DOOR #2: THE IVY COTTAGE

We’re almost one month into the renovation of the Ivy Cottage— lots of progress has been made and lots of ivy removed. The Ivy Cottage name grew (quite literally) out of the vast amounts of overgrown ivy surrounding the property. To me, there’s always been something nostalgic about crawling ivy, particularly up the edges of old English cottages— it’s something that expresses the passing of time, reveals an age and shows nature's way of organically encompassing the built world… but here, it was not nostalgic. It more so resembled a wild, backyard jungle! To say the least, the backyard will have just as much transformation as the home itself. 

Purchase Details 

This 1970’s home is a cozy 770 SF single story house with two bedrooms, one bath, and an attached 220SF garage. It’s situated on a 6,250 SF lot in Eastside Tacoma, WA— a growing neighborhood in the area with lots of redevelopment, but still offers affordable home prices. The home was off-market and assigned via a wholesaler. For those unfamiliar, that means the wholesaler is the direct purchaser from the seller and assigns the agreement to me, the buyer. Upon purchase, The bones of the home were in good condition— a new electrical panel, good plumbing, a new split unit, and a majority of new windows, so this renovation would surely be a much simpler feat compared to the last Ridgewood Reno.. phew! 

Purchase Price: $295,000

Renovation Budget: $50,000

Flip Duration: 2-3 months

After Repair Value: $420,500

Value-add Design

The key to this project was determining the highest value-add given the purchase price and the neighborhood comps. Because the home was in decent condition due to some recent upgrades, a majority of the renovation budget would go to converting the attached garage to a third bedroom to bring the most value to the resale. The exterior will get a fresh coat of paint, capitalizing on the PNW cottage aesthetic with a pewter green color body and charcoal trim— a home that prefers to blend in with it's lush surroundings. The interior will bring warmth through new LVP floors and brass accents, and experience a new brightness through a new white-centric kitchen to help improve the perceived openness.

Existing Plan

Proposed Plan

Lessons implemented:

• We got a dumpster! Keeps the dump-runs minimal and the site tidy.

• Install a camera— for both peace of mind and to keep an eye on progress remotely.

• Hire a general contractor who you know and trust. 

• Design the renovation during the closing period so you can submit for permit and hit the ground running once closed.

See you on the flip side,

refern (aka Rachel)