If you’ve been following the story of the Shenandoah Flip, you know we bought it with the intention of making it a rental, preferably with the option to rent it by the room. More bedrooms = more cash flow. BUT! We had to re-build with the ability to pivot.
Are you planning out a home renovation or building project where you get to create your ideal layout? Are you torn between more than one option? You definitely need to read this one.
Shenandoah’s Pivot Plan
The orginal layout for the Shenandoah Flip had 3 bedrooms and one functional bathroom upstairs. It had no true master and resale value dictates a need for a master with ensuite. Given our plans for the property, we had some decisions to make.
(Here you can take a walk through the Shenandoah Flip and get a better idea of the original layout.)
The basement contained nothing but an old bathroom that doubled as the laundry.
However, the rest of the space downstairs was large enough for two rooms, a designated bathroom and separate laundry.
Although a layout plan maximizing # of bedrooms would $cashflow$ more per month, it could potentially hurt the value of the property in the future, because it still wouldn’t address the need for a master suite.
Uriah’s solution? Framing two doorways behind the drywall: one between the two bedrooms, and one between the future master bedroom and bathroom. These doorways would be hidden from the finished space. This way, when the day comes to sell the property, all that will need to be done is remove drywall from the pre-framed areas, install two doors, and remove one other door. A small amount of work for a big reward.
To give you a rough visual, here is a layout showing both options in this construction project plan. Pay attention to door placement.
(PS. This drawings are not to scale – in reality, the bathroom is deep enough to have the shower and a double vanity on the left wall, but you get the idea.)
Option 1: The Current Layout
Option 2: The Future Layout
(forgot to add the windows and furniture in this picture but you get the idea):
Talk about a pivot plan! Want to see how this house looks now? Here’s a sneak peak. Look at the *Highlights*. While you’re there, why don’t you hit that follow button.
If you are considering two different layout options in your renovation, consider this idea as an option and give yourself some versitility for the future!
Do you have any other ideas?
Psst… You can get the inside scoop on flipping houses, home renovation and design tips. Hop on the band wagon and get our newsletter, The Inspiring Journal.
In part 1, you saw first hand what it looks like to have buyer’s regret. But don’t worry. There’s a repair plan.
All The Walls
As you all know, there’s nothing we love more than demo day, especially when it involves removing walls. It’s ALMOST like instant gratification. Almost.
Right away, we knew the design plan for LaRancharita would require removing at least one of the walls separating the kitchen and dining room.
But, even then, it seemed so small. The original house was 1330 square ft. If you remember from the pictures, there was a side porch that was also the main entry of the house and had been enclosed by the previous owners, but it was no bueno: the uneven flooring, and general janky-ness of the space left it basically useless.
BUT, what did we see? That’s right. Potential.
Potential that would eventually add about 125 square feet of useable space to the house. Opening up the wall and expanding into the porch provided room to add a second bathroom to this little 3/1 ranch.
Before & After
Here was the floor plan before:
The Plan for “After”:
Granted, these drawings are not to scale in any way, but you get the idea. See that pink addition on the front of the house? Yea, we’ll get to that.
Want a sneak peak at what the living room looks like with walls removed?
Before:
Facing Kitchen
Facing Living
Facing Hallway (removing wall on the right)
After:
If you missed the first post, you will want to go and see that. Next we’re walking you through the rebuilding process of LaRancharita and showing you some major changes that took place outside.
Interested in the design plan for this flip? Check it out.
One afternoon we received a call from the sweetest woman; we’ll call her Mrs. J. She owned a house in Raleigh that desperately needed work. It was special to her and she wanted to sell, but not to just anyone. She’d chosen us.
I wanted to find someone who would bring it to life again; someone who cared about creating a place for another family to call home; someone with experience who would do quality work; and offer us a fair price. It almost seemed too good to be true when I found The Inspiring Investment – it was exactly the buyer I hoped for.
We sat there together in her living room, almost all the furniture had been moved out, except for a few lawn chairs. (The most comfortable lawn chairs I’ve ever sat in, by the way)
Against the Wall Separating the Living Room and Kitchen
Mrs. J began to unfold her story, which included an unexpected health scare and, thankfully, remission. She shared how she’d felt: she had been given a new start and selling the house was a part of that.
After agreeing to a price that was fair for both parties, we hugged, parted ways, and closed two weeks later with the promise to make it beautiful.
Throughout the renovation, Mrs. J was kept updated and then invited to a reveal of the completed house.
Bringing the Broken to Life
This house was broken, in need of saving. It needed to be brought back to life again. Personally, I can relate to being in a state of brokenness. It’s a part of my story and my faith, but mostly, it’s why we love what we do.
Upstairs Bathroom
Non-functioning Bathroom and Laundry
Mrs. J was able to move on, resting in the fact that the broken house she treasured would be made new. We are humbled and grateful she chose us as her buyers.
Basement
Now, want to see what we did next? You’ll be happy you did, because we are sharing why it’s important to keep your options open in the design plan of any home renovation. There’s alot of value-add potential in that basement you seee above. Here’s a sneak peak:
Interested in seeing a sampling of some of our other projects? Peruse our flips.
The discovery story of LaRancharita is a lonely one. It was sitting there vacant, with a sign gracing its window: “For Sale”
So beautiful. It just screams, “Buy me!!”, right? Wouldn’t you want this little treasure?
It’s a blessing and a curse, seeing potential in all-the-things. Because it turns out, we might of bitten off more than we could chew with this one. More on that later.
Uriah did what he does best and got in touch with the seller, who didn’t seem to like talking on the phone; any pause in conversation and the guy would abruptly hang up. He also was a used car salesman in a different life, or maybe this life? Nonetheless, he had trust issues.
A series of unfortunate events elongated his ability to close, but when he was ready, we were there and got it done. The seller was able to move on and we got right to work.
The Lovely “Before”
Note the lovely driveway, and chimney that isn’t even attached to the house.
The kitchen was something to look at, with its faux and all. You can see to the left of the kichen picture that the room behind is the room with the exposed framing in the second picture. This is the dining room wall that separated the dining room from the “covered porch”
Oh, and the floors were a little wavy. Dang termites.
Above is the laundry room / rear entry before.
Steller plumbing.
Buyers Remorse
A combination of poor grading and termite damage created a bit of buyers regret.
About knee deep into the project, we realized we probably should have just torn the whole house down.
Want to know what we ended up doing? I’ll give you a sneak peak.
Yep.
Thankfully, this house has a redemptive story! What was broken is now whole.
Keep following along, because we’re sharing the whole story of what has been going on the past 9 months in a 6 part series!
LaRancharita, Part 2 is coming soon…
You know, we should be friends. Follow us on Instagram! Also, our Pinterest Boards are to D-I-E for.
I realize you may be thinking, these guys are house flippers, why are they renovating an airstream? Well, can I be honest? Sometimes we think the same thing. However, this is a dream I’ve had for a while now (I blame Pinterest): to renovate this shiny, take-you-back-in-time, glamping, pull-behind trailer. It’s not JUST because they look pretty:
Why Are These House Flippers Renovating An Airstream?
Uriah and I work hard. Like really hard. TOO hard. Also, we have 4 kids, so family vaca’s break the bank. Our decision to buy this airstream mainly revolved around being intentional about creating memories with our kids. Our intention is to use it as a tool to to travel, to explore, and to rest.
In order to accomplish this, we had to find an airstream option that we could modify to actually fit our clan and were inspired by this family of 6 who actually live in their airstream full time: The Longneckers
Tiny Shiny Home
In my eyes, this family was proof that my idea was possible. The Longnecker’s camper is a 31 foot vintage trailer with a rear bathroom, so we knew we needed at least that size.
Airstream: The Purchase
The hunt was on. I scoured craigslist and facebook groups and finally found a trailer that had been gutted. We found a seller in Virginia and meet him at a shopping center in a small little town then followed him to where the trailer was parked. Turns out, the location was a bit #sketch. While driving down the road, the guy suddenly pulled off the highway onto this gravel side street straight into a field! Uriah and I looked at each other and exchanged “I love you’s” just in case we didn’t come back out alive.
After a bit of negotiating, we came to an agreement and pulled out of that field with our shiny silver bullet.
Unfortunately, since then, this beautiful mess-of-potential sat at our friend’s house for months and months, just waiting for her debut. Friends, the time has come and this project is finally in the works!
Airstream: Design Inspiration
While Uriah and the guys research and begin putting the main structure back together, I am working on the design plan. I’m finding inspiration from the following people:
A Small Life
Mavis the Airstream
And of course, the Longneckers…
Tiny Shiny Home
But What Do We Name It?
Lastly, she still needs a name! Maybe I’ll put it to a vote in Insta? Leave a comment below if you have any ideas.
You can’t truly appreciate a large scale renovation until you see the “before” stage. In an attempt to bring our readers into the fold a bit more, we made this video to help you get up-close-and-personal with the Shenandoah project: take a walk with Uriah, he’ll show you around! Don’t mind the mess … we buy houses as-is.
There will be more to come, but definitely check it out; and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates on new videos!
I'm Katelynn and this is Uriah. We are accidental real estate investors & home renovators who've been buying houses that need work since the beginning of "us". We see beauty and redemption in taking a home from broken to whole and are leveraging our experience in flipping houses to help you with your house problems. Whether you're knee deep in a home reno, thinking of starting one, or have a fixer upper you want to sell, we are here for you!
