A few of you have asked about our little fixer-upper, which we purchased in December. The first mention of it is here.
We got a deal we couldn’t pass up on this foreclosure, plus it was only two blocks from our house. Ryan wanted to try his hand at rental, so we went ahead and put an offer in. It was accepted.
It turned out to be a LOT of work for my husband. And, not fun work.
Most of his time was spent in the dark, damp basement. He had to reinforce all the beams in the house, jack it up and have steel beams installed for support. We also had to actually hire professionals for some jobs, which appalls Ryan.
The fun part (if you call painting and floors and lighting and cabinets fun) didn’t even begin until May.
So, I’ll begin sharing the befores and afters in a few future posts. It’s probably not quite as drastic as our house… but still pretty drastic, in our opinion. One large takeaway from this rental is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect, or the best, or even what we would want. It just has to be clean, functional and practical. Oh… and cheap. With that in mind – everything in the house was done on a budget. I’ll try to highlight the budget items by placing them in green.
Outside:
Thankfully, we didn’t have to do much on the outside. It had new siding, windows and roof. (Cue angels singing.) Strangely enough, the house hadn’t been lived in for at least two years. Kinda sad really. It has potential.
Someone didn’t take any photos of the outside of the house before we started working on it. I won’t say who it was, only that it wasn’t Kim. I’ll let you figure it out. I’m not bitter. At all.
Anyhoo – Here’s the afters:
What we (mainly Ryan) did:
- Added a front window (can you believe it didn’t have any window on the front porch?). Budget: This window was picked up in the bargain bin at a local hardware store, deeply discounted.
- Trimmed the front bushes, replanted plants and added mulch. Budget: We wanted this to look nice, but it wasn’t necessary for it to be perfect. So, we just took plants from the back of the house (mostly daylilies and hosta, and replanted them). They should do fine in their new home, and they were free. By adding more dirt and mulch around the foundation, water will hopefully be diverted away from the house.
- The back deck is a little ug-ly, but it does its job. Budget: Don’t fix something that ain’t broken.
Porch
The front porch had originally been open,but was at some time closed in with windows all around. When the house was sided, the inside was left the partially unfinished, insulation and all. This is silly – because this is extra living space in a rather small home.
What we did:
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- Added a large coat closet for storage and shoes. This is one of the only closets in the house. Budget: The wire racks were given to us by our parents. Free is great.
- Installed track lighting to brighten up the space. Budget: Track lighting is CHEAP.
- Added an additional window on the front of the house. The space was incredibly dark, and this brings in much-needed light. Now, it’s the perfect space for a newspaper and cup of coffee.
- Cleaned the floor really well. This didn’t have to be perfect, and it was a durable vinyl. Budget: Cleaning supplies cost next-to-nothing.
- Painted all the walls and siding blue to unify the room and painted all trim white to brighten it up.
(Wanna see more? Check out the living/dining room and outside updates.)
What do you think?
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Christine says
Love reading about the rental upgrades too, when I searched your blog you only have 8 posts tagged with rental, have you had to do many repairs/upkeeps on the rentals? Any posts on getting into rentals, pros or cons? Lessons learned? thanks for sharing
Kim says
Thanks so much for the comment- I haven’t posted a whole lot about our rental property for a variety of reasons but I do plan to share some updates at some point. Since we don’t live there, it’s sort of out of sight and out of mind.
The Rauths says
i am impressed! nice work! and yes, i’ll come to ill. and do a cookie swap as long as i get a tour of this rental. =)
ashley morgan says
Very cute house, and I love how you brightened up the porch and added the closet.
We have a few rental properties and it’s so hard to separate what you would want in a home from what makes sense financially. I’m interested to see the rest of the house. Great job!
Lindsey says
WOW Great job!!!! Looks great!
Lindsey says
WOW Great job!!!! Looks great!
Gillian says
Great job!!! I especially love the front porch redo. Might I suggest shutters for the front of the outside of the house? I think it would make the house even cuter.
Emily says
I think I’m going to try to talk Mr. B into moving to your town so we can live two blocks from you in this darling rental. So cute. What is it with your town and cute little bungalows? I’m dying of jealousy over here in (characterless houses) Colorado.
Jenny @ Words on Wendhurst says
I think it would be totally fun to own a rental. I know there are many people who would disagree with me, so I am looking forward to your thoughts/observations as you rent out this little house!
Jenny