Love it... THEN list it - Mr. Jenkins

My genius hour project did not take shape until about December of this year.  I had been in the market for about a year and a half for a home that I would purchase.  You see I'm kind of picky if you haven't figured that out yet.  I'm not the kind of guy that can buy a house in a subdivision that has a quarter acre, a white picket fence, and a pool in the back yard.  That's too "cookie cutter" for me.  First and foremost, I need some land... 5 acres minimum.  If I cant put up a tree stand in my yard and at least archery hunt, I'm  out.  Secondly, the house needs to be unique... and preferably old.  Lastly, and this is why it took me 2 years to find the house I would purchase, it needed to be CHEAP!  I'm a teacher, so i'm poor... you're welcome.

Anyway, I would search for houses constantly.  What i was looking for was so unique that I would literally find about one a month that I would consider buying.  Most of them were way too expensive, a couple i lost from other offers being higher than mine.  There were probably about 4 times in the last year that I thought to myself "this is it, I'm going to live here".   Well it never worked out and I was getting sick of paying rent.

So finally I found a place.  Not the ideal location, not the ideal lot (though it did cover the 5 acre minimum), not the ideal style of house.  Why would I buy this place if it wasn't ideal in any way?  You got it, it covered my third and most important characteristic.  It was CHEAP... and I mean like really cheap.  Only problem with this is that the old saying "you get what you pay for" is true.  This place needed work, a lot of work.  It is almost a complete "gut job", meaning all of the drywall, ceiling, flooring, plaster, cabinetry, bathroom fixtures... EVERYTHING needed to be replaced.  Did I mention it was cheap?  So my genius hour project is to take this mess of a house and turn it into something I could live in... for a while... and then sell for a hefty profit.

Update: 2/15 - Well I have owned the house for a month now.  So far, I have replaced boards on the exterior of the addition that were rotted.  The house had a porch and deck that were in rough shape, so I tore that off.  On the inside, we have the furnace and fireplace in working order.  I have stripped the drywall and plaster off of nearly every wall in the house.  I have framed new closets and rearranged some walls.  The roof is being replaced (thanks to Abbey White's father) as we speak.  I have to replace the 2 main beams of the house, and rewire and add some electric.  Then I will be ready for drywall.  Move in date has been set for April 20th, so I will have a busy 2 months ahead of me.  Pictures will come soon!