Our duplex renovation is far from finished, but already we find ourselves dreaming about the next house to transform — because there will be another one. Today we’re sharing our goals for owning more rental properties through retirement, the story of a recent house we almost pursued, and why we decided not to move forward. We’ll also explain why we took a large saw to our front porch and how a break-in scare turned into a surprisingly embarrassing encounter with a police officer.
If you’d like to listen to the episode, it’s available on the usual podcast platforms — Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn — or you can stream it from the episode player on our site.
What’s New
- If you missed our conversation about painting our brick house’s exterior white, catch up with our previous podcast episodes where we talked through the process and shared updates. The mineral paint we found lets brick breathe and comes with a great warranty.
- Here’s what our porch looked like for most of the years we’ve lived here:
- After removing the Chippendale railings the porch feels so much more open — closer to our inspiration image, though still very much a work in progress. The change makes the brick porch floor look wider and more welcoming.
- Taking down the railings made a massive difference. In our area, these railings weren’t required since the porch is low to the ground. They had felt almost cage-like, like the old deck we removed from the back of the house.
- We plan to add a simple iron handrail on the steps eventually so it’s easier for people who prefer to have something to hold onto while navigating the steps.
- Cleaning those railings was a yearly headache: mildew, pollen, and spiderwebs collected in every nook. Because they were painted metal we couldn’t powerwash them without damaging the finish. Moving them inside to the duplex solved that problem.
- The removal process was surprisingly simple. After taking out a few screws and running a box cutter along painted seams, the railings came out with a bit of wiggle. Extra posts that weren’t loadbearing were cut and pried out from top and bottom.
- Fortuitously, we were able to repurpose those railings. They were shipped to a different project where they’ll serve as interior stair railings. The crew has already started installing them in the duplex, and we’ll share a peek in our upcoming newsletter.
- We’ve done similar porch work before. If you’re curious, we documented the process we used on our previous home’s front porch columns and the final look after painting the siding.
Well That’s Embarrassing
- A quick follow-up on the break-in scare: the incident that led to police being called was ultimately a false alarm. In the photo of our kids’ toy closet in the foyer you can see the motion detector mounted on the crown molding — that device was the culprit behind the unexpected visit from law enforcement.
Buying Another House?
- The houses pictured here aren’t the one we toured recently. These photos are from Richmond’s Fan District, a neighborhood we love walking through because of the beautiful, walkable streets and colorful painted brick. They’re lovely and honestly out of our regular price range, but walking the area inspired us to consider neighborhoods like this for a future renovation or rental property.
- Whether a future purchase becomes a long-term rental or a vacation rental will depend on the property we find. Locations like this would be tempting for short-term rentals due to their walkability and charm.
We’re Digging
- As mentioned in the episode, Sherry picked up a new trimmer at the same time as some other outdoor gear. Since my old trimmer was discontinued, we tried a newer model with convenient features like a foot pedal that switches from trimming to edging mode — much faster than twisting the pole by hand.
- We also highlighted a vacuum that switches from carpets to hardwoods with a foot control. We like it so much we bought one for our beach house, too.
- We mentioned the movie and books from the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy and shared a quick memory from a book tour where we sat near the author. Those were fun moments that tie into our list of recommendations and favorite reads.
If you’re trying to find something we discussed in a past episode, check our master list of topics and recommendations from earlier shows. You’ll also find a curated list of books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.
Finally, a note of thanks to our sponsor for this episode. Use the promotional code mentioned in the show for a special offer on their mattress if you’re interested. They provide free shipping and a generous trial period.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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