WNY Handyman

This was an interesting find. When you are pulling apart a house that was built in 1889, you are likely to find some interesting things.  I must admit, there haven’t been too many with this latest project.  However, the plumbers had reading material in the upper bathroom and left a section of newspaper behind.  I was hoping to find some advertising from companies that are still around today, but there weren’t any that I recognized.  One interesting ad is for Zimmerman lumber. As it turns out, one of the family members (George J. Zimmerman) was the former mayor of the City of Buffalo.

Zimmerman Lumber Ad from 1919

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Administrator Buffalo Sites 1919, buffalo, lumber, news, paper, zimmerman

We will be starting a new project in about two weeks.  It is a home located in a great neighborhood within the Village of Lancaster. The location is fantastic, the house…. not so much.   When buying a home to fix, that is what you want… The worst house on the best street.

This home is located in the Village of Lancaster (off Broadway) and is on a street that includes a mix of home styles.  There are even a number of older 2 family homes.  Our property was built in 1889 and that will have some challenges.  There will be some interesting issues to address with a home that was built in 1889. The oldest property that I have worked on was about 1920.

This was a 2 family home until the prior owner got tired of tenants above him and closed off the upper unit. He pulled the kitchen and had it reassessed as a single family home.  We are going to do a full conversion to a single family.  This will provide some challenges, but I think we will be able to pull off a modern floor plan with some big changes.  We are going to combine the current kitchen with a lower bedroom to provide a modern “open” design.  After the redesign, we will end up with a 4BR (3up, 1 down), 2 Bathroom home with a modern eat in kitchen.  There are 8 1/2′ ceilings on the first floor and this will compliment the open design.

Home renovation plan

There are a NUMBER of large issues with this renovation, not the least of which is the foundation work that is needed.  This will be a big project, but I feel that we will be working with a great contractor who can get things done quickly and properly.  They worked on our office renovation and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the work that was done there.  They have a motto “We Show up, Finish Up, Clean Up and Don’t Screw Up”

There are a couple of major repairs needed before we can even get started making this property look nice.  There is foundation work required and roof work required. There is water leaking now and that needs to be addressed right away.  The foundation is a rubble style foundation and needs to be shored up prior to any major work.

Check back for more as we get into this project.  We’ll include some pictures and video as we go along.

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Administrator Exterior Projects, Interior Projects buffalo, fixer, handyman, lancaster, property, renovation, special, upper

If your number one desire is to be on a beautiful street in a nice quiet village. Take a look at this house on Park Boulevard in Lancaster.

I can’t call it a bargain, but I would have to say that I would have expected a price about $5,000 – $10,000 above this number ($119,900). I lived on Park Boulevard for about 6 years and can attest to how nice the street is. The street dead ends at the creek and is a great mix of families of all ages.

http://realtyusa.com/357828

58 Park Boulevard, Lancaster, NY

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Administrator Buffalo Real Estate Bargains buffalo, estate, lancaster, real

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Administrator Exterior Projects, General Improvment, Interior Projects buffalo, contractor, handyman, screened

M&T Bank is a Buffalo based bank. They publish a list of the foreclosures (bank owned properties or REO) that they have on their books. Most, if not all, of their properties can be found on their site at:

M&T Bank Foreclosures

Many of the listings from a bank like M and T will also be represented by a Realtor and found in the MLS (multiple listing service).

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Administrator Buffalo Real Estate Bargains, Real Estate buffalo, m and t bank, m&t, reo