Done, Done....and Done!

The house is ready to be listed!  The granite installer is on his way and that is the last thing.  Art is on the wall, beds are made, floors are clean, flowers are planted, appliances sparkle....The place looks amazing!

I sat on the couch today and took a good look at the place.  I would have to say it's perfect except if I were personally going to live there I would sand and refinish the hardwood floors.  I thought about doing it but there is only so much money you can spend on a flip and only so much money you can spend on a house of that caliber in that particular neighbourhood.  The fact remains that the neighbourhood is still a lower income area and to spend all kinds of money turning a townhouse into a flawless beauty would not be worth it.  I would never get the return on my money.  Anyway, in future, I will consider that and perhaps leave something else out.  For this particular house I can't think of what I would have left out in place of refinishing the floors so I think it was the right decision.  Frankly, I don't even know what it costs to have that done - I'll have to look into that for future reference.

So, get this.  Last week a very similar house on a cross street a block away from me listed his on Grapevine for $299,000.  Get real!  The place is nothing special and there are 2 others listed around the corner for way less: one for $252,900 and the other for $259,900.  The one for $259,900 is 2 houses down from mine and I booked a showing to go see it last week.  It's nice, shows well and has some nice upgrades and a gorgeous deck off the back.  Anyone in their right mind would choose my neighbour's over the vacant, half assed fixed up one for $299,900 but NO!  There have been no offers in the week and a half my neighbour has had his/hers listed for but today the $299,000 one sold conditionally.  Obviously, the buyer has no agent either because an agent would have said you can get twice the house for $20K less around the corner...literally 100 meters away.  I can't believe it.  I am considering sitting outside and staking out the house for $299,900 and when the buyer comes back to look at the house again or sign some papers I will jump out of my truck and say "hey, I'll sell you mine for $275,00"....seriously.  WTF.  There has to be a way I can find out who that is.  Perhaps I should call the number on the listing and ask to come and see it....start chatting it up and see if I can get the name of the person with the offer on it....is that illegal? :)

Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for....

Living Room Before:

Living room After:

Dining Room/Eating Area after:

Master Bedroom Before:

Master Bedroom After:

2nd Bedroom Before:

2nd Bedroom After:

Main Bathroom Before:

Main Bathroom After:

Fridge Before:

Fridge After:

Basement After:

Kitchen Before:

SNEAK PREVIEW ONLY of Kitchen after:

So, know anyone who wants to buy the sweetest little town home ever??  Great starter home, nice deck, 2 parking spots, all upgraded, didn't cut any corners!!!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG

OMG, OMG, OMG the house looks so awesome!

Last week my mom called to see how everything was going and she mistakenly offered her help if I needed it.  Well, I took her up on her offer and she came last Friday to help me clean.  I warned her that her project would be to clean the stove/oven.  As soon as she saw it, she offered to pay for a new one rather than clean it.  I was positive we could get that thing looking like new again with a little "elbow grease" (to use one of my mother's sayings :)  It took close to 2 hours to clean the outside.  When she opened it and saw the inside she got discouraged so I moved her over to bathroom duty and sprayed the oven with oven cleaner, closed it up and left it for 5 days.  Today (Wednesday) I opened it up, and just like I said, a little elbow grease and it's almost as good as new.  Really.  It's almost perfect on the inside.  It was SO disgusting.  It was like taking an inch of molasses off the bottom of the oven.  I will admit that I couldn't get the racks clean but buying new racks is way better than buying a whole new stove.  New appliances is not in my budget and I refuse to buy them!  Besides I bought them new in 2009 before I rented the house out.  They are only a year and a half old!

I didn't work much over the weekend but on Monday my mom and her fiance came to help me clean again.  We made a lot of progress.  We cleaned the entire basement, worked on the yard a bit and got the living room and dining room floors cleaned. 

Today the furniture arrived.  WOW, what a difference.  I spent about $300 on bedding, artwork and accessories.  I totally love it!  It looks so great.  The only thing left is curtains.  I bought all of them today but they are all too short except one set :(  I will exchange them tomorrow and I hope I can get similar styles, but longer.  Too short curtains is a pet peeve of mine.  It looks so cheap!  They are better of bunching up on the floor than being too short.  I feel the same way about pants by the way.  I am 5'11" and have very long legs.  If I can find pants long enough, surely everyone else can!  I hate too short pants!

Anyway, the house was supposed to list today but there is one small glitch - the granite counter top I wanted is out of stock so I had to choose a different one and that delayed the ordering process.  In fact, I don't know what colour I am getting.  I told the guy at the cabinet store to pick for me and get the order in asap.  I didn't feel it was necessary to drive out to the East end to look at samples again.  They told me they had narrowed it down to one lighter and one darker than I had originally ordered.  I told them to go with the lighter and I would trust they made a good choice for me :)We'll see what I get!

Once I have my new curtains hung tomorrow I will take some pictures.  It's too great.  Once you see it. you'll want to buy it!  Remember, this beautiful 3 bedroom urban townhouse can be yours for the sweet price of $270,000......well, for you, $260,000 :)

What Have I Spent?

Home Depot (Supplies) - 4254.46

Drywall (Supplies) - 50.00

Kitchen cabinet hardware/light fixtures (Supplies) - 165.00

Tile flooring (Supplies) - 385.00 (I have enough to do two more houses)

Kitchen cabinets/granite counter/sink - 5652.26

Wam/Bam Labour - 720.00

TL Construction Labour - 450.00

Basement Flooring - 1000.00

Painting - 2650.00

Junk Removal - 269.00

I still have a bit of outstanding labour to pay to my father-son team.  I expect that to be about $1000.  I also have to pay for the home staging at $400

Grand Total = $16,995.72

Well, I was aiming for a budget of 12,500 but I knew I would creep up to 15,000 so at the end of the day I am $2000 over budget.  Not too bad.

Remember, purchase price $185,000.  List price 269,900.  All good :)

Almost there...

As scheduled, all of the renovations are complete as of today!!!  Right on time.  Now it's my turn to go to work and clean the place!  On Monday, I will be going to Smart Choice (http://www.asmartchoice.ca/home-staging.html) to pick out all of the furniture I want to stage my home with.  It looks like a lot of fun.  The minimum "order" is $400 for the month but they move it in, set it up, and move it out.  Totally awesome.  That's what really pulls the place together - nice furniture and nice decor.  It already looks a million times better than it did when we started.  Oh, I forgot, the kitchen is not complete yet.  My cabinets and counter top are supposed to come in next week.  I have my fingers crossed that they come in on time and earlier in the week would be even better :)

The new carpet in the basement family room is so cushy and cozy that we all had to lay down on it today and try it out.  When you walk down the stairs you can't help but want to lie down on the floor and feel how soft it is.  So I did....and some of the contractors joined me.  It's got some seriously cushy under padding.  It's so warm and welcoming for a basement family room.  I usually HATE carpet, but this particular room called for it and it totally works.  When I went to check on the progress of the carpet yesterday evening and pay the guys we all sat down on the new rug and chatted about kids, families and life in general.  I admire how hard these guys work day in and day out.

So there is a promotion at Home Depot where you fill out a survey about your experience at Home Depot and use a code on your receipt for a chance to win a $3000 gift card.  That means that with every purchase you can fill out an entry to win.  You know I'm going to win that $3000!  I have so many frigging receipts I need to hire someone just to fill out surveys for me.  I actually like filling out surveys but I have to say I am tired of this particular one and the skill testing question is always the same.  At least challenge me with a new question each time, would ya?!?!  BTW, it's 16 in case you have a Home Depot receipt and don't feel like pulling out the calculator!  So far, I have 20 receipts and I have entered about 1/2 of them.  I love Home Depot.  I go there on average twice a day to pick up supplies for "the guys".  Most of the staff remember me now and are asking me how my project is going.  The paint department staff always remember me and are even getting close to remembering what colours I am using.  My colours look amazing by the way.  I am going trendy but neutral - beige, brown, grey, and light green (or Celedon as you are supposed to call it).  Looks great!  I also bought a really nice bedding set off Beyond The Rack.com yesterday that I will bring home and use in my own room when I am done staging the house.  Check it out:

The whole bedding package for $99!  Sweet deal.  All the decorative pillows and all.  My husband just can't understand why I decorate the bed with pillows that we don't use....men!!! 

I have purchased a few things from Beyond the Rack...it takes a while to get it but you can get some good deals some of the time.  Be careful though, not everything is a deal.

So I want to create a bidding war on the house.  I plan to list it on a Wednesday and state "No showings, no offers until Sunday Open House"....that way all the agents and home buyers will preview it on the MLS, love it, show up to the open house and then fight over it :)  However, next Sunday is a long weekend so I have been advised by my realtor to wait until the next weekend.  I wanted to do this sooner than later but I think he's right.  A lot of people go away for the weekend, have plans, weddings, parties, etc.  So I will wait another week which goes against my get it on the market quick to stay within the Spring housing rush philosophy but my realtor says one week won't make a difference.  I hope not.

Speaking of my realtor, he has asked me to give him a "shout out" on my blog.  I have to say that I don't think he has to work very hard with me.  2 of my houses have sold in one day and 100% of the time I have found the house I want to buy by myself; however, I am totally crazy and some people just don't get me or know how to handle me but he definitely gets me!  We work well together and we always have a good laugh.  I have been dealing with him for 10 years now - Wow, 10 years...time flies.  I sold my very first house through him and I have dealt with him ever since.  He is a totally sweet guy and he has a great team.  I am buzzing with enthusiasm and he is chill, so he balances me out. 

I have to say I gained a ton of respect for him when I referred him to my mother-in-law.  She asked (well, more like demanded) him to take care of her plants since she had already moved cities when her house was for sale.....AND HE DID!!!  He watered my crazy mother-in-law's plants!  If you're reading Reh, you know I love you!  Now that's a realtor for you! 

Anyway, despite the craziness, he is really nice guy and his team have sold a lot of houses in Ottawa.  Check them out: http://www.kealeygroup.com/about-the-kealey-group/

I will begin the cleaning tomorrow....stay tuned for the finish product.  You won't believe it!

Where Are We At?

Wow, things have been progressing at warp speed these last few days!  I have hired on two new guys and they are totally awesome!  I think the first day they came to work they were a little sceptical of this "skinny chick with pink hair" as the new foreman on the job :)  But we all get along great.  The "guys" - we can call them Wam and Bam - are a father and son team and they are fabulous workers.  They can do just about anything and they do things well.  I have never seen one standing around watching the other.  They are both always busy getting things done.  We have developed a nice working relationship over the past week.  They tell me what supplies they need, I go get them and then they attempt to tease me when I boast about how I bought all of the right "thingys" as they requested.  My brother worked all day Saturday to catch up and we are right on schedule with the renovations as of today.

So what have we done?  Let me give you a room by room breakdown starting at the top of the house and working our way down.

Main Bathroom - we (meaning Wam and Bam) have fixed a leaky sink, replaced the toilet seat (easier to buy a new on than to clean the old one in the state that it was in - yuck!), replaced the shower curtain rod, replaced the faucet with a new shiny one, installed a new light fixture, and installed baseboards. 

Left to do: Paint it, clean it and get a blind for the window

Bedroom One & Two - replaced the baseboards with new trim and painted

Bedroom Three - replaced the light fixture and painted

Left to do: Window coverings

Hallway - painted, cleaned the light fixture

Left to do: Install a new hand rail and secure the banister a little tighter/sturdier

Main entrance - replaced the light fixture and trim

Left to do: peel of wall paper and paint, add an entrance matt, and clean

Living Room/Dining Room - replaced the patio door with new French doors, installed crown moulding, replaced the old baseboards/trim with new

Left to do: Paint it, clean it, shine the hardwood, hang new light fixture in the dining room, and add window coverings

Kitchen - ripped out everything!  Replaced the ugly granite floor tiles with simple, clean ceramic tile and replaced the old baseboards

Left to do: Paint it, clean it and install new custom cabinets and counter top

I am using a new company called Focus Kitchen & Bath Co.  They gave me a good price so I am hoping they follow through with the timeline I gave them.  I asked for custom cabinets to be ready in 2 weeks....we'll see!  Check them out at http://www.focuskitchenandbathco.com/

Basement -   I realized I forgot to take "before" pictures of the basement.  That's too bad because it was probably the worst space in the house.  The bathroom was awful looking, the laundry room was certainly not a place where anything could get clean and the family room was definitely not fit for a family!  We are going to carpet the family room to give it a warmer feeling, we will be replacing all of the trim and tiling the laundry room.  We have created a nice closet with the extra space and put a bifold door on it.  Great for storage.

Second bath - "We" have ripped off some ugly mirrors and woodwork off the walls and re-drywalled, replaced the faucet, mounted a new mirror with 2 new light fixutres, replaced the old towel and toilet paper rack with new ones and fixed the shower curtain rod.

Left to do: Paint it, clean it and hang a new shower curtain.

The painters started today and they will be done by Friday (I hope).  After that, it's just a few small things and A LOT of cleaning.  That's where I come in.  Last week I couldn't stand the clutter of junk anymore so I called "Junk That Funk" http://www.junkthatfunk.com/ to take away some of the reno materials and crap left behind by my tenants.  They were awesome.  They came the same day I called and they took away everything.  They quoted me $219 + HST but I bargained them down to $200 taxes in and we called it a day :)  Today on the Kijiji Deal of the Day was a coupon for $179 worth of junk removal for $69.  I bought it and I will have the boys back tomorrow to get rid of the rest of the reno scraps.  Smokin' deal!

I am SO tired.  Did I mention I have an 8 month old baby.....and a 5 year old?!?!?!  I love the renos but I am too tired at night to blog about it :(  I will take some pics tomorrow and then again just before listing.  Because of the upcoming long weekend I am going to delay my listing until Wednesday May 25th.  This gives me more time to clean I guess :)

I am totally having a blast though....I don't find it stressful at all and I love the transformation.  I will certainly do it again.

Reno Day 2-4 - 1234 Summerville Ave.

Well, day 2-3 were really slow.  We only completed new door and window casings because my brother had to work off-site on other jobs that he had committed to.  I anticipated this would happen so I placed an ad on Kijiji on day one looking for general contractors.  I hired a father-son team last night and had them start this morning.  So far, so good.  I am basically "the runner".  I show up on-site in the morning, tell the guys what I need done.  Ask them what they need to get the job done and off to Home Depot I go.  As the day progresses I follow up and see if they have run into any problems and if there are any other supplies required.  It's working well.  I do a lot of clean up and make a lot of lists :)

I have chosen my cabinets and counter top and I am going with a new company called Focus Kitchen and Bath Co.  They have been super nice and super accommodating.  The price is really reasonable and I have my fingers crossed for the end result.  The kitchen in this house is very small and I am re-arranging it from it's previous layout to make it more spacious.  My new layout is simple and practical.

If only my fridge were that clean :)

Today is Thursday.  We have 11 days until listing. 

• Friday - finish flooring, drywall repairs, baseboard/trim and deck, close in basement stairs
• Saturday - family room and laundry room flooring install
• Sunday - catch up, if any
• Monday-Thursday - painting
• Friday - cleaning
• Saturday - cleaning
• Sunday - final touches
• Monday - staging furniture comes in and kitchen cabinet and counter install
• Tuesday - house for sale :)

Today's spending: 2826.13 deposit on custom cabinets + $338.32 building supplies

Tally to date: $6113.99

I'm half way through my spending budget and I have the following left:
Carpet - $1000
Painting - $2400
Supplies - $1500
General Labour - $1500
Staging - $400

Might be $500 over budget or so :(  Not too bad!

Reno Day 1 - 1234 Summerville Ave.

So we started the renovations yesterday.  Upon arrival to the house it was clear that my tenants had left behind a really nice mess for me to clean up.  And that dog they apparently didn't have shit all over the deck, in the flower boxes and best of all, on the basement floor.  We started with the fun part - demolition.  It's not like on TV though.  You can't just take a jack hammer to things and start ripping :)  For example, when removing the old baseboards we first had to cut along the edges with a knife to ensure the paint wouldn't rip off the walls and require additional plastering.  All of the kitchen cabinets came out and the back splash and granite floor tiles are next to go.

I decided to do a surface clean of the bathroom fixtures to make sure everything was salvageable.  I discovered a leak when the main bath sink drains.  It's an easy fix but I am not sure how long it's been going on for and I am 100% sure my tenants used it anyway leaving water to run onto the floor and in under the tile.  I can't see any serious water damage so far.  I think it's going to be okay. 

I know I shouldn't be, but I am astounded at how some people live.  I was wondering why the bathtubs were in such good shape when the rest of the house looked like a tornado went through it.  It turns out that the hot water/gas had been cut off due to non-payment so they obviously were not showering there.....and perhaps not showering anywhere.  It's difficult to clean with no hot water so I left it that.

My brother and I made our first real trip to Home Depot and bought all of the baseboards, 1/4 round and a few other small items like a new shower curtain rod, new bathroom light fixtures, a bathroom mirror, French doors to replace the existing patio door, and some cleaning supplies.  We dropped it all off at the house and called it a day.

I called my flooring guy to get a price on floor for the family room and the laundry room.  Up until yesterday that's all I knew about him - his name is Joe and he is a flooring guy.  I don't know the name of his company (or if he even has a company name), I don't know his last name, and I don't know where his shop is.  I did however find out that he has a Cuban girlfriend whom he visits every 10 weeks.  Before they met, she had no running water and dirt floors in her home.  Since floors are his forte, he hooked her up with some nice floors and some running water and he is now her hero.  He missed his last visit to her but he will make up for it on her birthday visit next month...so he tells me.  The story on Joe is this - he has been installing carpet/flooring for what might as well be 100 years.  I don't think he's ever done anything else.  He drives a beat up old white van and he has been in his share of trouble over the years.  From what I've heard he was beaten almost to death 7 years ago in a bar.  He survived but had to get major reconstructive surgery on his face and he was off for 2 years before he was fully recovered.  His thick black hair and clear blue eyes tell a tale of the past and I bet he was handsome back in the day. His nick name is "Red Neck Joe" but you can tell he is just a big softy.  He is a really nice guy and he always treats me with the utmost respect.  He took a look at my basement family room and my laundry room and quoted $1000....cash!  It's a deal.  Before he left he thanked me again for the natural remedies I gave him for his sore knee......6 YEARS AGO!!!!  Wow, I barely even remembered that until he mentioned it.  Now that is a true demonstration of how sweet this guy is.  If you need vinyl flooring, carpet or tile call Joe.  I do know his phone number, but that's about all I can tell you.

During the past few weeks leading up to today I have been shopping around for some deals.  Here is what I have spent to date, including today:

• 37 boxes of custom ordered ceramic tile from a renovation left over on Kijiji.ca = $325
• 3 light fixtures, a huge bag of decorative electric outlets, light switches and plate covers, a bag of brushed silver kitchen cabinet hardware, and a cold air return vent.  All brand new renovation left overs on Kijiji.ca = $165
• Oak spindles and railings + an oak fireplace mantle from a renovation left over on kijiji.ca = $150
• Today's Home Depot bill = $1854.54

TOTAL = $2494.54