Our duplex renovation isn’t finished yet, but we’re already thinking about the next house we’ll transform—because there will be another one. In this post we share our goals to own more rental properties through retirement and tell the story of a recent house we almost bought. What grabbed our attention? What were our plans? And why did we ultimately pass? We also explain why we cut into our front porch, and how a break-in scare led to a highly embarrassing encounter with a police officer.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify — or listen to it below. Use this page to see the links, notes, and photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- If you missed our discussion about painting our brick exterior white, catch up with Episode #101 and the follow-up in Episode #105. Spoiler: the mineral paint we used lets brick breathe and comes with a solid warranty.
- For most of the years we’ve lived here, our porch looked like this:
- After removing the Chippendale railings it feels much more open—closer to our inspiration, though still very much a work in progress. The brick porch floor appears wider in the photo below compared to the one above.
- Removing those railings made a huge difference. Local code didn’t require them because the porch floor is close to the ground, and they felt almost cage-like—similar to our old back deck before we removed it.
- We plan to add a clean iron handrail on the steps eventually to make them easier for anyone who prefers a railing.
- I forgot to mention in the episode that cleaning the old railings every spring was the worst. They packed mildew, pollen, and spiderwebs into every nook, and because they were painted metal we couldn’t powerwash them without ruining the finish. It’ll be great to have them inside at the duplex so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
- The process of taking the railings down was surprisingly simple. After removing a few screws (one was painted over but still came out easily) we ran a box cutter along the paint at the seams and they popped out with a little wiggle. For the extra posts—which weren’t load-bearing—I cut through the middle and wiggled them out from top and bottom.
- By luck, Sean The Contractor sent a crew member to pick up a replacement diamond door, so the old railings were able to travel to Cape Charles to become interior stair railings there.
- Even more exciting—the crew has already started installing them in the duplex. We’ll include a peek in this week’s email newsletter so you can see how they look in their new home.
- For reference, here’s what we did to the previous home’s front porch columns. You can read our process for chunking them out and see the final look after painting the siding.
Well That’s Embarrassing
- Not much to add to our embarrassing police story, except that in this older photo of our kids’ toy closet in the foyer you can spot the motion detector that set the whole episode in motion—mounted up in the corner on the crown molding.
Buying Another House?
- The houses pictured here aren’t the one we toured and briefly considered for our next renovation or rental. These photos are from Richmond’s Fan District—a neighborhood we love to stroll because of its beautiful architecture and walkable streets.
- Homes like these are already far nicer than what we’d normally buy and well out of our price range, but walking the neighborhood inspired us to consider a similarly walkable location for a future project after the duplex is finished. Whether a property becomes a long-term rental or a vacation rental will depend on the house, but places like this would be tempting Airbnb options thanks to their great locations and nearby amenities.
We’re Digging
- As promised, here’s the picture of Sherry picking up a new trimmer at the same time she bought the tubs we mentioned in Episode #105.
- Since my old trimmer was discontinued, Sherry bought a new trimmer/edger. Two features I appreciate are the foot pedal for switching from trimming to edging mode—which is much faster than twisting the pole by hand—and the overall ease of use.
- This is the vacuum Sherry mentioned that switches between carpets and hardwoods with a foot pedal. We love it so much we bought another for the beach house.
- We also want to give a shout-out to author Kevin Kwan—author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy—who we sat with during the Cincinnati stop of our 2015 book tour. And a reminder that Gillian Flynn left an inscription we still talk about from a past tour stop. Those are fun memories.
- Also as a fun note, Constance Wu—the star of the Crazy Rich Asians movie—is from our town, and we totally relate to her comments about it.
If you’re trying to find something we mentioned in a past episode but don’t remember which show notes to open, check our master list of everything we’ve featured in past episodes. You can also find all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.
Finally, a thank you to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. Use the code YHL150 for $150 off your hybrid mattress order at AgilityBed.com. They offer free shipping and a 100-night return policy if you’re not satisfied.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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