Yay for Us!

Our first rehab sold a couple of weeks ago and we are itching to do another. We both view real estate as a viable means of investing/storing wealth. After years and years of talking about rehabbing (renovating) property, we finally finished two houses - back to back, side by side (right next door to one another). The great news is that we've sold one of the houses! I must say that we worked quite well together on that project. There's nothing like two hustlers getting together to make some money. Perhaps I should say there's nothing like two people doing something they enjoy? Both statements are true. The fact is we love most everything about real estate. We watch a lot of HGTV (Home & Garden TV) and one of our favorite shows is Flip That House on Discovery Home. One of our favorite pastimes is scoping out neighborhoods and taking in the architectural beauties in our city. On Sundays, we go from 'hood to 'hood, suburb to suburb looking for that house that we'd love to live in or perhaps redesign.

As much as we'd like to get a bigger place to accommodate friends and family, we are chilling until we find the perfect home (or potential rehab) in our current neighborhood. If that doesn't happen (we can't hold our breath for too long because no one wants to move out!), we'll have to decide on what part of town we'd like to live in. I am partial to urban areas that were once drug-ridden (still could be) and run down but that are now infested with vibrant, artsy, young, community-building types. Those neighborhoods tend to be diverse and full of interesting people, bars, restaurants, shops - all the things I like. DH, on the other hand, has a preference for in-town living but with a suburban feel. Those neighborhoods, I find, are typically mono-hued, more established and very expensive. They are like a small town within a big city. That would be fine with me if we had two and a half kids and a minivan. Just joking!

Back to the subject of my post. It's really amazing how we pulled off the entire operation in less than a month while holding down full-time jobs. It was hectic, exciting, and fulfilling all at the same time. One day, we met our contractor during our lunch hour to discuss paint, tiles, and carpet outside a Burger King! The guy did a great job. He was really fantastic. He was recommended by my sister who heard about him from a friend who probably heard about him from another friend. Needless to say, the cycle continues because this guy continues to get many recommendations through us. He's mainly a floor guy but has a friend that also paints. Because of him, it was mainly a smooth operation. He was in and out of there in one week ripping out old carpet, laying hardwoods in the entire first floor, carpets upstairs and ceramic tiles in the bathroom. His painter friend (one single guy) came in and painted the whole place within that same week.

As could be expected, it wasn't all rosy. One of the hiccups was the little bitsy things that could easily wear one out. The little details. I'm talking about the light switches, the door handles, the hardware for the cabinets, the blinds, the toilet bowls and toilet seats, the appliances. All the things that one could do if one particularly enjoyed 'handy man' type work. However, neither of us is wont to do that kind of thing unless we actually have to. I'm talking about opportunity cost here. Is it really worth your while (and broken nails) to spend valuable time doing that kind of stuff? It's usually cheaper to hire someone to do that kind of work if you are not gifted in that domain. We chose to do that and in hindsight, I would have preferred that we did it ourselves based on wasted time and energy. We interviewed three different handy wo/man-type small businesses. They all said they would get back to us within a week with quotes. Wait a minute here! Our floor guy had come in to check out the work that needed to be done, we agreed on a price on the spot and the next day he was in there working. I thought I'd give the women a chance since it's rare to find them in this industry but they took the longest time and came back with a quote 10 times more than the other guys did. I will still consider my fellow woman next time I do a project. I am sure they would have done an excellent job if given the opportunity. They were the most professional in their approach. The women took actual measurements while the guys eyeballed it.

In general, I will say that I am particularly proud of house #1. They were both kitted out the same way - new appliances, hardwoods, new carpet, new paint, new shelving, etc but the difference is that I chose the paint on that one and it was the first so I'm partial to it. DH chose the paint on #2. We finished #2 a month after #1 so it's still on the market. There's been a lot of interest and I hope that one sells soon. Right now, we are itching to do something else. Lessons learned - get a good handy wo/man on your team or do it yourself. I'm leaning towards getting a really handy person.