House remodel brightens Danville neighborhood

One family business wanted to take an “ugly duckling” of a cheap house and turn it into a swan.

Miracle Home Improvements, which has remodeled homes in Danville since 1991, couldn’t pass up a challenge that could also help beautify a neighborhood near Ballou Park.

Owner Rich Harrigan bought the dilapidated corner house at Garland Street and Wooding Avenue for less than $5,000 after it fell into foreclosure.

Plaster fell from the home’s ceiling. The toilet held up the floor in the bathroom. The renovators ended up taking out everything except the foundation and outer walls.

The company invested almost $50,000 to turn a two-bedroom and one-bathroom home into a three-bedroom, two-bath with new wiring, plumbing, energy-efficient appliances and central heating and air conditioning.

Harrigan would be happy getting about $60,000 for the house — but Harrigan, his son John Harrigan and son-in-law Vinny Messina spent about a year fixing up the house in their spare time for the love of the project.

Neighbors would walk by and watch the improvements. The men wanted to show them just what the 50-year-old house could do.

“You can still buy affordable houses here and if you have a vision and a few dollars, you could turn them into nice delightful homes,” Harrigan said.

The family team deliberately chose to remodel a home in a neighborhood where residents took pride in and maintained their homes, but where several houses were just falling into disrepair.

Harrigan hopes to sell the house so he can continue his next project, but he understands he won’t net a ton of money. Miracle Home Improvements started in business 30 years ago and moved from Long Island in New York to Danville because of the friendliness and “genuine” people.

He sees so much potential in Danville with its “fabulous” housing stock. He would love to see the whole Garland Street area neighborhood eventually undergo its own makeover as people can afford to buy and remodel houses that have become dirt cheap through the economic recession.

“I’m really high on Danville,” Harrigan said. “This area is trying to make a comeback.”

Economic concerns

While the economic recession lowered house prices, investing in the housing market in Danville could still be tricky.

Investors may not get back a reasonable profit when homes need so much work, said Chin-Chyuan Tai, professor of economics and chair of the business department at Averett University.

Tai spent more than 40 years studying economics.

Additionally, investors trying to sell homes may have to wait several months or longer while the market recovers, he said. Investors willing to rent out homes may have an easier time making money as more people are willing to rent during the recession because banks have higher standards for lending money to buyers.

Residents may re-think buying big items while they wait to see if they will keep their jobs, Tai said.

The economy is still weak in the Danville area and a neighborhood makeover won’t happen until the manufacturing sector amps up and jobs return so that people can purchase homes, he said.

“Uncertainty — that’s an important factor,” Tai said. “It’s a scary situation.”