This is a concept that my wise old uncle drilled into my head over and over again when I worked with him during college. I didn't fully grasp the concept at the time--it wasn't until I had a business of my own that i finally got it.

My units look the way they do mainly because I am an insanely productive person who also happens to think long term. I look at every repair as an opportunity to upgrade the property (or unit) in order to add more value for the tenant--which ultimately adds more value to my bottom line. Why?

Because better units = happier tenants = higher rents = more applicants= lower turnover = higher profits. I'm not an altruist--I'm an objectivist in the purest Ayn Randian sense of the word.

In the Houston market for example, if you pull out the crappy old window units and put in central air--the average rent for your unit goes up $100/month. The a/c unit will run you about $3500. So, in 36 months you're at break even. After that, as the landlord, you're making an extra $100/month on that unit. Further, the average electric bill for that same unit will be 50% less with central air than a window unit--which is better for you tenants--and better for the environment. So WHY are there so many vintage apartments inside the loop that STILL have window units??? (The nly answer I have for that one is "cheapskate landlords"!)

It's such a win/win scenario that I'm really kind of surprised that more landlords don't get it. More cash flow coming in at the beginning of every month ("production") = more cash flow left over at the end of the month for problem solving and upgrades. Since 2001 I have spent over $1.25 million dollars on upgrades & restoration projects at my various properties--without borrowing a single penny. I did it all from cash flow--and there was still plenty left over.

The units that appear below are the units that will be coming available over the next 30 to 60 days.

I keep my game pretty tight so normally I do not have any units just sitting empty (unless we happen to be working on that unit). People move in, people move out--so you always have a few days of vacancy here and there between tenants. Typically we have most units re-leased before the current tenant vacates, with just a day or two of vacancy in between to make sure that the unit is in tip top condition for the new tenant.

The availability date for each unit is indicated below along with a contact email for that property. In some situations the current tenants can move out sooner than the availability date indicated... sometimes not. So if you need to move sooner than the date indicated by the available unit, just let us know the move-in date you need when you email us and we'll check with the out-going tenant to see if they have some wiggle room.

If your move-in date is 30 or 60 days beyond the availability date below, I'm obviously not going to "hold" this apartment for you without rent. Something else may come up that is available closer to your move-in date, however. So feel free to contact me or Like / Follow us on Facebook to get instant updates anytime we get a 30-day notice on a unit.

Click the "View Unit Details" link by any property that you are interested in and then send an email to the address indicated if you'd like to find out about showing dates and times for that particular unit.

(You may also want to check out the Home page for a little background on Medusa Properties and how we roll.)

View Unit Details	Classic 1920s Montrose 4-Plex (Houston, TX) wgray3@medusaproperties.com Classic red brick 4plex in the ever popular Montrose area of Houston. Circa 1920s. Built like a Sherman tank but with looks like Marlene Dietrich. Easy walking distance to Whole Foods (@ W Dallas & Waugh) and a host of other great shops, restaurants, pubs, art galleries, etc. Tall ceilings, original hardwood floors, original Art Deco hex-tile in the bathrooms, original cast iron sinks and cast iron tubs... this property has all the details that make these old buildings classics. Additionally, every unit has been fully outfitted to modern standards underneath the skin of the building--with central air and heat, full-size appliances, big laundry room with new equipment, new water heaters, etc. There is also ample off-street, gated, covered parking--a MUST inside the loop. This is a clean, quiet, peaceful building with great vintage architecture & detailing; the antithesis of "big box" apartment living. If you are looking for a home inside the loop and you love pure vintage but don't want to make the sacrifices that it often entails--this might be the perfect place for you. I'm pet friendly in general but in these units I prefer no dogs upstairs (units #3 & #4). That's not iron clad but in the 14 yrs I've owned this building, I think I've had maybe one or two tenants with dogs in those upstairs units. So, never hurts to ask but don't be mad if I say no. :) Most dogs not a problem in the downstairs units (#1 & #2). See pics below for more visuals. Click on any thumbnail to enlarge. (Project Resources) M&M Lighting: fixtures Thorntree: stone flooring & backsplash materials Yellowstone Marble & Granite: stone countertops The Detering Company: trim, moulding, doors Custom Precision Stainless: custom sinks, misc. stainless detailing Montalbano Lumber: misc. building materials Trinity & Klassic Hardwood Floors: new & recycled hardwood flooring DalTile & Emser Tile: ceramic & stone Custom Cabinets & Trim Carpentry: vintage cabinets, closets & built-ins Emmanuel del Angel: drywall, paint, & tile View Unit Details W. Gray St HOUSTON, TX 77019 (map)
View Unit Details	Turn-of-the-Century Mansion (now 6-plex) - (Avenues - Salt Lake City - UT) avenues@medusaproperties.com Built in 1905 as an enormous single family residence, this classic Avenues mansion was converted into 6 large units at some point over the past 100 years. My aim when taking on these projects is not to "remodel" these old buildings but to restore them. This may seem like the same thing to a layman but if you have ever sunk your teeth into a 100 yr old building, you understand the difference. (And if you have been looking at apartments in the Aves for very long you will definitely SEE the difference in these units.) Restoration involves stripping off years of cheap, ill conceived & trendy "updates", poorly done repairs ("handy man" specials), pulling off the old doors, moulding & hardware, stripping off the many, many coats of paint & flooring--the tacky finishes du jour that have been grafted onto the building over the years, upgrading the infrastructure (plumbing, electrical, HVAC)--then put the old doors, fixtures, moulding, and hardware back on. Invariably some of the original fixtures have been damaged or lost. So that takes me to places like Georges Architectural Salvage to track down replacement doors, knobs, and fixtures. As you can imagine, this process takes a LOT of time and energy--and of course, plenty of cash money. But the end result is the essence of what makes these old buildings so much more liveable than most of what's been built after the 1940s: original hardwood floors from old growth forests, tall ceilings, big windows with the original art glass, subway tile & mosaic floors, cast iron fixtures, claw tubs. In a word: Vintage. Another great feature of this building is the original wrap-around front porch--great for chilling out and watching the world go by, studying, surfing the web, or just practicing your bongos or guitar (as a former tenant, Josh, was fond of doing). There is also plenty of extra storage space in the basement for bikes, kayaks, ski & snowboard stuff, camping gear, suitcases, boxes, seasonal items, or that ugly lamp that you just cannot seem to part with. (Each tenant gets their own dedicated area in the basement and we have never run out of space--it is a BIG basement.) For the eco friendly tenant the city bus stops right out in front for easy access to the U of U, TRAX, the hospitals, and downtown SLC. And we have a pretty comprehensive recycling center set up on site--including bins for paper, plastic, & glass. I have also installed a high speed internet connection in the building for the tenants to share (Ethernet & WiFi)--which saves everyone about $50/month--which is nice. We can all use a little extra coin in the pocket these days! When I see what else is out there for rent in the Aves it kind of makes me sad. So many landlords buy these great old buildings and "remodel" the history and charm right out of them. They end up looking like the latest Home Depot displays. But the sad reality is that it is easier, faster, and a lot cheaper to go to Home Depot and buy junk fixtures & plastic "laminate" floors than it is to spend a month on your hands and knees stripping off paint, and scraping and sanding on the orignal hardwood floors. But man, once you get through the four layers of linoleum and tar paper, and you smell that virgin fir that was hand felled and hand milled by the Pioneers... and a big drop of sweat slips off your brow and hits the floor and soaks in and you know it is gonna be there for another 100 years... man, that's something. (Project Resources) - LeDel Pace Plumbing - Jean Flesher Construction - Daltile & Contempo Tile - Kingdon Sheet Metal - Glidden Professional Paints - Georges Architectural Salvage - Dustin Lund Heating & Air - Dan Cano Custom Cabinets So, click on any thumbnail below to see the full sized pic and shoot me an email if you like what you see. If you are interested in the top floor, 3 bed / 2 bath LOFT apartment, please reply to avesloft@medusaproperties.com for the auto reply. If one of the other (1 bed / 1 bath) apartments, use avenues@medusaproperties.com. View Unit Details 3RD AVE @ N ST SLC, UT 84103 (map)
View Unit Details	VINTAGE COMMERCIAL SPACE IN EAST SUNSET HEIGHTS (Houston) I bought this space a couple of years ago with the intention of dozing it to build three nice Craftsman style houses on the corner lot but I got shanghaied by the City and my "neighbors" and the zoning got changed on the lot between the time I bought it and the time I applied for a replat. Doh! Shit happens. The building was originally a commercial space of some kind--probably a corner / general store type set up. Some people have suggested that it might have been a post office but the location doesn't seem to support that theory. It's too far off the beaten path to be a post office from that era. Right now she's got quite a roof leak that is gonna have to be addressed. And I've gutted out a lot of the interior since I was going to renovate the building when I first bought it and I was doing some exploratory surgery to see how bad the structure & mechanical systems of the building were. When I purchased the property in 2005 it was a functioning duplex. If I restore the building I'll probably add a story to the main structure and build a 3-car garage with a 900 s.f. apartment above it--which I can do without going through the variance process again. (Though I always enjoy that game of charades.) Right now I've got my hands full with other projects so I'm just letting it sit. Demolition is still on the table as well. I have several different plans for big, single-family houses that I've developed for that lot with my architectural collaborator, Albert Gamboa. Another option would be to convert the space back to some kind of commercial use--perhaps use it as my main office... build a big, metal workshop out back... something like that. View Unit Details Baylor St Houston, TX 77009 (map)
View Unit Details	1930s 5-PLEX * INNERLOOP (Houston, TX) linwood3@medusaproperties.com Meticulously restored 1930s fourplex + garage apartment near the Eastwood area of downtown Houston, inside the 610 loop. All units are 1 bed / 1 bath flats with hardwood floors, central air & heat, large vintage style kitchens with high-end, full-size appliances, and vintage style baths with pedestal sinks, subway tile, overhead rainshowers, etc. In 2008/2009 this property underwent a $230,000 makeover from the foundation to the roof. The Eastwood area is an up-and-coming vintage neighborhood just east / southeast of downtown Houston with many original 1920s thru 1940s properties and super short commute times to downtown Houston, both University of Houston campuses, the Medical Center, Hobby Airport, the Port of Houston, etc. More info about this historic neighborhood here: http://www.eastwoodcivicassociation.org/ http://www.greatereastend.com/ Project Resources: Olshan (framing, roofing, & sheetrock materials), Bison (doors, trim, moulding), Chesley (plumbing supplies), Crawford (electrical supplies), Custom Cabinets & Trim Carpentry http://www.custom-cabinets-houston.com/ (all interior cabinetry & trim work), Houston Hardwood Floors, Thorntree http://www.thorntreeslate.com/(slate countertops), Custom Precision http://www.cpsminc.com/ (custom stainless sinks) Click on thumbnails below to see full size images. Shoot email to linwood3@medusaproperties.com with questions or to find out about upcoming vacancy. View Unit Details Linwood Houston, TX 77011 (map)
View Unit Details	Classic 1940s Duplex in 9th & 9th area (Salt Lake City, UT) herbert-ave@medusaproperties.com Clean simple 1940s duplex in the super popular 9th & 9th area. Two bedrooms and a a bath up + another two bedroom one bath "mother-in-law" apartment in the basement. This property has a lot of the original features like solid wood doors with vintage hardware, hardwood floors, and glass block in the bathroom. Has a nice, clean, vintage feel to it. Super location. Close to shops and cafes and restaurants, a Smith's grocery store, Great Harvest, yoga, bike shop, the Tower Theater, etc. Currently we just rent the downstairs apartment for short terms, furnished. So, if you're looking at an extended stay in SLC (2 months or more) and don't want to stay in a hotel, this might be a great option for you. Send inquiries along with details about your situation to herbert-ave@medusaproperties.com View Unit Details Herbert Ave Salt Lake City, UT 84105 (map)