The deal for the little house on West Allen Street in Hendersonville, NC closed successfully on December 21st. Between my wonderful attorneys Elkins & Elkins and my wonderful realtor, Bill Millwood, everything got done and I barely had to lift a finger except to press "Send." It's now mine as I was sure it was meant to be.
Immediately, I emailed Robin Stafford. My first plan was to be the General Contractor myself, but I sensibly realized that to attempt this from 1000 miles away would be folly. I tapped Robin to fill this slot. I emailed what information I had put together along with photos of the property. I also emailed Gary Melton, my electrician, and sent notes to Ira Holbrook - plumber extraordinaire, and to Dan Osteen - stone mason and landscape assistant. Bill has other contractors waiting in the wings -- Brent to refinish the hardwood floors, and someone to finish painting the exterior. I will be meeting with most if not all of them when I head south in the middle of January. The plan is to get the work going so I can go back near the end of March to paint and stage for sale.
I also notified the power company to get the electric switched to me, and the oil company to arrange for a delivery. Those should be done by now. I still have to call the water company as there is city water, and arrange for a chimney cleaner and a locksmith to meet me at the house when I'm there.
There are several good books on managing a renovation project and they go into detail about things like Scope of Work and Budgeting, as well as Division of Materials so I won't even attempt to describe those areas here. But those are things that should be done before you even close on the property, along with at least a rough floor plan. I've sent those things to Robin, particularly to refine the budget.
When I'm down there in a few weeks I'll have some demolition to do, and shopping. I'll plan to buy the light fixtures and some other items so they will be there when needed. I would buy the appliances but need to speak with Robin first as he might have less expensive sources - particularly scratch and dent outlets. One can find appliances that have minor flaws that don't show and don't affect the performance at a much reduced cost. Another source is restaurant equipment supply.
On this project, there is a double (mullioned) window between the 2nd bedroom and the current mudroom that will be removed. Hopefully it can be saved for possible use on a future property or split up into two windows and used in the extension of that bedroom into the mudroom space.
I will be eager to get down there to meet with my contractors and get the ball rolling. Below is a "Before" photo.
Jean, Still Somewhere in Maine
