Peter’s First Big Dumb Reno
As I mentioned in My First Big Dumb Reno post, my husband helped me prepare my old Fishtown house to get it ready to sell. I sort of glazed over this part in the post, but it actually took us about 6-8 weeks to do. We touched up a ton of paint, moved things out, and had to take all the kitchen reno debris to the dump (tip: you can often save money on renovation projects by agreeing to remove the trash/reno debris yourself). I was selling my house in order to move in with Peter, and I would say the weeks we spent cleaning and decorating turned into some real bonding time! It was the first time we were working on a big house project together and the first time I realized Peter is pretty damn handy—SCORE!
Even with this realization, I was pretty shocked when I saw pictures of the first house Peter and his friend Dan purchased in 2004. Peter and Dan have owned the property for 15 years, and for about 10 of those years rented it to college students, musicians, and a whole cast of characters. Up until now, I was only in the place once when a tenant locked herself out, so I never had a good look around, but I knew the place had come A LONG WAY.
Back in 2004, Peter and Dan knew they wanted to live in the Francisville neighborhood of Philadelphia and decided on a pretty tight budget. At the time, many houses around this area were vacant or resembled blown out shells.
Through their realtor, Peter and Dan learned about the 203(K) rehab mortgage, and open to a challenge, this helped them finance their first home renovation project! 1400 sq. feet, 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, unfinished basement, and a small backyard.
“No matter how bad you think your reno is, there is always worse!”
Peter would occasionally tell me they put a lot of work into their rental, but I had no idea exactly HOW MUCH work. Seeing “before” pics blew my Fishtown renovation out of the water! Peter and Dan tore out old saggy drop ceilings, removed useless shallow closets, reconfigured the bathroom, and exposed sections of the brick and beams in the large master bedroom. They replaced windows, had paint on the front of the house power washed off, and the brickwork repointed. They had a new HVAC system installed (including all the duct work), gutted the kitchen, replaced the roof, installed a skylight, and had the electrical system rewired. SHEESH!
Peter and Dan lived in the house while they powered through the renovation. Once they were ready to move on, they began renting it out. In the meantime, the neighborhood changed, vacant houses were updated, and families moved in.
At the end of 2019, Peter and Dan decided to retire as landlords and agreed to sell the property. The girls living in the place moved out and left it in SHAMBLES—piles and piles of trash bags left inside and in the yard, a fridge full of rotting food, a bunch of bicycles, a hula-hoop (now mine!) and random shit everywhere. They did not get their deposit back!
“People stereotype guys as being nasty, but girls can be much worse!”
Fortunately for everyone, the tenants were able to move out prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the US. With nowhere to go, Peter and Dan had a lot of spare time to get the place in order.
At first they would work on the rental one day a week, removing bags of trash and repairing damaged walls. After a few weeks of this I popped in to check on progress and was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done. I realized they needed more help and we needed to step up our efforts, otherwise this thing was going to sit empty for A LONG TIME.
SO HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Back at it every Saturday and Sunday, week after week for four months. The progression was slow and exhausting because we repainted EVERYTHING. And when I say everything…I mean all the trim in the house, all the bedroom floors, every wall, and every ceiling.
The carpet in the hallways and stairs smelled like cat piss so we had it replaced. We had new siding installed on the back of the house, power washed outside, replaced outlet covers, all the blinds, and a few windows. We installed a new mail slot, house numbers, a cute outside light and even a new peep hole…the jobs were endless!
Here’s a quick little hack if you don’t feel like shelling out the money to buy all new vent covers or light fixtures: wash and spray paint those suckers! It’s cheap, easy, and they look brand new once you’re done!
“And then there was the bathroom!”
I guess I sort of volunteered to clean the bathroom. Me and my OCD get a sick fulfillment out of conquering such dire situations. The bathtub, parts of the shower, sink, and wall tile had blue hair dye all over them. I wasn’t really sure how the hell to get that out, but a good ol’ Pinterest search gave me a few tips. First, you should immediately purchase a steamer. I already knew this because my parents are geniuses and introduced me to one when working on my Fishtown house. These things BLAST dirt right off any surface, it’s super impressive! The second item was Bar Keepers Friend, another rec from my parents, but confirmed helpful from a Pinterest article. I also purchased ammonia and baking soda. I was going into this hell hole fully loaded with an arsenal of cleaning weapons.
No exaggeration, it took me HOURS to clean the tub, shower, and tile. I removed the vent in the floor…10 or more used (yellow) q-tips had fallen down there. WHYYY and HOWWW?! It wasn’t perfect, but everything came up better than what I was expecting!
Since the house was empty, we began thinking of nice touches to make the place more photo-friendly. I decided that since an outdoor space (no matter how small) is golden in the city—this would be first priority. We pulled up the weeds, attached some bamboo panels to the fence, bought an outdoor rug, and added an old bench from my mother’s garden. Throw in some decorative pillows and a plant—BOOM—a (somewhat) more inviting outdoor space!
We also hauled over my old pink couch and some decorative items to make the place feel homey. Empty homes don’t photograph well. People want to see a little decoration because it helps them imagine how their furniture will look in the space.
FINALLY, we were ready to list the property! We called up my big little bro (he’s enormous but younger, hence the name) who is a realtor and up it went for sale! Fortunately for us, the COVID restrictions on real estate had recently been relaxed and mortgage APRs were historically low, making it an ideal market. An offer came in 3 days after the property was listed! The prospective buyers wrote a sweet letter included with their offer which we found heart-warming. During negotiations, we replied with a letter and it felt so nice to connect with the family. The letter exchange gave a personal touch to an otherwise grueling process, which I would recommend doing the next time you’re purchasing a home. It was a smart play that softened us up!
Ok, ya’ll - enjoy the before and afters!
