2nd Project

After selling my first house and searching for months and months for my next one, I finally found it! This house was in rough shape and was definitely not a lipstick job. It was the first time that I would actually be knocking out walls and re designing the floorplan on the main floor. I was a bit hesitant, but excited all at the same time. Out of all the projects I have done, this tops the list as one of my favourites. It was a big semi detached home featuring 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (unusual for old houses in Toronto), finished basement, a deck off the master bedroom and 3 car parking, perfect for a family.
I know you're all anxious to see it, so here it is, let me know what you think!

Before...exterior

After...exterior

Curb appeal is everything and this house was majorly lacking it, I didn't have much to work with as the outside is aluminum siding, so I cleaned it up, landscaped it with new grass and bushes and painted the concrete by the front door, to give it a stone look...what a difference!

Before...main floor

On the main floor the living room and dining room were split up into 2 bedrooms, so I knocked out all the walls to make it open concept
Living Room

I also kept part of the wall separating the front door from the living room, so that when you walked inside the house, you wouldn't be standing right in your living room
Dining Room

Love the exposed brick...what a great discovery!
After...living room

New laminate floor, new paint, new window coverings and of course some staging!
After...dining room

To bring out the exposed brick, I painted an accent wall in a rust colour to tie it back to the brick

Before...kitchen and sunroom

After...kitchen

The original kitchen cabinets were great, but needed a face lift, so once again I painted the cabinets in a light beige colour and added handles. To save on cost, I hired the people from Countertop Makeovers to reface my existing back splash, kitchen counter and island. They had a huge selection of colours to choose from, were in and out in a few hours, no mess to clean up and saved me tons of money in the process. Paired with new stainless steel appliances, pot lights, new laminate floor and paint.....the kitchen looks amazing!!!
After...sunroom

This room was just off the kitchen and is also the entrance to the backyard and lane parking...it is a big space and I didn't want it to go to waste so I thought it would make a perfect office (the house already has a mud room at the front entrance). New laminate floor, paint and custom window coverings went a long way here.

Before...main floor powder room

The main floor has a washroom which is a huge bonus, but it also had a shower, which I thought was a bit odd, the bathtub was also eating up space in the kitchen. So I decided to turn it into a powder room by removing the tub, this also created extra space in the kitchen.
After...main floor powder room

I kept the original toilet and sink and with some new paint, mirror and light fixture, the bathroom turned out great.

Before...upstairs

After...upstairs

Again, new paint and laminate floor, goes a long way in the upstairs hallway

Before...master bedroom

After...master bedroom

The master bedroom was a kitchen, so I ripped it out, had the drywall fixed up and it was ready for new laminate floor and paint...this bedroom is great because of the size and the deck...it was hard to part with it

Before...2nd bedroom
 
After...2nd bedroom

New laminate floor, paint, window coverings and staging....voila!

Before...3rd bedroom

After...3rd bedroom

Since one of the walls shared a wall with the main washroom upstairs, I decided to make a semi ensuite for this bedroom. It also got new laminate floor, paint, window coverings and staging...this bedroom could double as a master bedroom

Before...main washroom

After...main washroom

New porcelain tile floor, new toilet, new mirror/medicine cabinet, new light fixture, new subway tiles in the shower, new paint and can't forget the new rain shower head...looks so much better!

Backyard Oasis

Unfortunately, I don't have a before picture, but it was a sight for sore eyes, the entire backyard had interlocking with no greenery whatsoever, so I ripped up the majority of the interlocking and kept enough as a walkway from the parking as well as for the patio set and added new grass and flowers as well as a new fence.....backyards are suppose to be an extension of the house, an oasis, and I think this one was a success!

After living in this house for a while and truly enjoying it, it was time to sell it and move on.....I'm sure the new buyers are loving it just as much as I did.

Happy Halloween!

1st Project Ever

When I was 24 years old, I was living with my boyfriend and renting an apartment in downtown Toronto. My mom, being the real estate agent she is, convinced the both of us that we were wasting our money renting and that we should both move home, save money and buy a house together. As reluctant as I was to move home, I finally agreed to do so. After a year of saving and a bit of help from my mom, I was ready to purchase my first home in downtown Toronto. Needless to say, the boyfriend got cold feet and it left me thinking how I was going to afford to buy and on a side note, what that said about our relationship. Luckily my best friend of 20 years was in the same boat, so we decided to buy the house together, 50/50, and kick the boyfriend to the curb.

Upon becoming f**king home owners, as I yelled out in the real estate office after winning a bidding war of 10 offers(thanks to my mom),we wanted to renovate and sell it at a profit and take the cash we made and buy our own places to live. Unfortunately, shortly after taking possession, the recession hit and we had no choice, but to live there, unrenovated for almost the next 2 years. It ended up being a blessing in disguise as not only was I able to get my real estate license during this time, but also the recession in the housing market didn't turn out to be so long winded and our property value went up as the neighbourhood thrived.

Next thing we knew, it was a sellers market (when inventory is less then demand) and mortgage rates were at an all time low, so we renovated the house in 4 weeks, and sold it within 8 days at a nice profit! Now you're probably asking yourself, "how did they renovate the house in as little as 4 weeks?" Well, the answer to that question is, it was a "lipstick" job which is just real estate lingo for freshening up the house with a paint job, new floors, staging,etc....there was no major structural work done. The next question you're probably asking (which really was your first question) is "how much profit we made after all expenses?" My answer to this is, call me and we can discuss further about the benefits of investing in Toronto real estate.
So now, without further ado, here is our house:



Before....living room

After....living room

New paint job, new floors, new window coverings & staging, what a difference!

Before....kitchen

After....kitchen

New floors, backsplash, counter, stainless steel appliances & paint job.... we repainted the cabinets as it's a huge kitchen, the cabinets were in good shape and the cost of new cabinets would have been deathly, we also added a fresh touch to the cabinets by attaching new handles.

Before....master bedroom a.k.a my room

After....master bedroom a.k.a my room

New floors, paint, window coverings, light fixture and staging = amazing!!!!

Before....Kristin's bedroom

After....Kristin's bedroom

New floors, paint, window coverings, light fixture and staging and window seat built by Kristin herself = cozy!!!!

Before....main washroom

After....main washroom

New paint, mirror, light fixture, tile floor and subway tiles in shower...to keep our costs low we used the existing sink, toilet and tub and worked our colours around these fixtures that we couldn't change...we spruced up the sink with a new faucet and the shower with a rain shower head.

Before....basement washroom

After....basement washroom

Here is a perfect example of how some new paint and staging can make a dramatic difference!!!!

Before....stairs

Before....stairs

After....stairs

Our favourite part of the house was the staircase as it's original, dating back almost 100 years, although I hate painting wood (as most people do) it was in rough shape and to restore and stain it was going to cost too much time and money, so we decided some paint would go along way and did it ever!
After....stairs

Love the black and white...still shows off the original charm and character!

Bottom line, after selling the house, which I was sad to see go, I was able to generate enough cash flow to pay back what I spent and have some money left over. This gave me the ability to re-invest it back into the next home and maybe go on a bit of a shopping spree...did I mention I LOVE shoes!!! There is no doubt in my mind that investing in downtown Toronto is a no brainer as there's money to be made. The worst that can happen to me is that when I'm ready to sell it's a bad market and I have to live in the property longer then expected, until the market turns around again. Is it really that bad, living in a beautiful renovated house? I think not! My goal here is to build enough equity by doing what I'm doing, so that when I'm ready to settle down with a family and purchase my family home, I can do so mortgage free!!!!!