Finding “contemporary” on the web

Seeing as St. Louis doesn’t have a tremendously developed modern architecture culture, I often find myself browsing the web for ideas and news. I don’t have enough time to keep up with every site I come across, but there are a few sites I find myself visiting repeatedly:

• DWELL - A great magazine and a great website. If you’re into this kind of stuff, check out there website and definitely subscribe to the magazine.

• METROPOLIS- Magazine and website similar to Dwell. I prefer Dwell to this one, but its definitely worth a look.

• CONTEMPORIST - This is one of my favorite blogs. It spotlights contemporary furniture, art and housing. They update constantly and are a great source for brainstorming or just browsing for fun. The only bad thing about it is that most of the products they post on are difficult to impossible to buy. Still, its fun to look.

• 100K HOUSE - This blog chronicles the authors efforts to create an energy efficient home for $100,000. This one has its hits and misses, but its an interesting read.

• MATERIALICIOUS - Another one of those blogs that show off a hodgepodge of different contemporary related materials.

If you’re into contemporary design, do yourself a favor and check these sites out. They are definitely not for everybody, but you might find a few that you like. If there are any similar sites you read often and would like to share, please feel free to do so in the comment area.

Art House spotlighted in the media

Looks like the contemporary infill project in Grand Center, which I posted on a few weeks back, is getting a little more attention. The St. Louis Post Dispatch just posted an article on the Art House project, going into more detail on the projects origins and specs. Here’s the article.

Cleaning up your act

Trash is never-relenting enemy in urban areas. Your tenants can be the cleanest on the block, yet trash will find a way into your yard. Those “free” newspapers that seem to appear out of nowhere on your front porch are a particular pet peeve of mine. Regardless of where it comes from, it needs to be taken care of. You’d think people would realize that by now, but I find myself constantly astounded at how many rental property yards are just covered with junk. I don’t know if its dirty tenants or lazy landlords that are to blame, but its a problem that can be found throughout the St. Louis area.

Trash in the yard of your properties or in the basements or on the porch is unsightly and draws household pests. When prospective tenants take a look at your vacancy and see trash all over the place, you’ve just made a bad impression. The same goes for prospective buyers if the property is for sale. Its also bad for tenant retention and tends to get you on the City’s bad side.

This is a never-ending battle, fighting the pileup of this trash, and you need to keep on top of it. When you visit your property to collect rent or fix a sink, you need to pick up the trash. When you cut the lawn, you need to pick up the trash. Even if you have to make a special visit to do it every couple weeks you need to pick up the trash.

Landlords who have their properties professionally managed seem to have the biggest problem with this. For some reason, it seems like all the property managers in town seem to think that keeping their clients properties clean isn’t their responsibility. If you have a manager in place, check up on how they are doing with this issue. If you stop by and the place is filthy, call them out on it. You’re paying for their service, and if they can’t provide something as basic as picking up the trash, you might want to look elsewhere.

Whether you’re doing it yourself or have someone else do it for you, picking up regularly around your properties should be of major importance to you in maximizing th profitability of your investments. Dirty buildings draw bad tenants and we all know how that can turn out.

Mississippi River Bridge a done deal

For better or worse, it looks like that Mississippi River Bridge plan I posted on the other day is a done deal. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich signed off on the deal this morning. I think this bridge is important for the future of our region, but this four-lane design is going to come back on us in the end. But seeing as how I am not the governor of either state and haven absolutely no influence over either one of them, I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with what we’re going to get. Maybe we can convince them to put a lid over Memorial Drive while their at it.

For more details on the signed deal check out this St. Louis Post Dispatch article.

Concrete countertops

We all know granite and laminate and Formica and Corian, but I bet you never think of concrete when it comes to countertops. There was a time when granite was considered top-of-the-line and trendy. Nowadays its everywhere. Its not a waste of money to install in your kitchens, but it doesn’t make them stand out anymore.

With concrete, on the other hand, you’ve got something pretty unique. It is a relatively uncommon material for countertops and prospective buyers and tenants take notice of its standout style. Its also resilient and versatile. Its hard to knick and if properly sealed doesn’t stain. If dyes or acid stains are used, a limitless supply of colors and looks are available as well. Its an affordable way to make your project your own.

If you hire someone else for the job, prices can run anywhere from $65 to $135 a square foot for 1.5″ thick concrete countertops. A few weeks ago, I went to the studio of CK Designs, a local firm that specializes in the craft, to see some of the finished product. They had some great designs and seemed pretty affordable. Somewhere around the cost of granite with a turnaround of about two weeks after you order.

You can also try to tackle the job yourself. I have seen a few programs on tv and have looked up details on a few webpages, but I still haven’t tried this myself. But if you’re going for something basic, and enjoy experimenting, its probably worth a try. You don’t stand to lose much if you fail. The materials are pretty cheap.

There are tons of books and webpages out there discussing how to tackle this task. One website I found that is particularly informative is the Concrete Network. Probably worth a look. As for books, Amazon is loaded with them. You probably can’t go wrong with most any of them, but here is a book that is particularly well reviewed. If you do your research and prepare yourself for a few failed attempts, you’ll probably get the hang of it.

Just as with the barnyard-style sliding door I spotlighted last week, this product isn’t a fit for every project. But if you’re looking to add some personalized style to your project to make it stand out, this one might be worth a look. If you give a try, let me know how it turns out.

A contract is a contract is a contract

They say that without order their is chaos. Then I guess the world of real estate is one of chaos. Or at least it feels like it at times. I have noticed a recurring theme in the real estate world that is becoming impossible to ignore: Nobody pays attention to contracts anymore!

Contracts seem to have gone from being legally binding agreements to mere pieces of paper. Have no contingencies left and decide you don’t like the deal anymore just days before closing? Just walk away from the contract. Pass your inspection contingency and decide a week later that you want to bail by fraudulently claiming that you can’t get financing? Just walk away from the contract. Decide that you want to sell your property to someone after you already have it under with someone else? Just walk away from the contract. Nobody seems to pay attention to these things anymore. Deadlines come and go and agents, lenders, buyers and sellers take no notice.

There was a time when businessmen, shady as many of them were, had a strong enough sense of follow-through that a mere handshake agreement was sufficient. Nowadays, I can have a legally binding agreement put down in writing only to have one of the parties spit on it as if it were meaningless. I don’t know if this is a sign of the world we live in today or something isolated to the world of real estate.

I am probably making the situation sound worse than it really is, but I often find myself quite frustrated during transactions. I often think we have come to this state due to the influx of unqualified or uninterested buyers that popped into the market over the last few years during the era of 100% financing and questionable appraisals. Hopefully with those days gone this trend will begin to dissipate. Hopefully.

Or maybe if more people would sue buyers or sellers that violate contracts we could curb this issue. Perhaps people are becoming emboldened due to the fact that it is very unlikely that they will face any repercussions from breaking a contract. I’m not advocating that everyone in the real estate world become sue-happy, but it’s a perfectly acceptable recourse in certain situations.

These issues probably play a role in the lack of respect shown to contracts, but in the end there is probably something less tangible at work. We all just need to remember that a contract is a contract is contract. Once you sign on the dotted line, you can’t just change your mind and walk away if there are no loopholes or contingencies. There is an endless amount of money to be made in this business if we all just learn to keep our heads. A well-written document protects the interests of all parties to our mutual benefit, but only if we can all have enough integrity to show these documents the respect they deserve.

Real Mississippi River Bridge deal coming this week?

The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Illinois and Missouri transportation officials have come to an agreement on the Mississippi River Bridge proposal. This time, unlike last week, I’m not joking. The paper says something official will be coming later this week. Word has it that the project will not utilize tolls. Unfortunately, it sounds like they are going to scale back the project to only 4 lanes instead of the originally intended 8.

I understand the need to watch the budget and reluctance to install tolls on the bridge, but I have to wonder if there wasn’t a way we could have used the original concept? Illinois officials have been bending over backwards to make this deal happen, but Missouri’s Transportation Director (or Dictator if you prefer) Pete Rahn has been fighting tooth and nail against it. Now we’re going to (probably) build a bridge that’s going to need to be updated in 10 years. What foresight.

I really don’t get why Missouri has been fighting so hard against the Illinois side of the metro area. The resurgence of East St. Louis and other near-east municipalities would be a major boon to the area. I have always believed that both sides of the river are just one side of the same coin. Much like Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. Those learned to work more in tune with one another and their metro area is thriving because of it. Unfortunately our state officials seem to have failed to learn their lesson. One can only hope that Illinois has vision.

It will be interesting to see have this pans out this week. Check out the Post article yourself for more details.

EcoUrban infill in South St. Louis

I was cutting through the South City neighborhood of Benton Park West a few months back and stumbled across something that was quite a shock to me: contemporary, green infill. The specific house I came across was at 3140 Pennsylvania (picture to the left). When I took a peek inside, I was surprised how nice the place was. It had so many of the features, which I would love to see incorporated in more area developments. It turns out that this building has a been given a Platinum LEED rating (for green construction) and is the product of modular construction. This project is just the 10th in the country to be given such a high LEED rating.

The sale price of $274,900 seems a little high for the area and product, but its great to see a project like this. Design-wise, the project misses the mark on a few points, but I’m still a fan. The home isn’t all that big and I’m still not totally sold on the exterior finish. Stylistically its ok, but the quality of materials and craftsmanship outside seem to be below that of the interior. They did recently add some rather attractive aluminum trim on the exterior, which made an improvement.

The best part is that this just appears to be the tip of the iceberg. Developer EcoUrban has already constructed two additional homes at 3103 and 3105 Magnolia in the nearby Tower Grove East Neighborhood. They also have plans for twelve additional 2 and 3 bedroom townhomes in Tower Grove East. There is also rumor that they are scoping out other areas in the city for similar development. Very exciting stuff. I’ll post more details and pics when they come available. If you want to follow their progress yourself, make sure you check out their website.

Getting ahead of the snow

Seeing as it has been sleeting and snowing all day, I figured I’d make mention of the issue of icy sidewalks. Spreading ice melt prior to a storm or getting quickly around to shoveling snow at your properties is not always a realistic option. It’s usually a gray area on who’s responsibility such work is as well.

One way to appease your tenants in this situation is to have some salt or ice melt and a snow shovel on site. This might not be an option for all properties, but if you have caring, attentive tenants, supplying these items will often allow the situation to take care of itself. If you have salt in the basement that the tenants are aware of, they will generally sprinkle it on the sidewalks for their own sake. If you have a cheap snow shovel in the basement someone will often take up the mantle as well. Its a cheap way to help yourself and satisfy your tenants.

Barnyard-style sliding door

There are many affordable ways to make your rehab project, rental units or even your personal residence stand out. As you, no doubt, have already realized, I’m a big advocate of incorporating unique features in your projects. These features add character which is worth well more than the money and time put into their incorporation. This post will be the first in a series intended to help you find something unique, which you can utilize in one of your future projects.

For the first post in this series, I’d like to point out a creative door design I found in the February 2008 issue of Dwell magazine. This concept was utilized by a California couple on a budget. Here’s what Dwell had to say about the door:

“Since the couple wanted a modicum of privacy for their sleeping space, yet didn’t want to close off the area with a small traditional door, they decided to use a barnyard type partition for the room. A cheap plywood sheet like those found at any lumberyard became the door, which was mounted onto a sliding metal track attached to the top of the wall. The result is essentially a wall that cleverly slides open to reveal the room inside.”

Such a door wouldn’t fit in every property or with ever motif, but its a clever and affordable way of satisfying this couple’s needs. By opting for such an unusual option in an apartment or rehab project, the property would be able to offer something different to the consumer. People get tired of the same old same old. And did I mention that the materials for this door only cost about $200?

The hardware can be purchased from McMaster-Carr on page 2844 of their online catalog. They also have an impressive variety of other hardware if you wanted to get really creative. In the challenging market conditions of today, consumers are demanding more for their money. Its time to start thinking outside the box. Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea.

Next Page »