Our very first home... was our first renovation project. It was a duplex in St. Paul; we lived in the lower level. We found this house by driving around in the neighborhoods we wanted to buy. It was a true duplex in the sense that the furnace, entrance and living facilities were completely separate. Most of the work was interior: removing flooring, resanding hardwood floors, removing wallpaper and extended ceilings, painting ceilings and walls, and finishing the basement. I remember when we moved in, there was literally shower curtains in the dining room. Each unit was about 750 square feet. The master bedroom had dark gray spackled walls. In the three years we lived there our tenants upstairs flooded our unit th
ree times, and we had to replace our queen size bed each time. Ah, the joys of on the job training. This experience was unique in that we jumped into being landlords with our first home. It wasn't so bad. We've learned over the years about leases, working with tenants and property management in general. It's not our goal to be landlords, but sometimes it's more advantageous than selling if you can make it work. One of the most fun and beautiful features this home had was the original tiled fireplace (see image). We did major landscaping and installed a brick front walkway (which didn't last because of cheap bricks and minnesota winters). We found our next move and restoration project next door; two houses away! More to come on that story in the next blog. Something to note is that many times we have bought and sold in the winter season which is against Real Estate wisdom. I don't know, but it worked for us. It took us just a few months to sell, and by the grace of God our first endeavor was fruitful. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy, but we love our neighborhood, we love our neighbors and we love the diversity St. Paul has to offer.
