DOOR #3: THE SHERIDAN SHOTGUN
- Rachel H
- Mar 13
- 2 min read
It’s almost Spring! And in the last month we did some things— closed on the sale of the Ivy Cottage and closed on the purchase of a new ‘shotgun’ house investment all within two weeks! At the same time, we were feeling the urge to escape the gray of Seattle for a few days, so we took a quick skip down to San Diego to catch some rays. The best part?! We were able to sign closing documents with a remote notary at our AirBnb near the beach!
Property Acquisition
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market (heck, in the world!) and as a result there isn’t currently a lot of movement in real estate. For the most part, people are holding tight before selling or buying assets to see what might happen next. This new property, formerly a rental, was on the MLS listed at $310,000 and active for a little over two weeks without any offers. Ding Ding! A skill I’ve been developing after becoming more familiar with on-market investment property acquisition, is to assess the owner’s motivation quickly, which may lend itself to opportunity for price negotiation— which was exactly the situation I found myself in here. The owner wanted it off their plate and they wanted it gone quickly, so they were willing to accept a lower offer with minimal contingencies a quick closing.
The Property Stats:
Tacoma, WA
2 BD / 1 BA, Single Story, 904 SF
1,500 SF Lot
Purchase Price: $290,000
Renovation Budget: $60,000
After Repair Value: Min. $430,000
While the margin isn’t significant, the scale, scope and price make it the sweet spot for a short, but design-sweet flip.
Value Add Design
Shotgun houses aren’t particularly common in this area, so here, it feels like an appropriate blend of efficiency on the lot with a hint of craftsman character. I’ll call this one ‘compact craftsman.’ Historically, shotgun homes were common in the South and a result of narrow lots. They’re only a single-story, one room wide and two to three rooms deep without hallways.
For the highest and best value renovation, we’re bringing electrical and plumbing up to code and reconfiguring the layout to make more comfortable two bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths— which will make it much more competitive with comps in the neighborhood.
We're cooking up the design for the finishes and fixtures, but in the meantime, I’ve been day-dreaming about one little extra design detail to help this house stand out: help me pick by dropping a note in the comments!
Open corner kitchen shelving
Glass cabinets
Kitchen window bench
Searching for More
I’m still on the search for another property —of similar scale and renovation— to run in parallel with the Sheridan Shotgun to maximize my time (and quite frankly, drives to Tacoma!), as well as to utilize other funds from interested investors. If you find that is you and we haven’t already connected, reach out. And if we've already been in touch, stay tuned!
See you on the flip-side,
refern (aka Rachel)
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