Mistakes and failures teach invaluable lessons in any journey. This was a journey of the first high end remodel we did in our investment career. The play was an ‘ordinary’ looking bungalow in a very desired part of town. The value was in the land which was half an acre, and the fact that the seller had a remodel done which was odd in places and not fully thought of. Original play was simple enough. Purchase price was $980,000 and our initial remodel budget was $200,000 for a sale price of $1.4M. Things changed drastically when we got renovation quotes from 350-440K for a complete remodel which we had planned on doing. Most contractors would see how desirable the neighborhood is and price accordingly.
First mistake was that I took over the role of a GC. A project like this there are too many moving parts, and given its 50+ year old and not enough experience was a bad mistake. To make things more interesting we had a 100+ year old pecan tree just south of the building front, a de-construction type demolition and a target price of $1.8 after the remodel scope keeps getting higher. The stress was unbelievable, as everything had to be perfect at the end. The thing about high end remodel is that it is no ‘halfway’, it has to be done with conviction, almost as ‘blind’ as sometimes no comps in the area can match the deal. This makes them exciting as well, as you can win big on high end remodel. Should I have taken the role of the GC, not having done a job of this scope before? Absolutely not. In hindsight it would have been better to have a contractor who bid $420,000 in the beginning as they would have done the job faster, with 10 times more efficiency than me. Would I have been able to write about it in this blog? No… so lucky for you.
When removing the sheet rock, best to see where ceilings can go up. No need to penny pinch here as higher ceilings always sell and one of the biggest issues that high end buyers have is that 8 ft ceilings turn them off. Try to go 10 ft wherever you can otherwise at least 9. We made the mistake of not having the front living area go 10 ft as that could have been super easy when the ceilings were off and new ducting had not gone in.
We did increase the ceiling height in the second living area (casual) and kitchen.
The front of the house was a sad looking 1950s bungalow, that had to be changed creatively to make it modern/traditional but new.
We got a custom welded front door with lots of glass. That usually works great as a good selling feature.
At this point in our renovation, we should have increased the ceiling height, that was easy to do, but only know now in hindsight.
One thing we learned at the high end is an idea. Every detail has to be curated to the fact that it has to fit into an idea of a custom build. Hence flooring plays a huge part. Our interior designer helped with the sand and finish select wood (wood has grades and select is the highest, then no 1 and so on). The stain is 3 parts antique grey and 1 part walnut brown.
Smaller space bars do really well with a glass (in this case antique glass) backsplash.
If you have beautiful trees all over your property show them off, with tree lights. A not too cost effective add on for your electrician to tackle.
The new facade is ready to sell.
In summary:
Key mistakes:
a) If it is the flip, time is literally money. The faster you get the work done the faster you are out, and the less exposed you are to further risk
b) Do NOT in any shape or form, think you can GC on a huge full high end remodel if you have never GC’d before or have limited knowledge on home renovation.
c) Raise the ceilings higher when you have the house at stud level. There is no better time, it’s easy and will always get you value in the finished product.
d) More glass front windows when doing a high end kitchen. They sell really well and make the space look brighter
e) Granite comes in slabs of 9 or 10 ft. So if your designed bar is 11 ft re think it as it will need two pieces which always look like two pieces. Always check with the supplier and plan the stone.
f) Job site needs to be cleaned. Helps a lot in monitoring status, material levels and other key elements. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
g) Finish it, don’t give up, if you have started it, you are on your way. Many days you are like what the hell have I done? Those are normal, keep on tugging.
Good luck!