Beginning of a New Project

I have purchased a shell a few months ago in North Philadelphia, close to Temple University. It is a large 3-story house with 4 stories worth of trash - every floor plus the basement was full of trash. Obviously squatters were living in the property before (I'll later make a separate post on how to evict squatters, or file an eviction in general in Philadelphia), and there are stained mattresses, broken tv sets, and countless useless junk all over the floor.

So the first thing we need to do is simply to clean out the property. In Philadelphia, the city now requires a permit to be obtained before you can obtain a dumpster. This is what you have to do to obtain the permit (click here to view the file in pdf format) called the "Application for Street Closure". This application should be submitted 10 days before you start work. Once the city processes this application, they will fax you a permit and ask for you to send in or stop by to submit payment. The cost is $40 per week, although I'm not sure if the cost varies due to location or size of dumpster. Once you receive their fax, just forward it to your dumpster company and get your dumpster.

I believe the Streets Department handles these permits. The contact information I have for them is:
phone: 215-686-5501 fax: 215-686-5502
to extend the time period for a permit: 215-68-5524 / 215-686-5525
address: 9th Floor 1401 JFK Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19102

By the way, all the information I post here is based on my personal knowledge and experience. I think the city secretly change their phone numbers, names of departments, and make up new departments sometimes so that you never know who you really should talk to. Anyway, at this stage, I am also ready to apply for the permit to start work on the property as well. Next post will be about my venturing into the world of L&I (license and inspections). Please wish me luck.

Thank You .... for All Our Past Clients and Their Referrals and Testimonials

" I wanted you to know I am very pleased with the outcome of my projects. The cement work in the yard is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again for a job well done!" - Deborah Way, Northeast Philadelphia

" I really appreciate the speed and quality of job you completed at my investment property in Philadelphia. I'm glad you'll be handling the maintenance of my investments" - Yeung Chung, Northeast Philadelphia

"We are very happy with the work John and his crew did for us. We were able to sell this property very quickly at top dollar even in this market. We will definitely refer John to our friends and clients."

- Mike and Lisa, real estate investors. This house was in Northeast Philadelphia. Work done includes remodeled kitchen, new flooring, and fresh paint.

Photos of Some Houses That We've Rehabbed

I guess it is much easier to start a blog for my company, SHD Construction, by showing photos of what we've done so our clients can easily see samples of our work. We are a construction company that is licensed in the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding Montgomery County. We also have a separate real estate company that handles the buying, selling, and rental management of investment houses. I might blog about that aspect of real estate investing as well in the future.

Anyway, let's start with some photos of a house that we've just finished rehabbing:

living room: we've put down some new flooring (bamboo) and paint

kitchen: the usual suspects, there are the new cabinets, tiles, and appliancesbedroom: yes, we put bamboo flooring throughout. I really like bamboo over hardwood nowadays; it's a little cheaper, I guess more environmentally friendly, plus I have it at my house, and it seems a little smoother and easier to clean. Main bath: oooohh jacuzzi plus a standing shower ......
Second bath:
Front of the building: Yes we painted it green .... but that seems to match the neighborhood in a way ....

This house is located more North of Northern Liberties, past Girard Ave, in the Old Kensington / Fishtown neighborhood. The neighborhood is going through a phase of transformation due to its still affordable price but close proximity to Center City. So we are actually in that neighborhood a LOT and we do like it there.

Before we worked the house, it was actually a very very smelly shell with lots of junk (and dog poop) that the previous owner left. It was 1700 sq ft of 5 bedrooms and 1 bath, a typical Philly row home with obsolete design, and we have made it into a good sized 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.

Just for fun, here are the "before" photos:

front of the building and the sad looking door frame.

bath "before"

"before" living room"

that looks like the old kitchen ...

And mind you, these photos were taken after we've already threw away maybe 3 dumpsters, or more, of trash, demolished the old bathroom and kitchen (see the random toliet sitting around) and probably knocked down quite a few walls. Our company can finish all the aspects of project from start to finish, from clean out to obtaining permits, to redo all the plumbing, electrical wiring, etc., to the final cosmetic procedure of the house: paint, flooring, kitchen design, etc.

By the way, this house is for sale! If you or anyone is interested, let me know!