If you haven’t heard, we officially own our very first investment property!  It’s a brick duplex in an up-and-coming neighborhood called Franklinton, and it’s full of many, many fun (and not so fun) projects that we’ll be sharing with you in the coming months.

There are some really great things about both sides of the house – high ceilings, unfinished basements and attics (Bryan can stand in both!), original trim, original hardwood floors, and fireplaces.  Each side is 1500 sq ft, and has 3 bedrooms/1 bathroom.  The catch is that it’s been owned for almost 20 years by landlords who didn’t take care of it (and that’s saying it nicely), so it needs a TON of work.  Our plan is to fix up both sides, live in one and rent out the other to offset the cost of the mortgage.

We’re excited about being in Franklinton because it has been getting lots of attention from city planners and investors as the next big neighborhood in Columbus.  It’s directly west of Downtown, and a 5-10 min ride to work for both Bryan and me!  We can even bike if we want to.  Several large companies have bought out old buildings and have made plans to develop them, and new bars/restaurants, breweries and coffee shops are slowly opening up.  The down side is that the neighborhood is still very much in transition.  A typical block in Franklinton has a mixture of brand new, completely redone houses, abandoned/boarded up houses, and houses that are occupied (many rented) by low income families.  With that comes more crime and drug issues than other more established areas.  But with time, we’re hopeful that it will turn around and are excited about the potential that this neighborhood has.

The best thing about fixing up this house is that we’ll be part of the revitalization happening in Franklinton.  Just in talking with the neighbors, we know that putting some love into this house and making sure we have responsible tenants in there will have a big impact on our block.  Our work will go beyond just making the house look nice, which is something we can be proud of.

We’ll share lots of “before” photos soon, and some more details on what we want to do with the space (hopefully this weekend!).

Until next time…