Unfortunately, for the first time since the beginning of May, I missed posting an entry on my blog on a weekday (I’m sure you noticed that there was no posting on Thursday ;). While I certainly have plenty to write about, the past three days have been the busiest in recent memory; and it’s all been devoted to The Bulge House.
With my brother and his girlfriend moving in this weekend, we’ve been heads-down getting this house in livable condition. While much of the work has been coordinating contractors (a plumber, a GC, appliance installation, house cleaning, carpet cleaning, landscaping, and both interior and exterior painting), my wife and I have been doing a lot of the little things ourselves. Everything from installing window locks to putting up mini-blinds, to minor decorating touches like matching window dressings and shower curtains. The past three days have added up to about 30 hours for each of us, and I think we both have a new-found respect for contractors who spend long days toiling over minor renovation details.
Anyway, we’re down to the wire now, with just the carpet cleaning, exterior painting, a plumbing fix, and a few very minor cosmetic details remaining. Hopefully they will all be complete tomorrow, and I’ll be able to post some “AFTER” pictures over the weekend.
Now that we’ve done so much work on this house (new roof, new A/C, new furnace, all new appliances, all new light fixtures/fans, all new window dressings, interior and exterior paint, landscaping, new bathroom and kitchen hardware, etc), the obvious thought comes to mind — maybe now is the right time to try to sell it. We’re seriously considering putting the house up as a “For Sale By Owner,” and list it at a price point that would be several thousand less than the nearest competitor in the area, but several thousand more than our minimum expected return on this one.
That way, while it would be a pain in the butt for my brother and his girlfriend if the house sells (they’ll have to pack and move into another house), we would have made a very nice profit, and can use some of the proceeds to cover their moving expenses and give them a nice “bonus” to compensate them for the hassle. As they’ve already acknowledged that they’re perfectly happy moving from house to house as necessary (the sacrifices we make for burgeoning companies), we may take them up on the offer. And if the house doesn’t sell at a good price, we’re happy to have our tenants in there as long as necessary.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about this next week once things finish up at The Bulge House and we can actually spend some time strategizing next steps…
wish i was there to help