Ryan and I talk a lot about the homes we have owned and fixed up over the years. Here is a brief case study of one of them. We’ll leave dates and addresses out and simply refer to this 1925 character home as “Number Six”.
We bought this small home on a small piece of land facing a beautiful green-space for $965,000, thinking we would make some modifications. In the end we:
- turned the primary bedroom into an ensuite adjoining the new primary bedroom that started out as a den
- finished the basement
- replaced the radiator heating with a ducted heating and cooling system
- replaced the wood burning fireplace (which had once experienced a chimney fire) with a new gas insert
- relocated the laundry from the basement to the second level
- replaced the kitchen
The home had plaster and lathe walls, old original wood floors and a ton of dark wood trim (some of which had been painted). Because we had moved a few walls, the floors were going to cost more to try to repair than to replace. So new hardwood floors were installed throughout. And, against Ryan’s wishes, I insisted the dark wood had to be lightened up with fresh white and grey paint.
We sold the home in a bidding war for $1.4 million, approximately $200k over our asking price. Our total investment was approximately $1.2 so we were pleased with the outcome. It took a lot of work but we got to live in this stunning home with all new appliances and fixtures and still came away with money to invest in our next home. Which we did…
