Six long months after closing on our Catskills investment property, we welcomed our first guests in mid-October. Part of me still can’t believe people are actually paying money to stay at our house. I really, really hope they like it!
It was a marathon to get to this point, taking one small step after another after another to clean out decades worth of stuff and get the house in guest-ready condition. Now that we can finally take a step back and breathe a little, I was able to reflect on three of the biggest takeaways from this experience.
1. Renovating With A Toddler Dramatically Extends The Timeline
My daughter Zara was 15 months old when we closed on the property. She’s curious, independent and wants to be part of everything we do.
This is great (and completely adorable), and we incorporated her into the mix as much as we could. But it meant the big stuff had to be confined to nap time and days when one or both of us could drive up to the property and squeeze in a few hours of work while she was at daycare.
When I laid out the timeline for when the house would be ready to list, I thought it would take about four months to get ready. This would’ve meant listing it sometime in August.
This timeline was generous already, but it still took us two additional months to have it ready for guests. And that’s after scrapping some of the projects we wanted to do!
We even took an entire week off work over the summer and stayed at the house, thinking we’d knock out a ton of stuff. We tag-teamed toddler duty; I’d work in the morning while Johnny hung out with Zara, then we’d switch for the afternoon.
While this worked alright, we found it just wasn’t all that much fun. We really love spending time together as a family, especially when we’re up in the Catskills, and divvying up our time made it feel more like work.
I’m not sure if there’s really anything we could have done differently, other than hiring people to complete more of the work, which wasn’t in the budget for us. Just something to be mindful of if you’re also in the position of fixing up a house with a toddler running around.
2. Cost Increases Threw A Wrench In Our Budget
After the price of the house and closing costs, we had juuuust a little left in our house fund for improvements. I thought it would be plenty for what we needed, but the costs added up a lot faster than I expected.
Some of this was due to things we just hadn’t considered, like new pillows for five beds and a living room couch. Pillows are freaking expensive!
But a lot of it was also due to everything being more expensive right now, including gas to drive back and forth. It wasn’t a cheap summer.
Because of this, we ended up putting aside a lot of the interior decorating items we would have liked to add or change. For example, I only switched out a single light fixture, and that was to a super basic one from Home Depot.
We only painted one of the upstairs bedrooms, and that was to get rid of a bubblegum pink hue that absolutely had to go. The rest of the rooms, while not what I’d choose, are colors we can live with for the time being.
3. Done Is Better Than Perfect
Even though I know the house is totally comfortable and equipped for guests as it is, I still look at it and see the outdated kitchen appliances and the basement we need to clean out. I also see the other listings in town that are absolutely gorgeous, with amenities like hot tubs and pool tables and fire pits.
I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a long-term project and it doesn’t have to be perfect right this minute. It’s a practical, functioning rental property and making more upgrades over time will be part of the fun of owning it.
Want to stay with us in the Catskills or just check out our listing? You can find it here!
