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Open House - Public Tender

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viking:
Hi everyone,

Thought I would share my experience with a open house I attended last week. There was an ad in the paper and the Department of Family & Community Services was offering up 2 houses for sale. The one I was interested in was located half way between two major cities (30 minutes to either one) and was assessed for property tax at $68,000. The assessed value as per the department was $28,000. When I went to see it, it was formerly a income-assisted mortgage house that had been converted to low-income rental unit. It has been vacant since spring and had been recently vandalized. The gentleman who was showing it, said the department had assessed it before the vandals hits & he didn't think it was worth the minimum bid. All the damages were cosmetic (holes in drywall, broken light shades, graffiti, etc.) It had kitchen, bathroom, livingroom and 2 bedrooms upstairs & 2 bedrooms downstairs with half an unfinished basement. The roof is new, house is 30 years old, 1.1 acre lot, own well and septic. The lot needs some landscaping (cutting trees & brush, mow the lawn), but other than than that, I think I can renovate it for about $10,000 (all new drywall, paint & flooring) and was thinking of putting a bid of $10,000 for the tender. My biggest concern is the lack of time (I work full-time and am working towards my accounting designation) and the fact that it is 30 minutes from my home , and somewhat concerned about leaving unoccupied. Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with unoccupied properties while they are being renovated?????

Thanks

Dan

karlo_k:
Clean up the outside of the house first...so that it looks lived in.   Put on some drapes that prevent easy viewiing into the house...but don't black it out!

Buy the neighbour a few cases of beer and tell him to call you if he sees anything suspicious...but don't tell him your schedule!

Don't leave any loose tools or fixtures or supplies in the house when you are not there!   No dumpsters outfront either when you are not there.

RichD:
If you have the hydro turned on, invest in a couple of sensor lights that come on when somebody comes near. It just sounds like kids being pains in the butt.  >:(

Frank:
If you don't have hydro, you can also buy an 'eliminator' battery from Canadian Tire ($250), they come with an inverter to get 120 volds AC.  Just plug it in and it will feed power through the house, you can recharge it with your car, or a generator when you are there working - or get a little solar panel and stick it on the roof. 

A few of the internal lights should be set to go on periodically (evening and morning), use reading lamps with timers.  As well, a radio can be plugged into a timer so that they think someone is living there - turn it to a soft music station (like the BBC), kids hate that music and will stay away (most of the small shopping plazas that have a problem with loitering use this tactic and it works).

Make sure that there are no newspapers lying in the driveway as they are a sure indication that no one is home.

Keep the grass cut, and put up some 'BEWARE OF DOG' signs - these can be a deterrent even if you don't have a dog.  You can also paste on some alarm company type insignias on the door and windows (even if you don't have an alarm) - having one does you no real good since the response times are ridiculous, again they just serve as a deterrent to young vandals - real thieves know the tricks.

speedfreeksteve:
I would expect that if it's locked up (doors AND windows) and you clean the outside up first that you would probably have nothing to worry about.

There's a difference in a few kids finding an unlocked window and messing up a place than the type of people who would literally break and enter, and most of those types are doing it to steal, they aren't going to do it in a vacant house.

When building my cottage my main concern was building materials and power tools being stolen. It's often not practical to be bringing in all the tools and materials you need for one day, and then loading them back up everytime you're there. I resorted to mainly hiding things on site (inside), making the place at least appear locked up tight, and getting one of the neighbours to keep an eye on things for me.

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