Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Real estate executive customizes home
Berkshire’s Gordon Miles gives luxury remodeling tips that stay on the budget
The HGTV show “Love It or List It” pits one married homeowner who wants to stay in place and a spouse who wants to move elsewhere against each other. In bachelor Gordon Miles’ case, he could play both roles.
Earlier this year, the Realtor downsized from a 5,000-square-foot home to one about half that size in Henderson’s Green Valley. He quickly realized the move was a mistake, and within four months he put that home on the market.
“We weren’t comfortable with it,” he explained, referring to his Great Dane, Hera. ”It’s actually her house.”
So Miles, who is president/chief operating officer of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services for Nevada, California and Arizona, began looking for a house which he could modify to suit his needs. He found it in the San Rafael neighborhood near Cactus and Bermuda roads in the southwest valley. What sold him on this house were the floor plan, location and large lot size.
“When I walked through the house and saw it, it was like ‘Whoa!’ It’s close into town, and I got the lot size I wanted for Hera, who needed a bigger backyard.”
The small, gated community of Dell Webb homes was built in 1998, and his selection on Ivywood Court was showing its age. Miles took the tract home in a great area and set about creating a fully customized residence, selecting many upgrades seen in million-dollar dwellings but in a way that made sense as a real estate investment.
“It’s everything I wanted. I did it (for) me, but also thinking about resale down the line.”
The community is just blocks from older half-acre or larger horse properties.
He had hoped to live in his Green Valley house during the remodel, but he sold it five hours after listing it, for full price, and closed escrow in a whirlwind 20 days.
“So all my dreams of not having to live through a remodel were shattered,” he said, laughing. “In we came.”
After four months of work, the home is a paradigm for buyers thinking about buying an older home in an established neighborhood.
“You can take these older homes, and like my contractor said to me, I now have a fully custom home, Miles said. “It might look like a lot of work (was done) here, but a lot of it is finishes, painting it, cleaning it up. It’s not as much as everybody thinks it is. The land was a huge thing for me. When you purchase a brand-new home and you put in that backyard and swimming pool, you’re already upside-down,” he said.
Miles bought the house in August for $522,500 and estimates he has spent around $80,000 so far, which makes sense, he said, because “there’s a sale of the exact same house with half the lot size that’s been redone for $659,000, so I’m good. If I were to list it today, I would sell it for the same price.”
Although the floor plan was somewhat open, his first change was to eliminate a wall separating the living room from the kitchen/ great room.