The Rental House Project

[Purron]

Thought the "do it yourselfers" might enjoy this. DH and I have been busy fixing up our rental house. So far, we've:

- Had new siding installed
- Demo'ed and upgraded the master bath
- Installed new flooring tile in the dining room/kitchen, and most recently,
- Installed new porcelain tile counter tops to replace the old blue laminate.

In addition to the above, we've repainted everything, installed two new sinks, and done tons of smaller upgrades and repairs.

I ran out of room for pictures, so I'll add the countertop job in a seperate post.

Our next project is adding a garage. That'll be interesting.

Whew!

 

[Purron]

Here is the countertop job:

 

[heyduke]

nice job... you will never lose money upgrading a rent house in my opinion...

 

[NW-Bound]

A nice small house! All it needs now is a garage for an RV.

 

[Nords]

A nice small house! All it needs now is a garage for an RV.

All it needs now is a tenant! When are you adding one?

 

[kcowan]

What do you expect the ROI from your improvements to be?

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Very nice work Purron. Did you and DH do all the labor yourselves?

 

[Purron]

With the exception of the new siding, DH and I did all the labor ourselves. I have no idea what the ROI will be, but know after being rented for nearly 12 years, the place really needed sprucing up. The rental is on two acres of land. It's near the Dulles Airport high tech corridor and is about 24 miles from DC, so even in this market; we anticipate it'll hold its value. We thought about tearing the house down and building a bigger one on the lot but decided against it. This area is saturated with McMansions and smaller, modest homes are more in demand. Subdividing the lot is not an option due to zoning restrictions.

We're holding off on new renters for now. The plan is to move into the rental and fix up the house we're currently living in. It's only 8 miles away, so not a big move. Our current home needs paint, carpet, new appliances, countertops and windows. Neither DH nor I want to live through a renovation project.

Once our main home is fixed up, we plan to sell one or the other. The local market's good now, but as we all know, may falter again once the buyer incentives expire. If selling doesn't work out, we'll go back into the landlord business.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If DH and I are ever in the position of needing a rental near DC, I know who I'm calling. That house looks so comfortable, Purron. Wow, what a big lot, too.

 

[hankster]

That looks like a sweet little retirement house. I think I'd live in it and sell the other one. Build a nice garage next to it, and you're good to go. Very nice work on the interior renovation.

 

[Martha]

I really like how you did the back splash in the kitchen.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Look! Down the road, here comes the HGTV crew! Love these kinds of make-overs. Sounds like a perfect plan, and most importantly there's plenty of space for cat(s).

 

[Purron]

A few more pics of the project:

- Siding job from the back of the house
- Refinished wood floors
- Close up of new kitchen/dining room tile

We may decide to stay in the little place, but it really depends on which house will be easier to sell. It's about half the size our current place so we'll be "de-junking" big time. Not a bad thing since we have way too much stuff.

 

[Meadbh]

We may decide to stay in the little place, but it really depends on which house will be easier to sell. It's about half the size our current place so we'll be "de-junking" big time. Not a bad thing since we have way too much stuff.

It's a delightful little house! You are in a great position. Escaping living through a renovation is worth a lot and at the end of it you will have two excellent homes to choose from, with the prospect of a large cash inflow.

 

[Moemg]

What a great job you did ! That house is perfect !

 

[Purron]

Look! Down the road, here comes the HGTV crew! Love these kinds of make-overs. Sounds like a perfect plan, and most importantly there's plenty of space for cat(s).

Naturally, the cats will make the final decision. After all, we exist for their comfort and convenience.

 

[bbbamI]

I absolutely love that house! Y'all have done a fabulous job!

Our next project is adding a garage. That'll be interesting. Whew!

Uh oh...

 

[Purron]

I absolutely love that house! Y'all have done a fabulous job!


Uh oh...

I love it when say "y'all" And yeah, "Fluff Cat" is a good representation of the potential hassle of building a garage. We'll hire someone for the main work and finish it ourselves. I'm thinking living in a much smaller place means DH needs space outside the house, so we're thinking a big garage with lots of space for his [-]junk[/-] stuff. Oh, and an extra fridge for brews so he won't have to come inside when he's [-]goofing off[/-] working out there.

 

[Westernskies]

Great job, Purron and DH! Very well done.

 

[Dreamer]

Great job. I would want to downsize to a smaller place. That house looks perfect. My DH would want a 3 car garage and it would be absolutely perfect. Love the setting.

 

[Purron]

Installed a Jotul wood stove and made a custom tile platform for it to sit on. The stove pipe goes into a brick chimney. Used thinset to attach the tile to a 1/2 underlayment. Had the job inspected by the county and it passed no problemo.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I'm impressed! You and DH are talented remodelers. I like the look of the home...very clean lines and done in a way that anyone would like it if you do decide to rent it. I agree with some others who say sell the bigger house and downsize to this one. And a garage/workshop would be a wonderful addition.

 

[Purron]

Latest project: tore out carpet from a small downstairs room and found hardwood floor underneath. It looked bad on the surface - paint glopped all over, some kinda adhesive blopped in spots, and very dirty. Otherwise, it looked sound so we decided to refinish the hardwood floor instead of having carpet put over it again. Now, all the floors on the main level are either tiled or hardwood. Here are some pictures staring with the "before" and showing the refinishing. We rented a machine from Home Depot to remove the old finish and sand. Well worth the $45 rental fee. We did have to do a small closet and the borders by hand.

At this point, we need to touch up a few areas then it's ready for stain and poly. We'll do that in the next few days since the weather will be perfect (low 80s, low humidity) and we can open the windows for ventilation.

 

[Purron]

Oh, I put a wallpaper border in the bathroom too. $3 from the bargin bin at Wal Mart. Love deals like that!

 

[CuppaJoe]

Sweet! When are you showing it or will you stay there for awhile.