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I Bought A Neglected House!

Binged my way through this the last few days. Wow!!!!
Have done a couple of renovations in the past but am at the age when I hire now instead.
Looking forward to your future posts. 😎
 
Just caught up after finding this thread the other day.
Your videos are very entertaining. And I find it weird that I hate painting but can watch other people paint 😂

glad you posted about the computer stuff...I thought geez that’s a lot for home use. But would like something similar to that to get the torrent files.
I cracked up laughing at the end of the one video where you said that it wasn’t a bench!

I would think that your driveway definitely needs shoring up from that creek. Water is pretty abrasive.

I understand about getting things ready for people to rent out, but it seems like you’re going to be doing twice the work and going to need twice the budget. And what will roommates think when you start tearing things out?

anyway, keep it coming!
 
Thanks man!

I'm working on a computer only video that'll pop up on a Friday and go through the entire setup. I got the High Availability functions working in the cluster, and built my first Ceph storage cluster. I built a Time Machine server in a Linux Container and a bunch of other fun stuff. So look for that in a next month or so.

The UPS man actually used the "bench" properly yesterday!

I'm going to wait for warmer weather to address the driveway, it is just too cold to do anything now. I think I mentioned in an early video that I ran my thumb through a table saw last year and had surgery to reassemble it. I'm getting some feeling back, but right now my body turns all cold sensation into pain, so being outside long just simply hurts.

I will be doing additional work to prep for renting, but two renters will pay for the mortgage, internet, trash, and water every month. That leaves just the gas/electricity up to me. Once I finish all the bedrooms, they'll cover all the expenses, plus some. That'll allow me to save for a new roof and HVAC while expanding my remodeling budget.

As for the renters themselves, it's mostly a matter of finding the right people. I'm going with a fixed rent with utilities included, this is rare in the room rental market. As someone who rented for decades, the biggest unknown is how much extra the utilities cost. Having price stability is big, especially for people on a tight budget.

The guy moving in next month loves the place, his face lit up when he walked in. I gave home the full tour and did not hide it at all that the house will go through various stages of work. He is looking at it as an opportunity to learn how to do this kind of work so he won't have to pay for it when he becomes a homeowner. THAT is the kinda of renter I'm looking for. I know they won't be easy to find, but I think they'll stay quite a long time.
 
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LumbermanSVO said:
This week I replace the old heater and a bunch more lights. I also start the drywall work in Bedroom #1.

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Very illuminating episode! Can I offer you a tip on wallpaper stripping that should save you a load of time? When you are scrapping, heat up the patch you will scrape next. What you do is hold it off the wall. Should easily double your speed.
 
Thanks guys!

This is the woman I bought the house from, as she was roughly 70 years ago:

o06L5NIh.jpg
 
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I gave the family plenty of opportunities to comes get stuff. Of her 11 kids, only 4 showed up to get anything. 2 came looking for very specific stuff, like a cedar chest, a Virgin Mary statue, and stuff like that. 2 came looking for practical things, like trash cans, mop buckets, and really dumb stuff like that, they give one hoot about sentimental stuff. It has been long enough that I'm not going to spend a bunch of time tracking them down to give them stuff they've already showed zero interest in.

If someone ever bent me into that shape I would probably never walk again!
 
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This week I mount the heater on the wall, install a ceiling fan, add a network switch and camera, and work on the walls in Bedroom #2.
 
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I'm a little low on content for the next video because I accidentally deleted an SD card before moving the content off it. So I'm doing a a little Q&A, I'll answer almost anything. Ask your questions in the comments of this short video.
 
I can ask some here. You (or someone else from MR) can post them there if you like, answer any or all or none:

1. What's the neighborhood like? Any more crime issues? Friendly neighbors? Do any of your neighbors know you're posting videos?
2. How many renters will you have?
3. What's the source of that water/drainage running next to the driveway? That water was moving.
4. What's the make/model of your security cameras?
5. Any asbestos issues in the house?
6. You mentioned tearing down the chimney, I assume because it's structurally unstable. Going to replace it or nah?
7. You're redoing some rooms and quick-fixing some other jobs to redo later, do you have a timeline for redoing the whole house? How long will it take?
8. Other than the termites, any invasive critters up there damaging the house?
9. If you had the money what one job would you hire out vs doing yourself?
10. What's your favorite or most cherished tool?
 
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I answer questions!

This video came out late, but still on a Tuesday! While one of the simplest videos, technology fought me every step of the way, ugh.
 
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LumbermanSVO said:
I had been working for a live entertainment company in Texas for several years and rode the wave of it growing from 30-ish employees to over 200. Along the way the company got bought out by an investment firm and they took away everything that was great about working there. So I started looking around for another growing small company. I found one in SoCal and left Texas on New Years Eye for California.

I started on January 6th and things were going great, all the promise I saw while interviewing was looking like reality. I managed to lower my cost of living while increasing my quality of life, things were looking good. Then on March 11th I was laid off because EVERY show the company had was cancelled. Well, technically I was bumped to part-time, but with no hours, so I could keep my health insurance. But there were just no shows, in the span of a week my entire industry came to a screeching halt, something that has never happened before. Thanks COVID!

I sat around for weeks waiting to see what would happen, nothing. Then about 8 weeks into doing nothing I saw a job opening for my skillset on a FB group, so I sent in my resume, and sent the guy a message introducing myself. A few weeks later I was on a plane for the interview and a week of work. I eneded up getting the job, and a few weeks later moved to Cincinnati. I threw my stuff in storage and just rented a room until I could get the lay of the land.

One day my boss and I were driving somewhere and we went past some small houses. I mentioned that I'd love a house that size, but with a huge garage. He said that his grandmother just moved out of her house and it had a two car detached garage. I didn't think much of it at the moment. Then the next day the homeowner where I was renting sent me an email, he was giving me 30 days to leave because he wanted to move back in, so I asked my boss about his grandmothers house.

I looked at it that day, and boy was it in bad shape. I've done remodels before, but never on my own home, I've never actually owned a home. While this house looked bad, it seemed solid. So I made an offer that turned out to be right in the ballpark the flippers were giving. They decided to go with me because I'd actually live in it. I moved in on Sunday(my birthday!) and started the cleanup process right away.

I've decided to make a YouTube page showing the work as I tear into this project. The first video is a tour with commentary about the condition and plans for fixing it up:


I've been living in it almost two weeks and made another video a week into it showing my progress:


It's a solid house, but with a bunch of problems and needs a LOT of work. I really like the idea of doing things my way and seeing where it leads me. I have an overall plan, but just like work, I'm expecting to be thrown off track several times, and for everything to take longer than expected.
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Congratulations. You are an example of when a door closes (being out of job) not everything is lost and other doors may get opened as well (owning a beautiful house). This is inspirational. Thank you for sharing this story.
 
macintoshmac said:
Congratulations. You are an example of when a door closes (being out of job) not everything is lost and other doors may get opened as well (owning a beautiful house). This is inspirational. Thank you for sharing this story.
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Thanks dude. It doesn't feel like an inspirational story, more like, I just keep finding myself in situations where the only viable option is to keep going.
 
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