The Littlejohn Manor

This Approx 4,000 square foot house with a huge porch, walkout upstairs and downstairs, on 5.25 acres, surrounded by multiple zone type lots - is an amazing opportunity for the right buyer. The land is treed and beautiful. This property is more geared for: Someone looking to buy a place they can live in immediately, not worrying about aesthetics initially, and turn into a very strong income bearing asset while transforming this into their dream home. oSomeone looking for a large house that they can put some work into / contract out and customize into their dream home – at an affordable price. oSomeone looking for a great place to invest $550,000 or so with a great ROI that is VERY secure. oA commercial developer looking for land in a strategic location as the land is very buildable, in a prime location, for many different commercial applications or for high-capacity residential applications i.e. apartments. None of the assertions in this listing/brochure are binding, but they are reasonable and can happen with a bit of work. I do not need help selling, so any agents wanting to offer services please do not waste my time. About Me I, the owner, am listing this house because this is more than just a house. This is a very well built (cinderblock and hart pine structure from 1960), exceptional home on 5.25 acres that can pretty easily become a cash cow, right in the middle of Pell City. I inherited this house. I hate the current state of the real estate industry. My approach is to be transparent and blunt. I do not have to sell this house but would prefer to if I can get what I know it’s worth; which, is me walking away with $400,000. If I cannot get $400,000 out of it, I will finish the renovations, not sell it, and just keep and rent it out. Comps Considerations If you run a comparison on large houses sold, and for sale, around Pell City, you will see (not counting houses on the lake), the price per square foot for comparably sized houses, in decent to good shape, comes in around $141 per square foot. I am listing this house right now for $106.33 per square foot. The house can be moved into right now. We lived in it for six months and have had a house sitter in the home for 6 months (the house sitter will vacate for showings). It’s comfortable and functional as-is, just not beautiful - yet. I have a $140,000 upgrade budget to work with. When all upgrades are complete, I will be around that $141 per sq ft. range; which, will be comped out to other houses, but with all brand new everything, on 5.25 acres 2 mins from downtown and 6 mins from the lake. My house has a good bit more land attached to it than the other houses I saw around $141 per sq. ft.. What’s the point – the point is you can buy this, put $140k into it, and have an incredibly beautiful place how you want it, and be at the same price point as another large house, probably with less land, not how you want it. Furthermore, you can do that in a way that the mortgage is being paid by tenants living downstairs if you needed to go that route financially, I outline that path below. Moving Forward in Time The house needs a lot of work currently. As I move farther into the project, I will be raising the price to recoup all of the expenses for the work being completed to make the home beautiful and in perfect condition. The sooner you buy, the lower the price, and the more customizations you can complete to your own specifications without paying for what I have already completed, my way. I am moving forward with remodeling this house (and hiring professionals where needed – like countertops and shower replacement). Below are lists with what I have already done, everything that is wrong, and most of what I plan to do. We can review my progress and adjust pricing accordingly as I complete different items. Negotiating If you want to buy this house without an agent, we have some room to drop the price, 3% to be sure. I will also pay buyer agent fees – but - in reality, you would be paying those because I will not drop below a price where I walk away with less than $400k after closing. My intention on the price from here forward is simple, $400k plus whatever improvements cost me plus 5k for closing costs plus 3% of all those items (if you go with no agent – no additional 3%). One consideration you may not know about is the existence of No Doc Loans. Check into those if you have not heard of them. Please understand, if you try offering me less than this, I will stop communicating with you. Showings I will host regular “open house” days instead of doing showings. There will be workmen coming and going and my house sitter, who is elderly, to schedule around. Reach out to find out when the next open house will be. What We Have Done So Far •I had a structural engineer come out and validate that the house is in good structural shape; that report can be found in this listing. •I had multiple plumbing valves, drains, etc. repaired. •The tile in the basement was stripped out. •The wood paneling in the basement, on the walls, was pulled off and thrown away. •The house has been thoroughly inspected for termites, does not have termites, and it does have a termite bond which, should be attached to this listing. There was a small invasion many years ago, but they were correctly abated and again, it has an active bond now, it did not when I got it…that's why I stripped all the paneling off the walls, tore up the tile, etc. downstairs - to ensure no termites were anywhere. We have also looked inside most of the walls upstairs with a snake camera and found zero indicators of termites upstairs. The house has a termite shield between 1st and second story (piece of steel with angle down on the top of the cinderblock walls). •The cinderblock walls downstairs have been sanitized and all mold / mildew downstairs is dead. •I cleared away a ton of plant life – ivy, bushes, saplings, etc. all around the perimeter of the house and killed a lot of plant life up against the house. •We cleaned the vinyl siding. •I oil based Kilz’d the entire upstairs inside walls and ceiling – so it is ready for paint! •I bought all new top of the line stainless steel appliances that were scratch and dent - so, new huge fridge, very expensive dishwasher, excellent ceramic topped stove…all in perfect shape with the exception of a few cosmetic dings. •I had the duct work professionally cleaned, and it got very clean. I made Norell's staff go through with a snake camera and verify that every inch of that duct work was clean (I have allergies). •I had about 10 large trees cut down in the yard, the house is free of immediately dangerous trees. •I've been running 3 dehumidifiers in the house for months. •I have Ozoned the entire house twice. If you are unfamiliar with ozone treatments, I recommend googling it. •The carpet on the steps going downstairs to upstairs was stripped out (again - looking for termites), only to reveal beautiful wood steps. Known Issues Here are all of the current known issues that need to be fixed—this is not an exhaustive list but covers most of it. Keep in mind, it is basically move in ready now, just not perfect. •The electrical is old aluminum wiring with a fuse box. There is also a breaker panel for higher voltage stuff. •The furnace is old, currently needs a part to work, and really just needs to be replaced. •The bathroom downstairs is inoperable and needs replacing. •One of the walls in the basement needs to be shored up a bit, it’s not terrible and does not have to be done but wisdom would dictate doing something with it. There are do it yourself options like Gorilla Braces that can be done for like $3k and some moisture mitigation solutions that vary in price / intensity. The moisture is currently being controlled by dehumidifiers. •The downstairs is fully unfinished…cinderblock walls and bare slab floor. •Upstairs, the kitchen could use work, how much is up to the buyer. •The bathrooms upstairs could use some work, again, how much is up to the buyer. The showers upstairs work, one toilet leaks a bit and needs the base looked at (my plan is to have this fixed soon). •The walls need to be painted. •There is a small amount of mold in several locations within the walls (I am very sure that mold is dead but cleaning it by tearing out some sheetrock is not a bad idea and that is my next step as of the writing of this description, see plan below). •The columns on the front porch may need the bottoms to be replaced (not that hard). •The columns on the front porch will also need some wood pulled off and replaced. •The front porch needs to be pressure washed and painted. •The top of the porch needs some work on the flashing (including removing a large poison ivy vine growing out of the wood ha, not a big issue, just need to find someone to knock it out. •The chain link fence on the side of the house needs some work. •The side porch needs to be torn off and the siding corrected from the tie-in to the structure. Here is a plan that a new owner could follow and essentially what I am doing until it sells (this plan may change some after posting this): •Take out a Home Equity Loan to accomplish the following (my estimate is a $60,000 HELOC/Loan could easily do the following with a bit of elbow grease on the part of the owner): FIRST •Cut out the bottom 4 ft of the sheetrock on one side of every wall, throughout the entire upstairs (before the electricians go in there) and clean between the walls and sanitize to kill any remaining mold spores. Don’t replace sheetrock until after electricians do their work. •Replace the electricity—whole system: (Current quote for $22k to do entire system—all wiring, including can lights in the ceiling throughout, fully brought up to code) •Replace the furnace using a "rental" program where you pay a monthly fee to use the HVAC equipment. It's basically a loan that doesn’t hit your credit. It takes about 10 years to pay off and is about $200/month. (Total about $16k) •Install the bottom 4 ‘ of sheetrock you removed (obviously with new material).   DOWNSTAIRS (I would accomplish the following ASAP once electric and HVAC are done). •Fix the back wall with vapor barrier, drainage, and braces. •Sand and paint the other cinderblock walls (check with moisture meter first). •Get up remaining glue on floors from old tile. •Put down luxury vinyl plank flooring. •Add some sound proofing to the ceiling. •Put in a small kitchen. •Fix the bathroom. •After these are completed, you could Sublease the basement for $2000/month which would include utilities. •NOW - YOU ARE BASICALLY LIVING FOR FREE UPSTAIRS - for just a few hundred bucks per month and can continue on the aesthetics in the rest of the house. UPSTAIRS •Move in (obviously I am not doing this). •Paint the inside of the bottom cabinets in the kitchen with heavy oil-based paint. •Paint inside of the upper cabinets with heavy oil-based paint. (Possibly replace some or all cabinets) •Replace the countertops in the kitchen and both bathrooms (or just paint them and use like that for a couple of years). •Get the toilet that has a small leak taken care of, this will almost assuredly not be expensive. •Paint the walls. •Fix the columns on the front porch. •Pressure wash and paint the front porch and columns. •Redo bathrooms as time and money permit. •Redo flooring in kitchen/dining. •Maybe replace or paint the trim to update the look. •Some walls could be removed or archways added to make the floorplan even more open than it currently is if desired. Grand Vision for the Whole Property (this part may cost extra beyond the original $60k HELOC estimate) I would have an acre or two, of the 5.25 acres that the house is on, split off and rezoned. I would install a small RV park or like 8 - 15 trailer pads on the 5 acres (You would need to validate this is possible with zoning and I would be willing to work with you on the contract to get that done before close). You could get $40/night for RV pads (extremely easily) or $600/mo for the trailer pads (very easily) and make a fortune. The truth is you could probably get $75/night for RV and $800/mo for trailer pads if you included a nice little yard and an outbuilding. It would not cost that much money to put those in either. You just start with one or two and as you make more money, install more. In a couple of years, this property will be generating anywhere from $2000 - $6000 per month (and most likely more) for you with minimal recurring work - you just have some startup work and costs. If you handle the move correctly, you could be living there for almost free from day one and then start building in a way that just pays you. Trailer parks are very lucrative as are RV parks; small ones are easy to manage. Other Possibilities Another option is to buy this place with some family members, fix it up into two living spaces, and both of you have a minimal mortgage. You could have a very nice 2000 sq foot place per floor on 5.25 acres, right in town, for like $270k each, after the remodel…and get it set up how you want it from the start. The point is that the possibilities are very real and very within reach if you are planning to be there for several years. Again, I would do this, but my career has me elsewhere. This house may qualify for a USDA loan or a rehab loan, at least partially, but I do not know for sure. Still another option is to fix the whole place up and rent it out to roommates...$600/room...have two kitchens...that makes you $4200/month minus expenses. You would be able to buy it, fix it up, and cash flow almost instantly.   Commercial Possibilities •Another option in the short term is to just tear the house down and build apartments or some other commercial structure(s) there. Once I get this house remodeled, I will probably not entertain that for the house, and the land the house is on, unless it’s a very strong offer. I am open to splitting the lot and selling just an acre or two as well. •Someone could turn the house into an amazing Bed and Breakfast. •Someone could turn this into a small assisted living with a bit more investment money. •Someone can buy it, fix it up, and rent it out as a way of putting their money into a very secure income / equity growing asset. Please reach out to me (Jonathan) if you are interested at (719) 493-8357 or email LM19PC@gmail.com.