Our New House: Rental House Renovations – “The BEFORES”
Here is our new house before the renovations that we plan to rent out once we are done!
Do you ever watch the show Income Property with Scott McGillivray?
Well, the hubs and I are kind of addicted to it.
We love Scott and all his gorgeous house transformations, the amazing value he adds to properties, and his great advice for hopeful new landlords. So much so that we seem to have taken it to heart and bought a new house. Another house. Not one to live in, but a house to rent out.
Yup, we have leapt with both feet into the world of land-lordship.
Trust me – we know it won’t always be easy. We’ve already heard a million warnings. That it can be hard to find good renters. That it takes work and time and energy and resources. But our hope is that down the road… say fifteen or twenty years or so…that this property will allow us to help our boys when the time comes for them to go to University, to get married, or perhaps buy their own homes. A worthwhile goal, right? We’ll just keep our fingers crossed that some of these warnings will come to naught.
Are you ready to see the BEFORE pictures of our rental house renovations? It is a charming old wartime house in a nice, central family neighbourhood and it has lots of charm and vintage character that we can’t wait to highlight and restore.
Come on into the little entry hall…
And right into the living room…
The worn out kitchen…
The bathroom…
The main floor bedroom…
Up main floor hallway and stairs to the second floor…
The upstairs bedrooms…
The other bedroom upstairs…
What do you think? Do you see the potential?
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a few of the “in-progress” shots already…
It has been three weeks since we took possession of this house and started renovating it.
Needless to say the last few weeks have been absolutely jammed packed with fitting in major cleanup and renovations – somehow squeezing them between both of our jobs, school, coaching soccer, skating lessons etc. Thankfully we have had some help from our amazing extended family.
But we are still looking forward to finishing this renovation project up soon – plus I can’t wait to share the AFTERS!
What would you do if this were your project? How would you restore it?
Kitchen is scary. ;). I can see potential, and a quickly dwindling bank account. Have fun. Look forward to the final results!!
I am so jealous! I’ve been trying to talk my hubby into doing this but no luck so far. Boo! The house has loads of potential. I definitely would leave the carpet in the master bedroom though, its beee-u-ti-ful. Lol. And what is with the door right at the bottom of the stairs? Is it a coat closet? Am so excited for you guys and will be following your adventure with green eyes of envy.
Kudos to you both! As a realtor for 30 years, I can tell you that so far you are on the right track! Both for the investment, the elbow grease you are investing, and I believe knowing what you are doing!! What sells a house? Kitchens and bathrooms. They are the most expensive to rehab and the most difficult. That’s why buyers “run” when they see what they will have to do. They don’t have the ability or the desire to tackle these projects. Buyers also watch HGTV and they want all of the latest trends and they are willing to pay for them! All they can talk about is how they have seen “that” on TV.
You go girl!!
How exciting, Krista!! I can not wait to see what you do with it. It has some ‘interesting’ decor going on right now … like that red carpet, wood paneling, and aqua kitchen, but nothing that can’t be updated! On the plus side … that claw foot tub looks promising! I wish you guys the best of luck in this venture, and I’ll be following along to see how it goes!
Gaaahhhh! I can’t wait to follow this project! And seriously…could your boys be any cuter?!
How exciting!! I can’t wait to see the after pictures, it will be awesome. Of course it looks like you already have the best of help with the project!
This house has serious potential! We own a rental property and it comes with its share of headaches, but a great investment! I can’t wait to follow your progress. 🙂
This is amazing, Krista. The before & after photos are going to be incredible!
Hugs, Jamie
Congratulations. I love the character of the house – the chimney, the tub, the slanted ceilings. It looks like it has so much potential. My current house was brand new when I bought it but I dream of moving to an older house that I can fix up.
Eeeeek! So many things going on in that house, but I KNOW it’s in amazing hands! I loved seeing your little guys at work! xo (Also, I kind of love some of the vintage details….)
Wow! that’s HUGE news! Congratulations! That’s going to be such a fun project! I can’t wait to see the progress photos!
How exciting Krista! We have had pretty great renters so far. Only one bad one in 10 years. I can’t wait to see what you do to update this place and your helpers are too cute 🙂
Welcome to the world of being a landlord! 🙂 We own a number of duplexes as rentals and it has been a great investment for us. All of your hard work will pay off. I love that you have the kids involved. Our son loves to go with my husband when he needs to make repairs.
What an exciting new journey for you and your family Krista!!! Cannot wait to follow along!
I see lots of potential with this house! Because the house is a rental, I would remove the flooring (hope hardwood was under it), remove the wallpaper and paint everything, give the bathroom & kitchen a facelift, and replace the old lights. Can not wait to see what you do, good luck!
Omigosh!! What a fabulous place – love it! You are going to have such a blast remodeling and decorating this. Can’t wait to see what’s under those carpets.
oooh this is so exciting! i can’t wait to follow along!