they went bankrupt. He always landed back on his feet though because he had a good work ethic and attitude.
Over the course of living and talking with him, I learned some interesting history of the building which included:
- that the piles of dirt throughout the basement were the result of when they replaced the boiler system. They dug into the hillside of the vacant lot side of the building and busted a hole in the foundation to get it down there, but since they didn't own the lot itself they couldn't dump the hillside dirt back there and instead dumped it inside the basement before cylinder blocking the hole back up
- that the caretaker before him had keys to every apartment and ended up going to a female tenant's apartment and raping/murdering her. I chalked this up to a tall tale until a neighbor referenced my building as "the one where that girl got raped and murdered". I don't really want to know any more details on this event.
But over the course of the 3 years that he lived with me in the building, the value that he was providing gradually declined as I learned the ropes of handling the building myself. It started with me collecting my own rents, then doing the maintenance work to a higher quality, then shoveling and salting the walks when he took too long after the snow, then cleaning the common areas myself when it wasn't getting done. It got to the point that really all that he was doing was taking the trash cans in and out and then "keeping the building safe". At this point I decided to step him up o paying rent and started with having him pay $165/mo, which was roughly equal to the water, heat, insurance, and real estate taxes of his portion of the building. He was still at a steep discount and not really doing much to earn it. After a year of this arrangement and no more vacant units in the building to renovate, I gave him the news that his was next. But I needed a break, so I offered to extend him for 6 months until the summer at the full price without a discount ($300). He chose to leave instead of taking the extension, which I didn't really get. His newest job had been outside of Cincinnati and I later learned that he moved to Detroit after leaving.
This is the quality of the apartment when he left. Much of it I'm sure was a result of him, but not really seeing the inside of this apartment during the 3 years that he lived there I can't say for sure. I had no idea it was in this bad of condition. Some of the things that weren't captured on camera are the cockroaches, the strong smoke smell and layer of grim on every surface from it, the grease/oil splatters on the walls/cabinets around the stove, or the leaking water shut off valves under multiple sinks and the shower handle. Needless to say this apartment was long overdue for a renovation and attention.
Door that has busted hinges that will need repaired along with the locs
Carpeting squares that he placed on the linoleum. Beyond dirty.
Miscellaneous crap
Incense still stuck into the wall where he masked the smoking smell. It's a wonder that there weren't fires.
The kitchen that was cleaned out and still one of the grossest things I've ever seen.
Kitchen bar that has tiles off. That'll go.
What is hard to see is the mold and water damage between the stove and cabinet that I'll need to figure out. The subfloor will need inspected and redone most likely.
So much oil/grease everywhere around the stove. Not sure if the stove itself is salvageable. This whole set of kitchen cabinets is done.
Bedroom area
Taped window in the bedroom
Bathroom with mismatched tiles that will all need to come up. The subfloor doesn't feel good.
Leaking tub handles. Most likely this wholetub will need redone.
Leaking shut off and vanity that's toast.
As you can see, I've got my work cut out for me here.
Probably the most interesting thing that I've noticed since he left was actually the opposite of his role of "keeping the building safe". I've noticed that a lot of the usual characters on the street have actually gone missing, and wonder how much he might have actually been a magnet for some of it even if he wasn't directly involved. Then again he left at a time when a police camera was also added to the street to surveil said characters. Even without him in the building, I think I've developed enough of a reputation with the neighbors and even the guys on the street that I shouldn't have any trouble "keeping the building safe". I haven't had a problem yet (knock on wood).
It had been occupied since the time that I bought the building by the former caretaker for the past landlord. In exchange for taking out the trash, cleaning up the common area, putting down salt, and collecting rent, he had been living for free outside of paying his electric. He also preformed basic maintenance work, but after seeing the quality of the things pieced together throughout the building, I never really got to a point where I trusted him to do any maintenance work for me.
One other important service that he offered was to "keep the building safe" from a lot of the drug dealing and other activities that were happening on East Clifton (or "the EC" as it was known to most). He knew a lot of the players in the area and they respected him enough to listen to him when he told them couldn't deal in front of my building. (more on this later). He also kept an eye on my other tenants and their cars parked out front to keep them from being messed with.
I'm really grateful that he was there to help me when I started out with my first building. There was a lot that I didn't know about the building and the neighborhood that I learned from him over the past 3 years. He was genuinely a good guy that was working hard to support himself through school at Cincinnati State and various kids of his with other mothers. He fell in and out of health problems and issues with work when Toby Keith's stiffed him and the rest of its employees when they went bankrupt. He always landed back on his feet though because he had a good work ethic and attitude.
Over the course of living and talking with him, I learned some interesting history of the building which included:
- that the piles of dirt throughout the basement were the result of when they replaced the boiler system. They dug into the hillside of the vacant lot side of the building and busted a hole in the foundation to get it down there, but since they didn't own the lot itself they couldn't dump the hillside dirt back there and instead dumped it inside the basement before cylinder blocking the hole back up
- that the caretaker before him had keys to every apartment and ended up going to a female tenant's apartment and raping/murdering her. I chalked this up to a tall tale until a neighbor referenced my building as "the one where that girl got raped and murdered". I don't really want to know any more details on this event.
But over the course of the 3 years that he lived with me in the building, the value that he was providing gradually declined as I learned the ropes of handling the building myself. It started with me collecting my own rents, then doing the maintenance work to a higher quality, then shoveling and salting the walks when he took too long after the snow, then cleaning the common areas myself when it wasn't getting done. It got to the point that really all that he was doing was taking the trash cans in and out and then "keeping the building safe". At this point I decided to step him up o paying rent and started with having him pay $165/mo, which was roughly equal to the water, heat, insurance, and real estate taxes of his portion of the building. He was still at a steep discount and not really doing much to earn it. After a year of this arrangement and no more vacant units in the building to renovate, I gave him the news that his was next. But I needed a break, so I offered to extend him for 6 months until the summer at the full price without a discount ($300). He chose to leave instead of taking the extension, which I didn't really get. His newest job had been outside of Cincinnati and I later learned that he moved to Detroit after leaving.
This is the quality of the apartment when he left. Much of it I'm sure was a result of him, but not really seeing the inside of this apartment during the 3 years that he lived there I can't say for sure. I had no idea it was in this bad of condition. Some of the things that weren't captured on camera are the cockroaches, the strong smoke smell and layer of grim on every surface from it, the grease/oil splatters on the walls/cabinets around the stove, or the leaking water shut off valves under multiple sinks and the shower handle. Needless to say this apartment was long overdue for a renovation and attention.
Carpeting squares that he placed on the linoleum. Beyond dirty.
Miscellaneous crap
Incense still stuck into the wall where he masked the smoking smell. It's a wonder that there weren't fires.
The kitchen that was cleaned out and still one of the grossest things I've ever seen.
Kitchen bar that has tiles off. That'll go.
What is hard to see is the mold and water damage between the stove and cabinet that I'll need to figure out. The subfloor will need inspected and redone most likely.
So much oil/grease everywhere around the stove. Not sure if the stove itself is salvageable. This whole set of kitchen cabinets is done.
Bedroom area
Taped window in the bedroom
Bathroom with mismatched tiles that will all need to come up. The subfloor doesn't feel good.
Leaking tub handles. Most likely this wholetub will need redone.
Leaking shut off and vanity that's toast.
As you can see, I've got my work cut out for me here.
Probably the most interesting thing that I've noticed since he left was actually the opposite of his role of "keeping the building safe". I've noticed that a lot of the usual characters on the street have actually gone missing, and wonder how much he might have actually been a magnet for some of it even if he wasn't directly involved. Then again he left at a time when a police camera was also added to the street to surveil said characters. Even without him in the building, I think I've developed enough of a reputation with the neighbors and even the guys on the street that I shouldn't have any trouble "keeping the building safe". I haven't had a problem yet (knock on wood).
205#2 Apartment renovated and ready
this will seem like a big leap in progress from the last pictures, but that's just because this was months ago...
It all start with the freshly painted hallway and front door. (I plan on upgrading the flooring in the whole common area at once and left what was there already)
Which leads into the kitchen with the raised ceilings, new ceiling fan, and full height windows. There's a built in overhang to put s trash can, and full pantry closet (not pictured). I reused these hardwood cabinets, the corian countertops, the stainless steel sink, and the appliances from various places, but it turned out to be a really solid kitchen.
Plenty of space for a kitchen table
Here's the newly renovated bathroom with herring bone patterned floor
New vanity, toilet, and fixtures
Subway tile shower surround and frosted window
Bathroom storage shelves and new door.
New flooring continues throughout the entire apartment
Firs larger bedroom with a closet
Second bedroom with a closet
Back living room with another closet and views of the city and OTR rooftops outside (and my hops)
I also have a creative chalkboard cover for the electrical panel in the hallways that I'll add later.
It all start with the freshly painted hallway and front door. (I plan on upgrading the flooring in the whole common area at once and left what was there already)
Which leads into the kitchen with the raised ceilings, new ceiling fan, and full height windows. There's a built in overhang to put s trash can, and full pantry closet (not pictured). I reused these hardwood cabinets, the corian countertops, the stainless steel sink, and the appliances from various places, but it turned out to be a really solid kitchen.
Plenty of space for a kitchen table
Here's the newly renovated bathroom with herring bone patterned floor
New vanity, toilet, and fixtures
Subway tile shower surround and frosted window
Bathroom storage shelves and new door.
New flooring continues throughout the entire apartment
Firs larger bedroom with a closet
Second bedroom with a closet
Back living room with another closet and views of the city and OTR rooftops outside (and my hops)
I also have a creative chalkboard cover for the electrical panel in the hallways that I'll add later.
February 3, 2016
Rental brain damage
So I guess it was some time at the end of December that I finally got this apartment all the way put together with a thousand little thing that take the longest like paint touch ups, cleaned floors, thresholds and knobs for the doors, cleaned windows and blinds. It's still not perfect, but it's ready for someone to move in and to start recouping the money that I investing in the space to upgrade it.
It's always tricky to set a rental rate for an apartment in my building. There really isn't "market-rate" housing in this part of OTR since it's mainly surrounding by affordable housing. There isn't much else between Liberty and here on East Clifton to judge the spread between south of Liberty where apartments are going for easily $2.00/SF/mo, if not more, around the hottest areas like Washington Park. I would say ones farther north that are closest to Liberty are at about $1.50/SF/mo. In contrast, my only renovated unit that has been rented is at $0.85/SF/mo. Now that unit doesn't have a new bathroom, kitchen, or flooring like this unit, but I guess that's the best gauge of the actual "market" that I have here. The apartment that I live in has a new bathroom and upgraded floors, which would probably fetch more than that one too, but since I live in it and didn't rent it it's hard to say where the "market" would be for that one.
As far as I can tell I've sunk a little over $10,000 into this apartment renovation, not counting some of the more capital items like the 3 new windows that I replaced. But given the higher quality of the finishes, I'm hoping that I can recoup that renovation cost within a year by charging $1.15/SF/mo. I know that's a stretch and that I'm trying to rent it in the middle of winter; the worst time of year when not as many people are out looking to move. I'm staying patient though. I've gotten a lot of solid interest; nearly 20 people have come through it at this point (one person twice); but I still haven't found anyone to pull the trigger.
It's frustrating and it makes me wonder what the issue is that is keeping people from signing up. My theories range from location to safety to amenities to curb appeal.
I think the location north of Liberty has finally made it on people's radar.Since there's a lack of product south of Liberty and outrageous prices for what's left, it has pushed people to take a hard look up here now. The level of interest alone is verifying this.
Safety, or rather perception of safety, seems to have increased as well in many people's minds. Whereas 2 years ago when I was renting the other apartment, I would get distinguishable concern on the faces of potential renters sometimes. Now I haven't really been getting a hint of it. I'm not sure if the perception has changed completely, or if its just that the triggers for that perception have changed/reduced. In the past there were still plenty of guys in the drug trade hanging around the street, whereas now there are much less, if any. The combo of increased police focus north of Liberty and a police camera from the top of my building have really changed the the drug business in the area and the guys that you do see are few and far between today. I'm optimistic that it's almost gone; and I think this spring/summer when it warms up will be the true test of that. But even this perception wasn't enough to prevent finding a tenant 2 years ago in the winter.
One of the biggest knocks against my building is the lack of laundry. None in unit and none on site. Many renters won't even look at the building without it. That being the case I really haven't been running into many of the potential renters that even ask that question or care when they learn that. It's something that I definitely look to change in the future, but still probably not what's keeping someone from signing.
My last guess is that it's coming down to the curb appeal. I've been focused on the inside of the units for a while now and haven't done much to dress up the outside, stairs, or hallway. I painted part of the hallway, but really the stairs are tight and beaten up; the entry gate is rusted and looks worse than the affordable housing surrounding us; the mailboxes are tiny and rusty; and the motion sensor entry and stair lighting needs work. The metal cages around the first floor windows only add even more to the experience. Going forward I think I'm going to put some money and effort into improving this experience so that it doesn't hold me back.
It's always tricky to set a rental rate for an apartment in my building. There really isn't "market-rate" housing in this part of OTR since it's mainly surrounding by affordable housing. There isn't much else between Liberty and here on East Clifton to judge the spread between south of Liberty where apartments are going for easily $2.00/SF/mo, if not more, around the hottest areas like Washington Park. I would say ones farther north that are closest to Liberty are at about $1.50/SF/mo. In contrast, my only renovated unit that has been rented is at $0.85/SF/mo. Now that unit doesn't have a new bathroom, kitchen, or flooring like this unit, but I guess that's the best gauge of the actual "market" that I have here. The apartment that I live in has a new bathroom and upgraded floors, which would probably fetch more than that one too, but since I live in it and didn't rent it it's hard to say where the "market" would be for that one.
As far as I can tell I've sunk a little over $10,000 into this apartment renovation, not counting some of the more capital items like the 3 new windows that I replaced. But given the higher quality of the finishes, I'm hoping that I can recoup that renovation cost within a year by charging $1.15/SF/mo. I know that's a stretch and that I'm trying to rent it in the middle of winter; the worst time of year when not as many people are out looking to move. I'm staying patient though. I've gotten a lot of solid interest; nearly 20 people have come through it at this point (one person twice); but I still haven't found anyone to pull the trigger.
It's frustrating and it makes me wonder what the issue is that is keeping people from signing up. My theories range from location to safety to amenities to curb appeal.
I think the location north of Liberty has finally made it on people's radar.Since there's a lack of product south of Liberty and outrageous prices for what's left, it has pushed people to take a hard look up here now. The level of interest alone is verifying this.
Safety, or rather perception of safety, seems to have increased as well in many people's minds. Whereas 2 years ago when I was renting the other apartment, I would get distinguishable concern on the faces of potential renters sometimes. Now I haven't really been getting a hint of it. I'm not sure if the perception has changed completely, or if its just that the triggers for that perception have changed/reduced. In the past there were still plenty of guys in the drug trade hanging around the street, whereas now there are much less, if any. The combo of increased police focus north of Liberty and a police camera from the top of my building have really changed the the drug business in the area and the guys that you do see are few and far between today. I'm optimistic that it's almost gone; and I think this spring/summer when it warms up will be the true test of that. But even this perception wasn't enough to prevent finding a tenant 2 years ago in the winter.
One of the biggest knocks against my building is the lack of laundry. None in unit and none on site. Many renters won't even look at the building without it. That being the case I really haven't been running into many of the potential renters that even ask that question or care when they learn that. It's something that I definitely look to change in the future, but still probably not what's keeping someone from signing.
My last guess is that it's coming down to the curb appeal. I've been focused on the inside of the units for a while now and haven't done much to dress up the outside, stairs, or hallway. I painted part of the hallway, but really the stairs are tight and beaten up; the entry gate is rusted and looks worse than the affordable housing surrounding us; the mailboxes are tiny and rusty; and the motion sensor entry and stair lighting needs work. The metal cages around the first floor windows only add even more to the experience. Going forward I think I'm going to put some money and effort into improving this experience so that it doesn't hold me back.
January 4, 2016
Flooring, cabinets, and conjoining twins
My kitchen is a product of a few unlikely things:
- my Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy's decision to remodel their own kitchen a couple years ago
- my uncle's crazy (read brilliant) idea to drive a uHaul from North Canton with his entire former kitchen in it to Cincinnati
- my dad's willingness (read reluctance) to store an entire kitchen in his office's basement for a couple years
- my parent's remodel of their own countertops and replacement sink
- my dad's ability to reassemble said cabinets and hang them
- glue
- measuring 5 times before we cut
- and some sore knees
Putting this kitchen together again after this unlikely assembly of building materials was a feat that all began with hanging the upper kitchen cabinets to get them out of our way for the flooring.
Glad my dad knew to screw them all together first before lifting them onto a temporary cleat mounted level on the wall and then screwing them in for good. We were extra careful to draw the stud lines on the wall and mark where not to screw to avoid pipes.
Next was installing the flooring throughout the entire apartment. This is where the sore knees, and I should have added thumbs too, come into play.
FYI Turns out that using tape to hold them down wasn't needed if you put the tapping block along side it and give it some solid whacks. #we'reNOOBS
Can't argue with the results. It really added some pop to the apartment.
Now with the flooring down we screwed the cabinets together to act as a work surface for the countertops. We had multiple pieces of salvaged counter tops that weren't quite long enough to use for the full span. so the trick was to glue them together using these bolts that were routed into the bottom in order to secure it into one large piece to work with.
After fusing them together on top of the cabinets in the middle of the kitchen, we moved the cabinets into place and screwed them to the wall carefully (again avoiding pipes). We then moved the countertop into position with one last crucial cut to make, the sink hole.
A lot of arguing and posturing took place, but I was dead set on not making any cut until we were 1000% sure it was right. Eventually we got there and prayed that the opening would fit right and not hit the cabinet frames. Somehow we didn't screw this up!
We mounted the sink, hooked up the plumbing, and the put the cabinet doors back on. Then we stood back and it looked pretty good. We even took part of the scrap countertop and turned it into a makeshift backsplash.
Uncle Tom would be proud to eat in this kitchen.
- my Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy's decision to remodel their own kitchen a couple years ago
- my uncle's crazy (read brilliant) idea to drive a uHaul from North Canton with his entire former kitchen in it to Cincinnati
- my dad's willingness (read reluctance) to store an entire kitchen in his office's basement for a couple years
- my parent's remodel of their own countertops and replacement sink
- my dad's ability to reassemble said cabinets and hang them
- glue
- measuring 5 times before we cut
- and some sore knees
Putting this kitchen together again after this unlikely assembly of building materials was a feat that all began with hanging the upper kitchen cabinets to get them out of our way for the flooring.
Glad my dad knew to screw them all together first before lifting them onto a temporary cleat mounted level on the wall and then screwing them in for good. We were extra careful to draw the stud lines on the wall and mark where not to screw to avoid pipes.
Next was installing the flooring throughout the entire apartment. This is where the sore knees, and I should have added thumbs too, come into play.
FYI Turns out that using tape to hold them down wasn't needed if you put the tapping block along side it and give it some solid whacks. #we'reNOOBS
Can't argue with the results. It really added some pop to the apartment.
Now with the flooring down we screwed the cabinets together to act as a work surface for the countertops. We had multiple pieces of salvaged counter tops that weren't quite long enough to use for the full span. so the trick was to glue them together using these bolts that were routed into the bottom in order to secure it into one large piece to work with.
After fusing them together on top of the cabinets in the middle of the kitchen, we moved the cabinets into place and screwed them to the wall carefully (again avoiding pipes). We then moved the countertop into position with one last crucial cut to make, the sink hole.
A lot of arguing and posturing took place, but I was dead set on not making any cut until we were 1000% sure it was right. Eventually we got there and prayed that the opening would fit right and not hit the cabinet frames. Somehow we didn't screw this up!
We mounted the sink, hooked up the plumbing, and the put the cabinet doors back on. Then we stood back and it looked pretty good. We even took part of the scrap countertop and turned it into a makeshift backsplash.
Uncle Tom would be proud to eat in this kitchen.