Old House Journal – September 2019

QP

RO

PH

OTO

.CO

M

TAKING A CHANCE ON AN OLD HOUSE

Three families go in on a renovation, gaining knowledge and finding success

as they adopt preservation guidelines. By Kive Kerr / Photos by Jason Qualls

This is the story of a real-estate

fl ip—our fi rst. It has been fi nancially

successful, but even better, it rescued a

1910 house headed for demolition while

adding curb appeal to the whole street.

It all started with a group email from

Jason to Garrett and me: “Hey Guys, I

work with a realtor, Linda Tracy–Ryburn,

who lists a lot of houses in the Oklahoma

City Historic District. She’s looking for

renovated houses to sell. I think we ought

to go in together, buy this house, and sell

it. Linda says it’s a great deal!”

I opened the email attachment and

looked at the pictures. My fi rst thought

was, “Is this a joke?” The place was a

dump; it didn’t need renovation, it needed

a bulldozer!

Then again, I trust my friends. Jason is

a professional real-estate photographer

(his company is QProPhoto). Garrett, a

disabled veteran, is a high-school history

teacher. I’m an insurance agent. We three

and our wives have been friends for over

20 years. Among us, we have eight kids

under the age of 13. Garrett, who also

started out skeptical, agreed with me

that we should at least entertain Jason’s

proposal. We visited the house.

Yep, it was a dump. It had been a

college rental for over 50 years. It had

a tacky, 1980s home-store kitchen.

The bathroom had blood splatters on

the tub and tile surround. (The listing

terminology stated “possible biohazard.”)

The house was in poor shape, having

devolved into a drug den.

Once we got over the initial scare,

though, we started to realize some things.

The house was structurally sound, on a

good-size lot with a large backyard, and

it had quaint lines. At 1500 square feet

inside, it was a decent size; with minor

changes to the fl oor plan, it could be a

roomy 3 BR/2 bath residence. It was the

worst house on a street with several nicely

renovated homes: the area was headed in

the right direction. The school district is

18

BEFORE

BEFORE

SHOW US Submit your successful project, large or small, to ppoore aimmedia.com.

SUCCESS!