Jan 12
16
We just put the FOR RENT sign up and posted the ads online … it’s official … our character home renovation project is darn near complete.
We have some work to do in the yard and we have to put numbers on the house still – but otherwise we are done! And we are really proud of how it turned out.
We are playing a small role in an ongoing transformation of a neighbourhood and that alone is pretty cool. In the short term we have turned an ugly old house into a beauty. We will not make a ton of money on this each month once it’s rented but we’ll carry our costs for now. In the long run we have so many options for profit because of its zoning, location and size. This is just phase 1 of a multi-phase project. And phase 1 was challenging but satisfying!
So now I just have one question for you … WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Outside Pictures: BEFORE and AFTER
The exterior was a major project and we’re still working on the landscaping. We redid the roof (removed four layers of roofing), took down the chimney, brought the plumbing inside, trimmed a lot of trees, removed two sheds and a garage. We also dumped a truckload of gravel onto the two driveways and repaired our neighbours rock wall that came down during the demolition. 
Interior Renovation Pictures:
This was the upstairs bathroom:
This is the new upstairs bathroom:
These are two of the bedrooms:
These are the bedrooms now:
These were the stairs before we scraped the black paint, stained the wood, and added a beautiful hand rail.
And here is the stairway afterwards:
I could include dozens and dozens of photos but here are three final ones to give you a sense of the living area before and after (sorry for such a different angle on the room in the after shot of the dining room … didn’t have two that matched). Not dramatically different but improved.
Just like a Golden Globe Winner has to thank everyone and their dog for their award, we do too!! This was an enormous project. We had at least 27 different people touch this project and we still have some odds and ends to complete (blinds, landscaping and the furnace is going in tomorrow!). All the folks who worked on this home were pretty darn awesome!! We are very grateful to have such a reliable and hard working team in Nanaimo!
BUT … I have to give a HUGE shout out to the best carpenter we’ve ever had. We are VERY grateful we had him on this project full time. He was there almost every day working on the interior of the home. He solved problems and watched costs … a great combo for an investors team! If you are in Victoria you are lucky enough to have him in your city and he has his own company now. Here’s his card:
We also got hooked up with some staging awesomeness from KISS Home Staging which really gave this project a lovely final touch. If you are in the Nanaimo area and want someone to make your home sale or rent ready, check them out. They have services starting from $200. The furniture and decor they added to our home this week really made it POP!!
So … now all that’s left is to rent it (and even that is looking good after our first showing!!) and hear what you think!?!! Which change was your favourite??
