PART #2 MINDSET MATTERS
It starts before it starts. Or, if you can't handle the stress you can't handle the success. Because they are one and the same.
06/15/20 We received the keys.
We met @Kyle Renke at the property and he handed us the keys & told us congratulations.
My heart sank, perhaps he could see it on my face, maybe he couldn’t, but I knew. I knew I didn’t have a concrete plan, I didn't have any contractors lined up, I didn’t have enough money to complete the work, I didn't have the time to move, work, renovate, adjust to the new neighborhood & make peace with my new 1-hour commute each way to work. You can see my mindset was sh!t. Sort of victimy, if that a word. Definitely overwhelmed.
We moved in, lived in boxes for months, ate out every day & generally were unhappy. At least I was.
Prior to moving in completely someone broke into the house. I walked in on the Thursday after we closed to bring some more boxes after work one day. @Kylerenke had gifted us a nice set of plant pots that resemble cups. They were in a 4pack package un-opened when we left the property after we received the keys. When I walked in on Thursday the package was opened & one cup was in the sink as if someone used it for a nice cool drink on a hot summer day. Perhaps we did that & I didn’t remember.
Except, the back door was unlocked & I know we didn’t do that, not a chance. TP was used in the bathroom. The bottom floor window open & the screen was on the ground outside. That’s how they got in. They even left a button on the window sill where their jacket must have got caught. Hope they didn’t have to get a new jacket, that would be an inconvenience.
The front and the back door wouldn't lock after a month. Bad install by the flippers. This was wrong, that was wrong, a bunch of little things that cause stress. I caught myself saying "they didn't do this either".
I had to catch myself, there is no "THEY". They don't exist, "they" is what W2ers, 9-5ers & the normal average person blame their problems on. There is only me, no one is going to come and save me. I own this property. Like my name is on the deed. No LL, no HOA, no nada. I had to BOSS up.
I began to understand this on a deeper level.
I started to listen to podcasts, read REI articles & books again. These are things that I stopped doing when I was not taking action. I didn't want the constant reminder of what I was not doing in my face. I shied away from a MM group that I was truly excited to be a part of, plan on getting back to the DG MM ASAP!
Then my wife @Brittany Bento-Tibbs applied pressure.
She was tired of looking at a ****** front yard. Dead grass etc.. Someone walked right up to our mailbox and took our mail out. The yard was inviting I guess.
One day I looked out the window and she was rolling out landscaping fabric. Then we went black bark, finished our front yard fence & got things looking decent.
I was so energized from this experience, that I caught fire a bit. My wife & I worked together to come up with a design for the downstairs area.
There was an existing bathroom, real small. The shower stall was 6"1" tall & very shallow & skinny. Pink tile as well. I knew we couldn’t rent this out like that. I didn't feel right about renting out something I wouldn’t use.
We decided to divide up some space and add an additional bedroom.
There was an unsightly box out hiding the protruding foundation, we decided to fur out the walls to hide this, and also gives the electrician a path to run new plugs without cutting into load-bearing structure exterior walls.
So that's pretty much the scope of work:
- -New bathroom upgrade
- -Add 1 additional bd
- -Fur out exterior walls
- -Run new plugs in exterior walls
- -Build kitchenette
- -Add new main panel
- -Run new main feeder in the joists as it was below the ceiling and I'm worried about a kid doing pullups on it
- -Run new main DCW line in the joists, same as above.
- -Divide up backyard space.
I'm sure we are overbuilding & making countless mistakes & wasting who knows how much money.
But, I'm fine with that. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to get it done so we can gain some traction.
With that being said, if anyone in the Bay Area wants to come through or even video call to do a check on our progress, we'd be grateful.
I'm looking for some critique, encouragement, wisdom, etc...
It sort of feels like I'm working in a vacuum & we are not sure to what extent we should rehab for our market.
Ok, the next post should really be the start of the construction dairy. I just wanted to give some backstory about the challenges & mindset issues I faced to get here.
