Lights! Camera! Action!!!

We're in a bit of a holding pattern now until the Major Design Review is officially, officially done...the city won't let me put in any more building-zoning applications until then...super...so...

We Have Lights!!!!

The PO's apparently took all the light fixtures with them when they left...so the selling Realtor came in and installed some super-duper sweet Home Despot $9 Specials!

After much, much, much searching on the interwebs for lights that we liked that didn't cost a zillion dollars (sorry rejuvenation hardware) we went with lights from a company called Quorum International and the collection is called Barcelona....and yes the lights cost more than $9 each.....

Here's the collection of boxes we got via UPS.

Notice how the box in front is totally destroyed! That box also has the most expensive light! Hurray!!!

Now here's the pile of crappy lights that we took down.

Here's a training montage of me trying to figure out how to hang the lights. EVERY SINGLE LIGHT had to be custom mounted. The mounted screws had to be cut much shorter and the central threaded brass rods had to be cut to fit also (with out munging up the threads!)....so, it took a lot longer than I was expecting...what doesn't.

That and hanging lights on 11' ceilings single handedly, was a bit of a challenge.

On To Pretty Pictures Of Our New Lights!!!

The dinning room light!

The dinning room light up close.

There is some disagreement between me and Mrs. MadMadScientist about how high this light should be... I think it should be where it is at like 6' off the floor. Mrs MadMadScientist thinks it should be higher. What do y'all think?

Here's a shot of the new entry light and stair landing light in context.

Now here's a close of shot of the 'birdcage' entry light.

And the landing light.

The second stair way landing we had to do the same light flush mounted as the ceiling is lower.

It's odd but to us when the same light is on a chain it looks older and more authentic.

Continuing on up the stairs to the next landing..ya that's a lot of landings, we put in this sconce.

I was worried that it was going to stick out from the wall too much and be in the way but it looks pretty good in that respect.

Back down in the main entry area we hung another semi-flushmount light. One thing to notice here is that the 10" wide home despot lights can hide a myriad of problems...

Here's the big chandelier half way done.

And here it is all done! Pretty!

One thing that I should know but don't is. This chandelier has 6 40W light bulbs...shouldn't it be as bright as 2 100W bulbs? It sure isn't...in fact its exactly perfectly dim for a party but it's not going to be bright enough to read by or clean by...hmmm...

Another thing we realized AFTER all the lights were up... All these ceiling lights on the main floor NEED ceiling medallions....which means when we do install them I'll have to probably take most of the lights down to install the medallion and then re-install the lights.... Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also installed the Gargoyle light from Chez 2.0 into the library. One thing that we didn't realize when we installed the light is that when standing on the sidewalk outside the window perfectly frames the light! Like we meant to do it!

Closer up shot.

That's it for now.. next up, Down Spouts!!! How exciting!

Conversion of Two Studios into a Single One Bedroom Apt.-Design Ideas

Okay, so now I've got a rough draft of what we want to do with the basement. I need a plan for converting the two studio apartments into a single one bedroom....

Here's the existing layout.

Here's the design conditions.

1. Do as little rebuilding and demo as possible.

2. Be able to keep existing tenant in place while work is going on.

This was my first idea.

But duh, problem with this is that I would have to put the tenant out to do this as she lives in the lower unit.

Then I thought, well why not use the other kitchen as the bedroom.

But that makes for a VERY small bedroom...

So then I thought up this uh, dodge?

With this idea I end up with a big bedroom and a huge closet. I admit I'm sort of designing this for the current tenant who is a grandmother with two young grand sons who spend a lot of time with her. With this design she can have her private space by closing the door to the bedroom and the grand kids can run around in the other room. That, and she won't have to share the bathroom with them any longer.

Of course, there's nothing stopping someone from using the huge closet room as the bedroom and using the master bedroom as the living room.

I also like this idea as I think I can do all the work on the one vacant unit without disturbing her too much, and then hopefully the reframing of the closets and hallway will not be too much of a PITA and that can be done relatively quickly.

So, that's my best idea y'all have any others?

Update!!!

Went down to the city yesterday to speak to the zoning folks.

Good News On Two Fronts!!!

1. The major design review for the deck is just about to be approved!!! Yahoo!!! That means I officially have 6 parking spaces and the deck does not have to be torn down!!! YAY!!!!

2. I was told that the planning approval for the switching around of the units is an over the counter thing!! Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!! That means no $2500 major design review!!! And it can happen quicker.

So, now I need to get the planning packet together which has seperate conditions to the actual building permit packet which I also have to get together.

So, we celebrated with tasty margarita's (it was Cinco de Mayo) and nacho's.

Bottom Floor Apartment Ideas

Some Ideas On What To Do With The Bottom Floor.

Oh man, have I mentioned recently how big a pain in the ass it is to do really, really accurate as-builts of a house? Not some boring square tract house but a crazy friggen Victorian with all sorts of weird features??? Walls are all sorts of weird thicknesses and everyone is a little bit different...no rhyme or reason to anything apparently....ugh.

To review, here is the existing basement floor plan.-Still not 100% right but its close.

Yep, we've got ~14" thick wall around most of the basement!

So, it turns out that we have a couple different sets of friends who are basically begging to live in our basement! Weird huh? They've got a couple small kids and would love to be in the Franklin school district this close to Franklin park. If I can get this apartment legalized we could help them out with hopefully a nice place to live and they could help us out with the mortgage, a win-win.

Here's my first try at reconfiguring the space to make what I think a family with two parents and a couple of kids would think would be an acceptable domicile.

I really wanted to figure out a way to make a 3-2 while using the existing locations for the bathrooms but just couldn't figure out how to get the far bath included...

Turning the 2 bedroom into a 3 bedroom with a good sized master bedroom.

One of the problems with the original layout is that the kitchen area is just too darn small. I think that it needs to be big enough to be eat in as there really is no where else to eat. To accomplish this I moved the two walls of the bedroom for the other apartment and moved the door and removed the stairs leading up to our unit.

The layout above works I think but the existing door to the one bathroom is just in a super awkward place in terms of the kitchen layout.

2nd Stab at a reasonable 3-1 with a workable eat-in kitchen

I moved the closet in the master bedroom to the other side and moved the door into the bathroom over. I think that this makes for a much more workable kitchen. One thing that I'm surprised about is just how much of the bottom floor this decent sized 3-1 takes up!
At this point I'm not even sure if its going to be possible to move the walls for the master bedroom...I've got to check and see what (if anything) they are supporting above.

Well, I think I've made a reasonable apartment what do y'all think?
One odd thing is that the kitchen and the bath is going to be windowless....not sure how  weird that's going to be...The plan does show a lot of lights in the kitchen but....also the family room and the one bedroom are kinda on the small side...

Egress Windows...dang this issue is going to be a tough one...all the windows from the bedroom need to be official egress which means they need a clear opening of at least 5.0 sq ft...and the minimum openings have to be 20"wide by 24" high...not a single window makes the height cut...the rule is supposed to be so a firefighter can get in through the window....but firefighters don't open windows the smash their axe's through the windows and yank em out so they have a nice BIG opening...to meet this egress rule I will probably have to switch out all the windows for casements that open fully...which won't look right for sure...

But, wait, there's more..on the interior the sill height can only be 44" from the finished floor...right now I'm at 45.5".....I'm going to have to lower the windows (which I don't know if possible cause there is going to be a bottom plate possibly in the way) or raise the floor or a little of both...

Hurray!!!

I've got someone coming over today from the city to take a look at my plans and weigh in...hopefully it will be good news...

Update
After talking to some people I had this idea

I really, really, really, like this idea as I don't have to remove any walls!!

I will completely lose any storage space in the basement but the unit will now be a 3-2!!! With a Master Bedroom Suite!!!

One of the design considerations is that the laundry area and the utilities area need to be accessible from common space. I will need to gain access to the utility room where hopefully the 2 new house heaters and water heater for this unit will be kept. The laundry room is for both units so that needs to be not in private space.

From Breaktime Classic we have this idea.

And from Jessamyn we have this one.

Thanks so much everybody for the ideas.

Just got done meeting with the city's man and he didn't see any problem with my, 'take over the bottom floor' for a single apartment idea.

I'll have to work on refining the design and I'll need to bring in the plans for converting the two studio apartments into a single one bedroom at the same time...which, don't exist yet...

So, there is some hope!!!

We Made Our Permitting Deadline!!!

Okay, finally a post with pictures and a post that shouldn't earn me any more enemies....

Monday was our deadline to have all the permit drawings into the city....and we made the deadline!!! Hurray!!!!!

To review, because of the code enforcement actions brought against the PO of Chez 3.0 after the close of escrow we had ~60 days to turn in complete permit drawings for;

Floor plans for the existing basement showing all the unwarrented stuff and plans showing it all turned back to storage. Floorplan for the kicthen showing that it meets current codes...and a complete framing plan for the deck and balcony with an engineers stamp of approval.



 Heres the bottom floor plans.

Look at all that unwarrented space! Thats two apartments. A one bedroom and a two bedroom..









  Look ma just storage...doesn't this just seem like a HUGE waste....so sad....on the positive side I guess we have ton's of storage now....

The Kitchen Plan.

The kitchen isn't too bad. I believe to meet code I just need to swap out the existing ceiling light for a CF fixture, replace the incorrect ribbed kitchen exhaust ducting with smooth interior metal and add one GFCI outlet to the counter top...through the inch thick granite....have no idea how I'm going to do that.





 



<>Here is the balcony framing plan. This one kinda surprised me. I had to do some investigating as to how the balcony was built...The entire thing in cantelevered out from the house. When they built the addition on the back in the 80's (with permits) the 2by12 floor joists run out and form the balcony! The unpermitted work here is the stairs and the grayed framing members where the PO's sistered on joists to make a bigger landing at the top for the stairs.

Balcony Framing

  
<>Construction Details

Super Exciting Deck Details. One interesting thing about the construction of the deck is that the builder really liked to notch his joints and bolt them together. Which is a strong way to do it just way more labor intensive than using Simpson hardware.





Deck Framing Doing this was fun! I was told that I had to get every piece

 of framing lumber in its exact place...I think I actually managed to do it...




Super Cool Vector Views of the deck...just getting those

dimensions on the East Elevation required an entire day to

figure out! My CAD program is too old and wasn't playing

nice with Win 7. I have to run the freaking program in Vista

compatibility mode to get it to work about 90% correctly...





So, that's what I've been scrambling to do. Actually got the permit issued for the bottom floor demo...hurray!!! cept that's actually what I don't want to do...
At least the engineer said the deck actually in good shape, he just wanted me to add more lag bolts into the ledger board for the deck. So, not going to fall down anytime soon.

The plans for the deck and kitchen are being reviewed by the cities engineer and I'm sure they will get kicked back with changes. The zoning people are also looking at the deck as they have to approve of it and it can't cut into the required 6 parking spaces for the 3 unit building.

Realtor Schenanigans part 2

Oy, my head....look at this stuff I have to deal with ...

Usually I would just delete comments like these from my blog as they serve no legitimate purpose and trying to argue with a crazy person just makes you crazy...so, instead I decided to do an entire post about em!!

OK Here's a comment we got on the blog earlier this week from someone calling themselves pacificalameda.

$650k is jumbo loan. 203k requires 0.9% mortgage insurance, so total > 7% interest rate !? If FHA requires 45 % ratio, will need > $11k monthly income, how many buyers hv that high income nowadays? Wait for 6 months before moving in? Any assurance the "tough" Alameda city will final in 6 months? What if it goes over budget? According to the other houses posted on this blog, seem to cost > $300k in remodeling of so many baths, bedrooms, kitchens etc. $165k doesnt seem to do a good job for the house in this condition, unless using apartment quality cheap linelium. Why other people's houses, according to your opinon, cost so much to remodel but yours doesn't? according to your blog, one kitchen cost $50k. why suddenly estimate on your house so low? the contractor's bid may not be realistic? Radiant heat is very expensive, people said cost >$600/month. What if it breaks, and leaks water in the future? how much for maintenance/repair? A huge & scary project. maybe that's why according to your blog, 3 open houses only 1 offer? what kind of person would make an offer to buy with so much work? someone who is a contractor ?? Sorry dont want to sound offensive, just things $ numbers not adding up right.

I don't even know how to respond to this, It's just nonsense...All the FHA stuff and especially that $600/month to heat the house??? That's all gotta be pulled outta his you-know-what...What can I say about the remodeling cost? We have two legitimate bids from two contractors for a simple finish of the house as a duplex and both numbers where under $150k-including a new roof.

Then my Realtor got an email from a 'Brian' with a lame yahoo email address.

saw your listing, read the very very long blogs, and has some questions: 1. total 2,800 sq. ft. 3 storeys, so each floor only 900 sq. ft.? or is the main floor bigger than the basement or attic? 2. a little confused on the asking price : $650k, including $165k in remodeling of any materials the buyer's choice? does that include all the permit fees and artichtect's drawings? not sure how up to date the old plans are bc this year many new building codes came into effect & Alameda city has the highest permit fee in the bay area. it may cost > $10k for all the architectural & permit cost. 3. what if buyers pick materials that the contractor cannot do within $165k, will the Seller susidize? 2,800 sq.ft. house for $165k seems very cheap, according to the blog commented on other houses, one kitchen average cost $50k to remodel, and one fixer-upper cost $500k to remodel. So not sure if the contractor can do with good quality materials with the house in such a bad shape that has no walls. 3. it says finish work 6 months from COE, does that mean the buyers pay 6 months of mortgage, or the seller pays before possession of house? $650k 203k loan, we are looking at about $6k mortgage, tax & insurance per month, adding 6 months of mortgage, and $10k fees, so total $"696k purchase price", sort of pricey at this market, esp. many unknowns. 4. what if the contractor stops work due to financial disputes or other reason, cannot finish the job in 6 months? Alameda city planning & building depts. are not easy to get approval/finalize. ** Can the escrow close in 8 months (until all work done) before closing since the Seller asks for $650k to buy. I.e. the Seller warrants that the house will be completely done satisfactorily in 6 months with no delay? 5. what is the incentive for buyers to wait for 6 months before moving in, with a high purchase price of $696k? is the seller's price $485k negotiable, since it doesn't seem to be justified with all these risks & unknowns? e.g. If the project goes over time, it's $6k per month! that's why most fixer-uppers are priced low accordingly, But this house does not seem to be taking into consideration of all buyer's work & risks. thank you!

Brian

I think this one as its full of just stupid assertions that you could only have if you where cherry picking individual sentances out of a blog post and not reading it as a whole... notice the exact same reference to my blog and reasoning.

Now read this from a Realtor who has been sending us these bizarre emails intended to do what? Harangue us into dropping the price ridiculously low???

That is reasonable given the circumstances. Having managed many projects in Alameda, that include the after close process of a 203k it is not as simple as you state including pick anything you want. New plans need to be drawn, the entire building will need to be brought up to code, the hud inspector is going to walk the house and have their own list of mandatory items that need to be repaired not including the cosmetics of a build out. One of the items is going to be window replacement and/or paint scraping and lead abatement which was just passes last year and is an added cost. One of my most recent projects was 2143 Alameda Ave which was posted on your blog. You know the rehab cost of that home and it was in much better shape that 1310 Pacific. Given the carrying cost of two mortgages and property taxes my estimate is that you are looking at 14,000 if you wait 4 months. There is also the fact that the buyer you are looking for for a FHA jumbo loan of 620,000 at 5.5% needs to have an income of 13000 to qualify for the loan and anyone with that income is not buying that house. Mull it around. I know the offer is not what you want to hear or see but if you were my client purchasing and you knew what the cost and time is going to be involved for a buyer after the COE it would be easy to see how obscured the numbers you are quoting and ease of of a full renovation are with federal guidelines is.

Now this one is from a Realtor who claims to know all about FHA stuff yet doesn't know that in the SFBay area FHA loans go to uh, $729k as conforming jumbo loans and its not till you go above that number that you get into the real jumbo loan territory. Again with the plans...guess he didn't read that I have the complete digital model of the house and have a set of simple redo plans already done for the house. I love his carrying costs number.... He does imply that he was the buyers realtor for 2143 Alameda Ave....this is the property where the seller was trying to sue based on my review...she claims that my review cost her $15K in selling the house....

Edit 4-14
Okay somethings been bugging me about the above email for a while and I just now put my finger on it. He does seem to be implying that he was the buyers Realtor at 2143 Alameda Ave and that it was bought with a 203k remodel loan right??? Except that the loan limit for single family houses in Alameda County is $729k and the house was purchased for $755k acording to public records???? How is that even possible? Methinks I smell a steaming pile of B.S....

Here's what the Realtor Doesn't Get About Chez Neumansky 2.0
The foundation's already been done!! Unlike 2143 Alameda Ave. That will save you $130k right there.
The electrical is already upgraded with sub panels on each floor. (unlike 2143 Alameda Ave) All you have to do is run branch circuits-which one electrician noted would take him maybe two days per floor.

Having no drywall in the way is actually a good thing. Now when he says there's no walls, what he means is that there is no drywall.  That's a plus in this situation as its super fast and easy to run your utilities inside the walls and then have them drywalled up. Usually in a situation like this you'd end up pulling most of the drywall down to run your utilities and to insulate.

You know really, author seems to of taken a play book from those nut job right wing radio guys...where they take things out of context and then blow stuff all out of proportion laced with a bunch of half truths??

Seriously now...does it not seem that all of these emails are from the same person? It really does to me...Using the exact same incorrect information with the same arguments and phrasing. What's the chance 3 people came up with all this VERY similar nonsense independently? Yes, I know that you are going to say that a bunch of people probably came up with 2+2=4 independently but c'mon three people getting things exactly wrong in the exact same way? What I especially like about the last one is that it was sent directly to me...that's something Realtors are always supposed to do right? bypass the selling Realtor and try to strike a deal with the home owner??

So, what this looks like is a Realtor who has clients who want to buy our house for a ridiculously low price has created not one but two alias' to try to convince us that the house is worth what his clients want to pay for it???

Really, Seriously now....is it just me being paranoid or does it all sound like it came from the same person??

Next Up Realtor Schenanigans Part 3....it gets really reptilian now....

A New Tact On Marketing Chez 2.0

How Does This Sound To You?

A 2858sq ft Victorian Duplex in central Alameda, completely redone for only $650,000..

This house is amazing, (is what your friends will say) it has;

A Brand New Roof (where you get to pick the color and type of shingle).

2 Brand New Remodeled Kitchens (where you get to pick exactly the features you want).

3 Remodeled Bathrooms (where you get to choose exactly how they will look).

New Floor Coverings (where you get to choose the type, style and level of quality).

New Paint, Inside and Out (yes you get to pick your exact favorite colors! Always wanted to paint a room eggplant? Go For It!!!)

Other Exciting Features

1. New foundation-slab with 9’ ceilings on the bottom floor!


2. An extensive under slab drainage system means bottom floor stays bone dry.


3. Earthquake retro-fitting done.


4. Electrical service upgraded to 200amps with 100amp sub-panels on each floor.


5. Natural gas service was upgraded and all the gas lines where re-piped.


6. Warm water radiant heating installed on first two floors. System is set up to also heat 3rd floor. Luxurious, energy efficient heating!


7. Stamped concrete outdoor sunken living room with natural gas plumbed fire pit.


8. New ‘carriage door’ automatic garage door.


9. Custom antique brick driveway and path.


10. Has tankless water heater installed-Endless eco-friendly hot water.

That's an almost completely remodeled, customized (to your exact tastes) 2858 sq ft Victorian Duplex for only $650,000.

Sound to good to be true? Well, it's not, that's the magic of the FHA 203k home purchase loan. With the 203k loan you roll the remodeling costs into your purchase loan and the house is completely remodeled to your tastes by a professional contractor before you move in. You don't have to lift a finger to do anything, except the fun stuff, like pick paint colors and kitchen cabinet doors, and marmoleum patterns.

With the 203k loan you could purchase the house below for asking and have $165k left over to have the house professionally remodeled. All within 6 months of the close of escrow! We actually have 2 bids from 2 different contractors both under $150k to do a simple finish of the house as a duplex. Your final total loan amount can be as high as $934k for a two unit building under the 203k program. You decide (up to a point) what the total cost of the house will be. Want custom cabinets and granite everywhere and Wolf appliances? Well, obviously, it's going to cost more than $150k. Here's The Simple Math $485k + ( remodeling costs ) <= $934k Your remodeling costs can be below $150 up to $449k!! and still be covered under the 203k program.

For Sale In Central Alameda 1896 Victorian Duplex 4-3 of 2858 sq ft. on a 3500sq ft lot for $485k. Many Original Details intact.

House is an interesting mix of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. The only one exactly like it on the island.

House is legal Triplex currently set up as duplex. House is mid project. All the REALLY expensive work has been done it just needs to be finished. To be clear, the house needs much more than a coat of paint. You should think of it as a blank slate to apply your own vision too.

Will not qualify for standard loan, only all-cash or 203k buyers.

Like to BBQ? Like to entertain outdoors? Then this stamped concrete outdoor entertaining area with built in lighting and fire pit is just the thing! This sunken living room is plumbed for natural gas to the fire pit and BBQ.

This is possibly the most completely documented house for sale EVER!

For more information on the house than you could possibly imagine go here and kill a few hours.

To learn more about this exciting custom home ownership opportunity please contact Mario Mariani. You can email him here MarioMarianiRealtor@hotmail.com

Second Open House Also A Smashing Success And We Got Our First Offer!!!

Double Yahoo!!! Second Open Went Great Also!

The open was scheduled to run from 1-4pm but our Realtor ended up getting there early because the BayFarm bridge was set to be closed. He had all the open house signs up by shortly after 12pm. Then he says he was mobbed with people between noon and 1pm!!! Yay!!! I like it that people appear to be interested enough in the house to want to get there early! He ended up staying till almost 5pm because people kept coming!!! Like to hear that no?

The Run Down

Our Realtor told us it was about the same amount of people as last weeks open ~35 different groups. He did say that at the beginning it was mostly the neighbors begging him to not sell the house to people who are going to turn it into a tri-plex...the neighbors feel very strongly about that... We had several return visitors which I think is also encouraging. One PB(Potential Buyer) was there before 1pm, came back mid-open and then made an appointment to see the house today!! I definitely feel that when PB's do stuff like this, that its encouraging.

Same, Most Asked Question...

Our Realtor said he spent almost the entire time explaining what a 203k loan was and what it covers and how it works....he said he explained this over, and over, and over, and over and over....I can tell that by the end of the almost 5 hrs he was there that he was a little tired of explaining it. There was one couple who was there for quite some time and the wife kept coming back and asking him questions about what the 203k loan covers over and over again...until her husband finally put it in a nutshell. The husband said, 'You buy the house, and its completely redone before you move in!!!'

203k Loan Elevator Pitch

Since we are still having so much trouble getting across what the 203k loan does exactly I've been trying to work up an elevator pitch to help explain it. It needs to go something like this, ' With the 203k loan you roll your remodeling costs into your home loan and in six months you move into a redone home.' or slightly longer, 'The 203k loan is perfect for buying a fixer, because you roll the remodeling costs into your house loan and within six months you move into a redone home and, really, what banks are writing remodeling loans now a days?' or...?

We Got Our First Offer!!!

On Tuesday just 2 days after the first open! Unfortunately we could not come to a meeting of the minds on the terms but hey, at least we got an offer!! But interestingly enough the folks who wrote the first offer were back at the house this weekend looking it over again! Hmmmmm...