Property Overview
This property is a solid tri-level in the Meadowood section of Aurora. The house has very good bones, but it's been lived in by an elderly woman and has been a bit neglected over the years. The house is dated and in need of a top-to-bottom facelift. As currently configured, the house is a 2 bed, 2 bath with 1,296 sq ft. It sits on a nice-sized 8,407 sq ft lot at the end of a cul-de-sac. There is a 2-car attached garage.
The layout is simple: enter the front door to the main living space. Behind that is the kitchen with a dining area. There are sliding patio doors that lead to the large, covered concrete patio. The backyard is fully fenced. Upstairs are 2 bedrooms and a full bath. The primary bedroom has a nice walk-in closet that could probably become an en suite bath if you wanted the ARV boost that would come with that (you would then do a wall closet in the nook on the right side of the bedroom).
Downstairs is currently an open family room space with an additional bath, plus the laundry/utility room. The best bang for the buck here is to convert the left side of the lower level to a 3rd bedroom, making this a 3/2 or, if you convert that walk-in closet in the upstairs bedroom, a 3/3 layout. If you add the bed in the lower level, you'll still have a nice family room space with a stone fireplace. In looking at the comps, it appears some have even converted the lower level into 2 bedrooms to end up with 4 total. Our ARV is based on this being a 3/2 layout when it's finished, but it would seem that as a 3/3, the ARV should get more into the high 400s.
One quick note: the seller will be moving out of state, so the majority of the stuff in the house when you look at it will be left behind. It's not like a hoarder house or anything, but there will be a few pieces of furniture and lots of small stuff. The schools here are in the Adams-Arapahoe 28J district, and the taxes for 2023 were $1,978. There is no HOA.
Neighborhood: Meadowood is a desirable area in Aurora, attractive for its starter home price points in the low to mid $400s. All amenities are nearby and easily accessible.
Video Walkthrough
We're budgeting $57K for this project since, even though it's not a big house, you'll be doing pretty much everything. On the exterior, we're budgeting for new siding, new windows, a new patio door, and work in the yard. The seller states that the roof was done about 10 years ago, and from the ground, it looks to be about average... but we've budgeted to replace it. On the inside, we've budgeted for the final layout to be 3 beds and 2 baths. You'll be doing the kitchen, both bathrooms, paint, and flooring, plus closing off the portion of the lower level on the left to make the 3rd bedroom. To get a 4th bedroom down there, you'll probably need to take out the fireplace, so that may not be worth the effort. Converting that walk-in closet upstairs to an en suite bath may be a really good add-on to the work scope. Given the layout of that room, we're thinking that when these were built, there was an option to have that space be a bathroom and then have a wall closet in the nook on the right side. That walk-in closet is next to the hall bath and above the bath in the lower level, so access to plumbing should be easy.
As a 3/3 layout with an en suite bath, we'd probably push ARV to somewhere in the 460 - 470 range and add about 8k to the fixed budget for adding the extra bath. The furnace looks to be about 8 years old, but there is no central A/C, so it's up to you if you want to add that. The water heater needs to be replaced. It sprung a leak and did get some water in the lower level, but it doesn't seem like any major damage resulted... except trashing the carpet that you'd be tearing out anyway. The electric panel is a GE and looks to be in fine working condition.
Total Budget: $57,084
The furnace is newer, but other than that, everything needs to be addressed. The seller believes the roof was replaced about 10 years ago, so it may be in good condition. I did not notice any signs of structural issues.
Closing is scheduled for 12/18/2024.
2 beds, 2 bath, 1,296 sq ft
3080 S Evanston Way, Aurora, CO 80014 Zillow
Our first comp is one of the more recent sales in the area, having closed on 9/30/24. This home is a 4-bed, 2-bath tri-level with 1,296 sq. ft. It sits on a 7,144 sq. ft. lot and has a 2-car garage. In terms of overall size, it's the same as our subject. It appears they converted 2 rooms in the lower level to make it a 4/2 layout. Overall, this is a nice, clean house with some updates done over the years. The lot on this one is about 1,300 sq. ft. smaller than our subject. Relatively speaking, it's probably the nicest of the comps. If you leave our subject as a 3/2, you'll have one less bedroom than this comp. If you convert that closet into a bath, you’ll have one less bedroom, but you'll also gain an en suite bath in the main bedroom, a very desirable selling feature. This comp sold for $475,000, but there was a $7K concession, bringing the final price to $468,000. This comp went under contract after 20 DOM.
3194 S Helena Street, Aurora, CO 80013 Zillow
Our next comp is a 3/2/1296 tri-level layout, the same as our subject will have once the 3rd bedroom is added to the lower level. This is also one of the most recent sales in the area, having closed on 10/21/24. The lot for this property is one of the smaller ones in the area, measuring 6,929 sq ft—almost 1,500 sq ft smaller than our subject. This house is very clean and has had some nice updates over the years, but some of the work looks pretty cheap, like the poorly painted cabinets in the kitchen. The bottom line is that it’s not comparable to what our subject property will be after a full renovation. This one sold for $445,000, and after a $5,000 concession, the net price was $440,000. We’ve set our ARV at the same $440,000 value, but with a much bigger lot and a much nicer finished product, we’re probably being a bit too conservative. Hopefully, by the time you get this property back on the market just before springtime, you’ll be looking at an ARV more in the $450,000+ range.
16165 E Bates Drive, Aurora, CO 80013 Zillow
Our 3rd comp has a slightly different layout, but it's still a 3-bed, 2-bath tri-level with 1,317 sq ft, making it just a fraction bigger than our subject's 1,296 sq ft layout. This one sits on a 9,365 sq ft lot and has a 2-car garage. The house is clean, but it's quite dated. Any renovations that have been done appear to be at least 20 years old, so from a condition standpoint, it's not anywhere near what our subject will be. This comp is a bit older but still within 6 months, having sold on 6/5/24 for $475,000. There was a $10k concession, so the net sale price was $465,000.
2967 S Hannibal Street, Aurora, CO 80013 Zillow
This comp doesn't give us much information because the MLS notes state that the seller accepted an offer before the listing went live. It's a 3-bed, 2-bath tri-level layout with 1,296 sq. ft., so it matches our subject. There is only one picture, showing the front of the house. It looks nice, clean, and recently updated. That's about all we know. It sold on 6/14/24 for $450,000 with a $10k concession. It went under contract after 0 days on the market.
