I found out a few months ago that some tenants who had rented an apartment from us in New York were moving out, after five years. They lived in a 150-year-old beautiful house, that had been converted into two apartments before we bought it. They were a really nice family - keep that in mind as you see the post - they did however, have three kids (two of them small with special needs) and a dog. That said, I knew cleaning up the apartment was going to be a big job.
And oh yes, it was. But it was even worse than I anticipated. I think the little kids touched every single inch of wall within reach, and the walls were never cleaned. The handrail on the staircase changed colors; it went from black back to natural wood when I scrubbed it with Pine-Sol.
So anyway, we decided to head to New York to turn the apartment over and get it done as quick as possible, which required me missing one of my favorite seasons in Tennessee. I love the mild weather in late April to mid-May, and at The House of Goodwill, that's the season where the peonies (all nine) and irises (too many to count) are all in bloom. I just love it, and after a late freeze killed the azalea show for this year, I was really sad to leave and miss it. Our shoreline project was also completed while we were gone - I can't wait to see it!
So all that to say, my husband and I made the fourteen hour trip to New York and back, working non-stop ten hour days on the house inbetween. It was intense. But we got it done!
This is not a usual post for me, but I thought I would share a bit about the reality of being a landlord. (A landlord without a management company at any rate.) We are really particular about who we rent to, but little boys are still little boys...Here a few pics of the "highlights" (aka. the ugly and the bad):
It's probably a little hard to tell from the pic, but can you see how dirty this column on the left is? (FILTHY!) The one on the right I already cleaned, and what a difference!
How does this happen? What were the kids doing? Swinging around the pole?
Every one of these old iron radiators was absolutely filthy. I think at least ten juice cups got dumped over each one of these.
Do you know how hard it is to clean a radiator? Hard!!
Mystery stains on the radiator in the toddler's room...you try really hard sometimes to not think about what you're cleaning while you're cleaning...
All the eight-year-old carpet got replaced!
The biggest project of the year?
Replacing this old tub/shower with a brand new one.
I watched my husband and friends move a 300lb. iron bathtub down the stairs. I really was afraid one of them might die.
They did it!
I spent fifteen minutes peeling this sticker off of the toilet.
I figured the next tenant may not appreciate it.
The refrigerator was running a little loud, so we decided to pull it out from the wall and see what was going on. Here's what we found underneath...
Do you think this filter was a bit challenged??
This was one of those unexpected projects that took at least two hours to clean. (Shop vac-ing and scraping all the crud off the floor.)
And there was more! There were kitchen cabinets that had been pulled off their hinges (how again?), a bazillion dents in the wall near where a toybox must have been, dried snot on the walls (at kid level) and a million little pinholes and pieces of tape all over all the walls. I have never been so busy with a paint scraper.
Yet mysteriously, the refrigerator and toilets were incredibly clean when we arrived. Thank you tenants!
For all of these reasons, I would love to share some after pics of the place. Because based on these pics, you might never believe what a clean and beautiful apartment it became once again. Every inch of the place was cleaned, repaired and painted (a few ceilings included). I don't have pics because we were working until after midnight on our final night (there was still tools and cleaning supplies, etc. strewn all around right till the end); also, the new carpet got installed two days after we left.
I wish we could have seen the final, final product in person after all of that work.
Oh, here's one last pic to share of the place:
Random plastic baby still hanging from the ceiling when we arrived.
Clearly something else was hanging with him, but what?
So that is what I traded my beautiful weather, peonies and irises for. (I did dig up a beautiful white hydrangea, brought it home and planted it in my back yard. There were four in the front yard, so I took one that was small and behind the others.) Since I never know exactly where I'm going to be, I try to plant my perennials at each place so I'll always get to enjoy them in bloom.
Speaking of that, here is the "good" part of this post:
I planted a new perennial bulb in my garden last year. It's a Schubertii allium that is very unique looking. It began to bloom just as I had to leave, and it was so cool I just had to cut it and bring it to New York with me.
Here it is:
This flower is huge!
I just love the form; it reminds me of one of those 1960's-style Sputnik ceiling light fixtures.
My husband calls it Medusa.
And here's the allium at sunset in our living room.
It has a magnificent silhouette!
It was a really busy, really intense pair of weeks, but I loved it (one emotional breakdown not withstanding). I really love that old house, even if I don't get to live in it. I love real estate, and I love making the ugly beautiful.
Now to find a tenant without small children 🙂.
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