The Rental House Project

[Ronstar]

Great job! With all the hardwood, tile, and the wood stove, you'll have a tough choice on which house to stay in when everything is done.

 

[Purron]

Great job! With all the hardwood, tile, and the wood stove, you'll have a tough choice on which house to stay in when everything is done.

Well, the plan is to move into the former rental and focus on fixing this place up. The two houses are about 8 miles apart. Once they're both fixed up, we'll sell one since we don't want to be landlords anymore.

I think we should see which place can be sold more easily in this market. I know DH has his heart in the old place even though it's so small, funky, old and simple compared to where we're living now. He agrees we should make a decison based on what makes sense financially. We'll see what happens.

 

[Purron]

Just finished the upstairs floors. The underlayment was in poor shape so we installed new. Hired a local company to put in new carpet and padding. Here are a few picks of this latest project.

 

[Purron]

Next project: building a garage. I've lined up two companies to talk to us this week. Both highly rated and been in business for a long time. My job: do research, find good companies, and schedule appointments. DH's job: work out the details and decide if either company is the one for us. Both of our jobs: make the final decision before signing on the dotted line. Here's the vision:

Plan 2910 - Just Garage Plans

Thinking this might cost about $30K. Northern VA is a bit pricey. Any advice welcome

 

[bbbamI]

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.

Ummmm, very nice garage plans, but is there room for a refrigerator?

 

[Purron]

Ummmm, very nice garage plans, but is there room for a refrigerator?

You betya a fridge will be in the plans

 

[Nords]

Plan 2910 - Just Garage Plans
Thinking this might cost about $30K. Northern VA is a bit pricey. Any advice welcome

Even for a tenant I think you'd want heavily-insulated walls and an insulated main door. A space heater (for workshop projects or a man cave) might be a luxury for a higher rent. Especially for a tenant you'd want a minimum of exposed water piping.

Have you considered a wall-mounted door for high-clearance vehicles?
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/replacing-a-30-year-old-garage-door-44731.html

There are a couple dozen other threads (using the phrase "garage door") worth perusing for equipment and living-space considerations.

You betya a fridge will be in the plans

Well, I don't know how tenants feel about Kegerators...

 

[heyduke]

gonna tell you right now... get rid of the border.. prospective buyers are not not keen on any border...

 

[NW-Bound]

Here's the vision:

Plan 2910 - Just Garage Plans

Thinking this might cost about $30K. Northern VA is a bit pricey. Any advice welcome

The loft is nice. Maybe leave it unfinished for now, but have plumbing and sewer in place.