ANDERSON, Ind. —
Having run on the corporate treadmill for years, David Ayars stepped back to be a stay-at-home father. As his children grew older, he sought a new adventure and landed in real estate investing.
“I wanted to do something different,” said Ayars, an engineer by education. “My wife (owner of Turning Point Consulting) and I were corporate gypsies for years, so we had bought and sold 15 houses over our lives together just from moving from job to job.”
Learning many hands-on lessons through these personal endeavors — including how to perform many common household repairs himself — decreased the learning curve as he switched careers. Four years ago, after investing in a few properties in the Greensburg and Pendleton areas, he turned an eye to Anderson.
“Anderson was suffering depressed prices at the time — but that was before the market really tanked,” said Ayars, a resident of Fishers. “I chose this house because it is a really nice area. It is near two golf courses and there is a feel of community in the neighborhood along with a pride of ownership.”
Talking to neighbors in the Forest Hills division, he discovered some interesting facts about the previous owners.
“There was a custom-shaped pool in the courtyard,” he said with a laugh. “Apparently the kids used to jump off the porch roof into the pool.”
Buying when the home was dilapidated, Ayars looked into refurbishing the pool but found the cost to be prohibitive. Instead, he removed it but left the pleasant bricked-in courtyard area.
Installing new windows, a completely new kitchen, a utility room and bathroom were only his beginning steps. He also updated the floor plan by adding an additional doorway into the kitchen for a more open feel and worked on the structure at the basement level to ensure moisture was pulled away from the foundation.
Once the home was completely renovated, Ayars located tenants.
“This is a much nicer level of rental properties than people are used to,” he said. “But I had wonderful tenants here. With the economic changes in Anderson, it costs a little more now than people are able to pay for rent.”
Since rental units carry twice the property taxes as homesteads, it is difficult to simply lower the monthly rent to accommodate the economic changes within a community. Therefore, Ayars is simply selling the property.
Realizing he is in a buyer’s market, he has hired a company called Premiere Staging to professionally deck out the home to supply him with an edge on the competition. A trend that is gaining in popularity among home sellers, staging provides a homey feel that allows the prospective buyer to imagine living in the space.
“When a house is empty it doesn’t have any warmth to it,” he said. “It needs to be dressed nicely like you need to dress for an interview. Still, you don’t want to stage it fully. You don’t want to clutter up the rooms — you want to show the size.”
Not only is the dining table set with dishes, but even small faux ice cubes don the glasses to make you feel you are about to be served.
“I like turning a distressed house into something nice like this,” said Ayars. “It’s fun to see someone come in and really like what I did. Investors have to be able to step into these things. Banks are too impersonal and not interested in the houses. It’s good for the community for someone to come in and create a viable place to live.”
Each week, Emma Bowen Meyer features a Madison County home. If you know of a home that should be showcased, send an e-mail to emmagoldiemeyer@yahoo.com.
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David Ayars invested in this Forest Hills home by purchasing it in a dilapidated condition and refurbishing it. Emma Bowen Meyer
Discussion
From distressed to dressed
Ayars refurbishes home into viable place to live
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