I agree with MichiganGeorgia too hard to clean!
PROGRESS UPDATE
We are finally getting to the exciting part. All drywall is installed, taped, mudded and there is a light skip trowel texture. Had one of the guys come in today (Saturday) and quickly do final sanding and primer on the kitchen and the main bathroom.
Hot mop tar is coming early Monday morning for the main shower and we need to prep the kitchen for new white oak flooring on Tuesday morning. All of the oak flooring is sitting in the house getting acclimated and we are ready to install in the front entry and the kitchen.
Installed bead board and A LOT of trim around the front entry area. It looks absolutely gorgeous - just as I had hoped it would look (for once something turned out how I envisioned it!!). After three coats of pure white semi gloss, it is going to be stunning when buyers come through the front door - and it really highlights the view from the entry area. We built a little shelf along the windows for setting down your cup of coffee or glass of wine while using the telescope (that will be staged in that area during the sales period). I don’t really have a picture that was doing it justice because the lighting was dark.
Roofer showed up and finished the roofing on the small back room and putting in some vents. I also had him run a gutter on the neighbor’s shed that is 12" away from our back room and then along our side of the room. We have been having moisture issues in the back retaining wall of the room and we are still trying to dry out the walls. I painted two coats of Drylok on the back wall, but we had to chisel out a small portion of it in the bathroom to level it out for installing drywall (in the shower area). It suddenly got very wet and humid in that room where all of the moisture from the wall was seeping through the opened area without the Drylok. So, we are going to try to solve the problem by having a lot of gutters back there so no rainwater gets between the two houses. We will watch it for a couple of days to see if it dries out properly.
All heating system ducting and registers are ready and passed inspection. We have to patch in some wood flooring around the original furnace hole in the living room.
Having second thoughts about painting the entire stucco body of the house white, with white windows, white eaves, white trim… with a dark charcoal roof. I’m not liking it right now. I’m hoping that it won’t look like a giant marshmallow after we get some landscaping in.
BUDGET UPDATE
Still getting uglier by the week !!! I purchased some more high cost items this week like flooring, tile, vanities and bath fixtures. But the future costs don’t seem to be going down much 
SPENT TO DATE: $105,000
ESTIMATE TO COMPLETE: $30,000
So, that is close to 60% over budget. I’m just going to keep using the City permit debacle, cost of payments to all the people involved to get the permit and cost of additional work / rework as my excuse!! Sounds good to me
Large costs coming up include:
Sanding and Refinishing floors
Tile installation
Lighting
Landscape
Wow, you made a huge progress! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer… Mrs. Fed Chairwoman, please keep the rates low!
and now the GOOD NEWS!!
My agent has visited a couple of times in the last two weeks. Now that we have the new windows in she is getting a good idea of how light and bright the house is, and the outstanding views. We discussed a lot of things we could do to the house, but they cost money. I told her that we are getting close and I need a detailed comparable analysis and I need her to come up with the anticipated listing price before I can make decisions on more high-end type finishes.
She ran detailed analysis on five very similar homes, but two of them sold over 3 months ago - the ones we thought would be our comparables to use with a bank appraiser when we first started, before all the delays. But, the good news is there is a house 2 doors down with a dark dingy bottom floor, master bedroom addition upstairs with the views. Same lot size, outdated. Trying to sell for $950,000, has about 600 more sq ft. It’s not selling at that price, but it makes mine look really good. Another house that is about same size, outdated condition, half lot just closed at $899,000 cash this week.
SO THE MAGIC NUMBER SHE GAVE ME IS $899,000 for listing price. I wholly expect to really sell it maybe at $879,000. That is $150,000 more than she gave me as a number when I bought the house.
Wahooooo!!! there might be light at the end of this really long tunnel
And yes… I need the buyer’s interest rates to stay low for another 4 weeks… please please please
I think the rates are safe for a few weeks for now. But if house hunters get a whiff that the rates are going to go higher at some point in not so distant future, it will light a FIRE under their butts! It surely motivated us when we were buying our current home! The good thing is that when you are done, buyers will finally digest their last pieces of leftover holiday goodies, get tired of going to the gym like maniacs, and will hit the househunting trail! In y neck of the woods, Feb-April is the busiest RE market.
Yes, my real estate agent keeps telling me that we are going to come out for sale in the best months of the year. Right now she has no listings (no sellers), but she is representing 6 buyers. These buyers cannot find anything, there is just no inventory for sale of anything decent. So, I am betting on a lot of pent up buyers in the neighborhood because there just isn’t anything for sale that is similar right now.
Fingers crossed!!!
Please, do not go with the fishing net lamp. 
Coralbrook, that’s great news, and I feel vindicated. Didn’t I predict a sale price in that neighborhood? Yay me.
Everything sounds like it’s finally coming together. Can’t wait to see more pictures.
I hope the moisture in the back room isn’t a problem.
Things are starting to come together!! It looks like an actual house instead of a disaster zone. Now, if I could just get to the point of unpacking all the boxes stacked in the living room and get the kitchen cabinets installed I will be happy.
I have loaded some photos of the completed beadboard and trim in the front entry. I really love it. It is just going to be gorgeous with 3 coats of semi gloss paint. Also loaded photos of the main bathroom which is moving along. We will start tile work at the end of this week. Loaded some photos of the kitchen which is ready, painted with primer and we are installing detail tongue/groove white paneling on ceiling (with lots of trim to come!)
Looks great! Can’t wait to see it all prettied up.
Pictures look great, cb. It’s fun to see your vision coming together.
Love the new front door and entryway! What a difference.
Are you even able to THINK of the next job yet?
Funny you ask about next project. A couple of retired contractors from the Point Loma area are thinking of pooling their money to buy some distressed properties and are talking to me about design and project management. But they probably won’t ever really pull the trigger.
My carpenter want abour 4 weeks off to go down to Mexico to visit family so I have to be careful that I dont commit to anything until about May 1.
Meanwhile, a local real estate agent has asked me to do her kitchen remodel on the cheap. I’ve been over to her house and sketched a design and gave her some things to research. It might be a good little project to keep crew busy while i search for next project.
I think doing a little project like the kitchen remodel one you are talking about will help you to recharge you batteries! You don’t need to dive head first into another hoarder house remodel! Unless, of course, the right house just lands into your hands.
I thought you swore you would never do another project where you didn’t own the house, after one of your previous projects (the townhouse?).
Yes… thanks for reminding me I just worry so much about keeping my ‘at will’ employees earning a living. If my lead carpenter had to go find another job I might as well just pack up and retreat to the couch in front of the TV. Can’t do it without him, cannot find good help!
He is a man of patience. His favorite expression to me is “I need to go down to church and pray for patience” while I am driving him crazy with a million questions, hovering over his shoulder questioning what he is doing, making him rip out and change something that just got installed. Just today, after hours of meticulous cutting and placing of the trim for the kitchen ceiling I decided it did not meet the ‘vision’ I had. Made him try all kinds of other thicker trim before we came up with a solution. He’ll be spending another day putting on more trim!
There is no doubt, from what you’ve said through all these projects, that that man is a gem!