Rehabs: The waiting game

We are in week 4 of the Kenwood house! Similar to week 3, the house is still empty. No clanging, hammers, body odor, crude jokes, or cigarette butts. I’ll tell you what’s not empty – the mailbox. It’s filled with bills! A month of holding costs and seemingly no progress. This is, of course, not true. We’re progressing – our designer is working on the new layouts and our architect is working on the as-built drawings. We got behind on this property because we had a relatively quick closing after a prior deal that was lined up fell through. So, while we would typically be having the design work completed through the closing period to hand to GC’s the day we own the property, this time around we hired the architects after closing. So, it seems very quiet – as if we’re not doing something. A primary source of stress when rehabbing is not the organized chaos of renovation, it’s the anxiety of downtime. So, here is what I do to manage the stress:

1. I check-in on the designers. Once a week. It makes me feel better to hear them say “Yep, we’re working on it and excited to show you the drawings on time.”

2. I update spreadsheets. I have a rehab analysis spreadsheet with anticipated and actual costs that is linked to specific construction costs for specific items. I have an expense spreadsheet that is categorized for tax purposes.

3. I call my bookkeeper to make sure everything is up to date. This person is also my mom which means there is automatic encouragement and family gossip following my questions.

4. I call my partner to see how his day is going.

5. Pedicures. Lots of pedicures.

6. I go sailing.

7. I clean my desk.

8. I go to broker’s offices. I drop off breakfast treats to keep them interested in my current properties (Broker’s Open House!)

9. I do continuing education. After all, I have an appraisal and broker license to maintain and hate when I have to clear an entire week to sit in class.

10. I scroll Pinterest. Lots of property, lots of design ideas needed.

5 Ways to Organize Your Hectic Work Environment

We’re still doing paperwork on the Kenwood house! Here are my ideas on staying on top of it all.

workinclassgal

Have you ever worked with one of those people that has a ton of responsibility and a million balls in the air and none of them seem to drop? Have you ever stopped to seriously consider whether they have some super human power or an extra brain cell that allows them to remember every item that has ever crossed their desk? Guess what folks, I am one of those people. My former boss was also one of those people – he was often referred to with terms such as “rock star”, “awesome”, “amazing” (in the true sense of “amazing”, not the kind that’s thrown around by people nowadays to describe something above mediocre. I mean, really, were you “amazed” or just happy about the experience? I digress…). Now, let’s take a poll: Who thinks we are super heroes? Who thinks we have some secret that I’m about to divulge one sentence down?

Here’s…

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Rehabs: The truth about design

Ahhh, Kenwood house – how we love you so…it’s been 2 weeks since closing – let me tell you how work has progressed:

….

Yep, that’s it. We are still trying to get bids! This is a substantial renovation. It is not a gut rehab and more of a comprehensive update which is actually harder to bid than a gut job. Think about it – we can’t have workers coming in an smashing everything, pulling down walls, taking everything down to the studs, and dragging stuff across the floors. We are only renovating pieces of the house so they have to be careful. Careful = Time. We all know what time equals. The other issue? We renovate century-old homes. They’re awesome because they’re quirky. They’re also challenging because they’re quirky – different floor heights, different ceiling heights, awkward layouts, small rooms, old systems, old chimneys, and mystery spigots.

Check out what is affectionately referred to as “the fort”!

Awesome room, difficult functionality – especially when it is located on the 3rd floor and consists of an operable window and a rigged front door as the entryway.

Here’s my point: design is difficult. I know we watch those rehab shows where they walk through with their general contractor (GC) talking about taking out walls and re-configuring kitchens and bathrooms on the day they buy it and then the GC gives them a price right then and there – that is simply not true. If you look closely at those shows, somewhere you will see drawings. Not sketches. Drawings. These drawings were done by architects. These drawings will be requested by your general contractor before he can bid a job where you’re moving layouts around. If your GC does not ask for drawings, think twice about your GC. This is not to say that a GC cannot bid without drawings, it is to say that your bids will likely be 1) high to protect the GC from nuances that were not discussed 2) very far apart among GCs because of the “unknowns”. Drawings give you consistency. Drawings give you accuracy. Consistency & Accuracy = Efficiency & Cost.

So, for the record, budget an architect for $2-5k on the big jobs and let them work with the GC. Allow 3 weeks for the architects to give you drawings, 2 weeks for the GCs to review the drawings and bring their crews to the property to walk through, 2 weeks more to get bids, and another week to get insurance paperwork and signature documents. That’s 8 weeks, or 2 months. Hopefully, your GC can start right afterwords – check and make sure. These guys have crews to pay and do not often hold off other jobs, counting on yours, until you have established trust. Using this schedule, it looks like Kenwood will be a spring fling sale and it’s not even summer yet.