Until he inherited a cooperative apartment on Astor Street, Joe O’Shea had not owned real estate. His parents lived here for 20 years and ill health prevented them from properly maintaining the property.
O’Shea moved in a year and a half ago. He doesn’t plan to sell for perhaps five years but wants to make those improvements that will have the most impact on prospective buyers.
“I know next to nothing about homeownership,” he wrote us. “I would be interested in finding out what steps to take to increase the value of the cooperative apartment. I recently bought a new stove. No doubt, carpeting is the next project.” He owns the property with his brother, a priest who visits when he can.
We asked Janna M. Riley of Re/Max Exclusive Properties, Piper’s Alley, to stop by and take a look. While she was there she prioritized a list of improvements that should bring the greatest payback.
The 13th-floor apartment, one of 50 or so in the 40-year-old building, offers about 1,000 square feet of floor space. It has a bedroom with an alcove that could be furnished as an office or dressing area, one bath, a galley kitchen, a large living/dining combination, a balcony and a stunning view of Lake Michigan. The closets and foyer are oversized and the homeowners association recently replaced all the windows.
Sadly, the apartment has fallen into disrepair. There is water damage to the dining area ceiling and the carpeting is badly stained. The light fixtures are dated and produce little light; one is broken. The bathroom sports a tub with worn enamel and mismatched tile on the walls.
The apartment and its location offer lots of advantages, Riley said, but “if you want someone to buy you out, you have to make it look like a home.”
The two biggest projects-and the ones that should come first-are the kitchen and the bathroom, Riley said. The kitchen needs new flooring, lighting and counters. The cabinets are wood and probably can be salvaged, either by painting or resurfacing. O’Shea’s new stove, which is flanked by cabinets, is smaller than the previous one, leaving gaps that should be filled in.
To keep costs down, Riley advised O’Shea to start shopping the discount home improvement stores and to ask friends and neighbors for referrals on contractors. “You don’t have to get marble (floor tile). You can get another sheet good,” she said.
The bathroom needs a new toilet, sink, vanity and light fixture as well as new wall tile. The tub can be re-glazed to restore its whiteness. “You need a little color coordination in here,” said Riley, pointing to the yellow tile on the wall and the gold-flecked white tile in the tub surround.
A good time to check into the damaged dining area ceiling is while the kitchen and bath are being worked on, said Riley. Then all the big, messy jobs can be done at one time.
O’Shea believes there is a fireplace in the living room that was boarded over long ago. Would it be worth the expense to uncover and refurbish it?
“It will be much more interesting for buyers when you have a feature like a fireplace,” said Riley. “Are you going to enjoy it?”
“My brother wants a fireplace,” O’Shea said. “I’m more frugal.” He’s willing, however, to have the work done if it will mean a higher selling price.
After the construction is completed, the next step is a thorough paint job, preferably in a neutral color, said Riley. “Then you do all the finishing touches-the light fixtures, switchplates, doorknobs, towel racks.” The very last project is new carpeting.
Continuing her line of thought about adding warmth and homeyness to the apartment, she suggested furnishing the bedroom alcove to carry out a function rather than serve as a storage catch-all. O’Shea could place his mother’s piano in there, she said, and turn the space into a music room or he could transform the space into an office.
Over all, she estimated he could do the work for about $8,000. “That’s not unreasonable,” O’Shea said. “I appreciate the order of how to do things. I would have done exactly the opposite. I would do the carpet first and then have people come in and wreck it.”
When O’Shea does sell, he should be aware of the fact that cooperatives usually stay on the market longer than do condominiums or other dwellings, Riley noted.
Plan on a year or so to complete the process, she said.
