In early 2018, Jen and I had made the decision to sell our first house we lived in for over 10 years and move into a specific neighborhood just a few miles away. We went under contract twice on a home we really liked but lost it because we had two different buyers back out or not get funding to buy the home we were selling. It was really tough. A couple months later we finally sold our home, and we found another house for sale in the exact neighborhood we wanted; however, it needed a significant amount of work. I sat down with the owner of the house (it was for sale by owner), and we worked out a deal at her kitchen table since we were not going to lose out on getting a house in this neighborhood again. I know my family wasn't thrilled about the house as it would require us to improve every square inch of the house, but I did see the potential the house had as it already had a lot of great features I really liked: big lot and driveway, well-built brick home, garage, pool, guest house, a big beautiful live oak sitting over it, and potential to add on to the house.
I drew a picture of what I thought the house could look like and got to work room by room on the inside and worked bit by bit on the outside. The first major project was taking down the walls between the kitchen and the living room to open up our living space and updating the kitchen to include a large center island. We lived in the house through the renovation and had to keep the fridge in the carport and our dining room was outside under a tent! We then tackled the master bedroom, bathroom, and office a year later. We were bracing for the next largest part of the renovation which required doing an addition which included putting a new roof on top of the existing roof to include an additional 500 square feet of a bed and bathroom, a 250 square foot covered front porch, a 250 square foot covered back porch, and tearing down the existing carport to build a larger garage. And yes, we lived through this renovation over the course of the next 8 months by having sealed off certain parts of the house. I had worked hand in hand with the architect, and I was the general contractor for the project hiring and managing all of the dozens of subcontractors to get the work done. When needed (or when I had the extra pocket of time), I'd hop in and paint or clean up or cut and put up trim or whatever was needed to keep things moving along. The hardest part for me is the inspectors as each inspector has his own nuances and one delay from an inspection can really throw a wrench in the project timeline.
We finished the addition, and then it was time to complete the front and backyard which included adding a hot tub, re-surfacing and re-tiling the pool, adding pavers and turf to the backyard, building an outdoor kitchen and living area, and then re-doing the driveway in the front and adding turf. We just finished about two months ago, and it is an amazing feeling to see the vision for this house come true. We've already hosted a few parties here for the kids, and it is very rewarding knowing that the patience and persistence we had throughout the process helped us create exactly what we had pictured.
What is it in your life that needs vision and patience? I think as humans it's important for us to have 'projects' that challenge our vision and patience as it helps make and keep us sharp. Once we finish them (and take a short break after!), it's important to find a new project(s) - mine now is focused on fixing up some things at the Grit house. Have a great week!
Below are the after and before pictures...