Monday, May 18, 2009

A great time to renovate!!!!


The New and Improved 5 Lynx! Some of the properties in our rental pool are in their original condition and starting to show signs of aging. Sometimes selling the home isn't the best option. In many cases, we have owners with sentimental attachments who opt to renovate their vacation rental instead of sell. This is one owner's recent experience with doing a major remodel.

5 Lynx Transformation
Written by Mindy and Gary Alton (owner's of 5 Lynx Lane)

My family has made some great memories while staying at 5 Lynx over the last 10 years, so when the opportunity to buy the house became an option in the summer of 2008 we were excited and jumped at the opportunity! 5 Lynx was built in the early 1970's and her age was starting to show. The house had a great foundation, but there were a few cosmetic things that were holding it back and keeping it stuck in the 1970's, the interior lighting coupled with the dark woodwork paneling being the biggest issue. We knew with a few small changes that we could bring 5 Lynx into the 21st century! We bought the house both for personal use and as a rental property. We knew that if we were to increase our rental potential that we had to do some up-grades, both inside and outside of the house. We chose to start with the homes interior first. We hired a local general contractor to supervise and oversee the many, many projects that needed to be done. The only thing that wasn't updated in the house was the carpet, everything else was updated including the walls and ceiling being retextured, new appliances, new lighting, new granite tile counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, new tile flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms, new windows through out, new doors and new millwork, even the toilets are new!

The projects started in November 2008, over the Thanksgiving holiday we were able to pick and choose paint colors, tile, granite and appliances. When we came back a month later what a Christmas surprise it was to find new appliances, counter tops, tile flooring, the new can lighting and a new wood burning stove surrounded by beautiful new tile. Those things were great, but for us the biggest improvement was removing a pony wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Now there is just one great big space!

The biggest transformations happened between New Year's and Spring Break. Stepping into 5 Lynx for the first time at the end of March was like stepping into a brand new home, as almost everything was new! The walls and ceilings were retextured and all of the cabinets had been painted. There were brand new windows through out the house and the old metal blinds were gone. We spent most of the week buying new furniture, new televisions and hanging draperies and artwork. It's a good thing that 5 Lynx is only a short walk to Sunriver Mall, my daughter and I would take our dog on a walk to the mall and on more than one occasion we carried back a new treasure to decorate our "new" home!

Now you might think that it is time for us to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor and we plan to, but we also plan to tackle the outside of the house and make it just a beautiful as the inside! We had planned on spending around $42,000 on the remodel, but of course once we got into the process it became evident that more needed to be done than we first anticipated like purchasing a new wood-burning stove, replacing the chimney, powder coating fixtures and other odds and ends. While the final project came in higher than expected, we are confident with all of the up-grades that our rental potential has greatly increased. For now we look forward to making many more happy memories at 5 Lynx and sharing our home with our friends and family, we hope our renters enjoy our home-away-from home as much as we do.

- Article written by Mindy and Gary Alton (owner's of 5 Lynx Lane)

If you are interested in discussing ways to upgrade your vacation home, contact Deb Nikita for a personal evaluation and referrals to local, qualified contractors.

Deb Nikita
Bennington Properties, LLC.
Sunriver, Oregon
(800)231-8570
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