509 Ruston Ave {part3}

Get ready to see some awesomeness! O.K. well, maybe not quite yet. This was a small stepping stone towards our complete remodel.  Kale and I were relieved to hire a few people to install various things around Ruston.  We hired professionals to install tile, and carpet. Kale did all of the rest of the work including drywalling the walls and ceilings. He also replaced all of the outlet switches, mirrors, toilets, light fixtures, fans and did a lot more work on small things like caulking around {like} everything! This house was in really bad shape. 

While we were in the mind set of renting the home, things were really nasty for a while. As soon as we started ripping out old cabinets, toilets, vanities etc. things started looking a lot better. It wasn't until the tile was down and the cabinets were installed that we started seeing a real future for this pretty little home.

We began shortly before Christmas. We ripped away at everything ugly, old and nasty about this house. I think Kale and I were both really excited when things started for the flip. These are the photos of the demo. We also had the tile installed before we left for our Texas Christmas Vacation.

We also had our good friend over at Greers Flooring America {the company we hired for tile, cabinets, counter tops and carpet} put together a few pretty samplings for us. We let her run with her own ideas as she has helped people remodel homes for years and years. 

The designer let me choose from about 3 different samplings she put together. This was the one I chose for this home. I wanted upscale looking cabinets and the tile was really pretty. We really wanted this house to shine. We have opted for backsplash at this time but might choose to have it installed after we complete the projects at hand.

I'm excited!!!! This house is coming together and we couldn't be happier with the results. I know Kale is ready for it to be done and I am ready for him to be home more often!!

~ The Shank Family

509 Ruston Ave {Part 2}

This was going to be fun! We had the home and got the keys. We were ready to turn this dusty old place into a cute rental house. This home has a living space, dining room, kitchen, 1 bedroom, half bath downstairs and 2 bedrooms with a full bath upstairs. It also has a sunroom and basement.

When we got into the home... it was very outdated, stinky and dirty. The previous owners had cats. Thankfully, the odor was just musty from it being old and not stinky because of the cats. That would have posed more issues then we really wanted at the time.

 Kale and I got in the house and started getting down and dirty. It felt like each day we worked...we only made small dents! We really needed like 12 people but...there was just us. So we just kept digging away at our list.

Here are some photos of the work we were doing while we were still planning on renting the home out.

The first project we had was tearing away the wall in the sunroom where the leak was found and fixing everything! He has to replace the 2x4's and the support beam that had rotted out. It was such a messy and crazy job.

I worked on ripping all the wallpaper off the walls. This took forever. The wallpaper was old and didn't treat me very nice during removal.

We were also working on scraping the kitchen cabinets so that we could prepare them for paint. This was the most difficult part of the jobs I had. I could have just ripped these old cabinets out with my hands. I will NEVER scrape cabinets ever again. Just saying...

We definitely had a TON of work on our hands!

Not too long after we began all of this super hard work...we realized that we could turn this into a quick flip instead of renting it out. Things started coming together for us to move to Texas. There was no way we could leave this home up to someone else while renters were in it. We had to think fast and hard about this decision. What are we going to do? Is Texas a definite? Should we trust a management property or make our money back now?

We decided to stop this rental project and go ahead and do a complete flip on the home. Stay tuned for those posts!! The results of hiring professionals for a few projects along with Kale's handy work = really awesome flip!

We are super excited about how lovely this cute house is becoming!

~ The Shank Family

509 Ruston Ave {part 1}

509 Ruston Ave - Our first Investment Project

The home with two faces! I say this because in dreamland... it seemed like a REALLY great idea. In reality... it's the most difficult project {to date} that Kale and I have ever endured. It's the first big project we've actually really had.

WOW to the WOW is all I can say about this house.

This past July, Kale and I decided to buy a fixer upper. We planned on doing some inexpensive renovations and using this home as a rental property.

Here is what Ruston looked like when we purchased the home:

Downstairs Hallway

View from kitchen to dining

Dining Room

Dining Room

Sun Room

Sun Room with leaking wall from downstairs bathroom

Entry to Kitchen from Sun Room

Kitchen floor meets Dining Floor

Family Room

Downstairs Bathroom Hall Way

Downstairs Bathroom

The Leaking Wall {gross!}

Downstairs Bathroom

Downstairs Bedroom

Upstairs Bathroom

Upstairs Bedroom #1

Upstairs Bedroom #2

Another Leaking Wall Upstairs Hall Way

Drive

Backyard

This home was a foreclosure. Our realtor found it in a neighborhood that had really nice homes up and down the street. This was the "Ugly Duckling" on the street. We grabbed it up with the highest bid and couldn't wait to get started.

All-in-all this is where we have spent a lot of time this past several months. It's been quite the experience!

We are really excited to show you guys the updates!!

~ Our Shank Family