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October 9, 2008

Interiors: Expanding the Space But Not the Debt

Our own Wasder has sent in his notes and photos on what he calls "the great experiment in cutting monthly outlay while increasing living space." If you have a tale-of-the-interior, let us know.

Hey Brownstoners: I spent the first half of this year trying to figure out how to get my growing family more space while at the same time reducing my monthly outlay. My family and I have been living in a two-bedroom coop on Clinton Ave and wanted to stay in the neighborhood, but we had clearly outgrown our apartment and houses in Clinton Hill are quite expensive as you have seen documented here. Anyway, after reading (but not posting) on Brownstoner for many months I joined the conversation. To my surprise, there were many people like myself who were similarly trying to expand their living space without putting themselves in the poor house. So this is my story of how I made it work for me and my family.

We found a home that didn't show well on account of the slovenly living habits of the previous tenants (it is truly amazing how staging and the "curb appeal" of a house can have a positive or negative effect on sale price). This house languished on the market for some time, having several price chops and not much action between when we first saw it in early spring and when we came back around to it in late summer. So we were able to get a really good deal on the house itself, which despite its dirty condition actually was in pretty good mechanical shape and had a bunch of nice details that were salvageable.

As a way to reduce my daily commute and to have the greatest amount of control over the house I decided to relocate my film production company into the parlor level of the house and pay myself the rent that I had been paying in the city (the house had formerly been a double-duplex set up). We chose to live on the upper two floors with garden access through the parlor, where we are building a deck and stairs to the yard. So then we were left with the garden floor, which we decided to open up into a really nice open plan one bedroom with shared garden (rather than the rabbit warren it had been). Most of the renovations we did therefore were opening up space, getting rid of hastily constructed interior walls and letting the house be its charming self, rather than the brutally subdivided cluster it had become.

We are moving in in about two weeks. Once we are set up I will post some more photos and a blog about the experience of living and working in my own home. My wife is a master at getting the most out of space from an aesthetic sense and so I am sure there will be some really interesting decorative details to show. But I wanted to share this positive story now as a reminder that if one is flexible, clever and cautious, one can still get a space that is large and livable for a price (with rental income) that is highly manageable on a monthly basis. The upshot for me is that I am now going to be living in a three-bedroom, two bath duplex with a garden for approx 750-1000 dollars less per month than what we were paying for our two bedroom coop.


The parlor will be my office

Back parlor will be my edit suite (the window in the photo is being opened up into a door to a newly built deck)

master bedroom in owner's duplex

nice top story detail

Living/dining/kitchen area in owner's duplex (we opened all of this up)

Living room (we are creating a guest room on left side of room




Posted by lisa at 11:11 AM | Comments (27)
Categories: Clinton Hill, Interiors

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Comments

Wow, cool. Thanks Lisa and Mr B. As soon as I actually move in this will be an "interiors" story more. I will send photos of the house occupied in a couple of weeks. The main point of this diary was to say that if you are careful in selecting a two family or three family house (careful in re price/location) you can still get a great house at a manageable monthly outlay. Obviously I have a great advantage in being able to work from home but even if I didn't I would still have two floors of a really nice house to rent out which would account for more than half of my mortgage.

Anyway, as I have agonized over the faltering economy and drops in home prices the one constant is that every time I walk into this house a really great warm feeling comes over me and I know I made the right call for me and my family.

Thoughts?

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 11:24 AM

Congrats, wasder, it's looking great. Cant wait to see more photos.

Posted by: plgdude at October 9, 2008 11:27 AM

Congratulations, your house looks lovely and it really is wonderful to have enough space to work at home. You and your family will benefit tremendously from increased accessibility.

I would caution you about having the ground floor apt w/o a defined bedroom. Our friends that have an open layout with their garden floor rentals have come to regret it. There are many, many people in the neighborhood renting their ground floors, try to see what they have done to give you ideas on how to work with the space.

Thanks for sharing with us.


Posted by: Schultz at October 9, 2008 11:28 AM

Hey Pigdude. Thanks. More photos coming for sure once the house is finished and we move in. Then it will be more "interiors" based, cause luckily for me, my wife is really great at interior design (though not a professional in the field).

Schultz--there is a defined bedroom in the garden apt. Your caution is very appropriate though. Everybody wants some defined private space. In the case of this apt, the previous owners had divvied the ground floor up into two bedrooms, one of which had no windows and was super grim. We opened that room up to the kitchen to make a big open living space. We also improved the floorspace and flow of the single bedroom so its a very attractive and functional one bedroom floor through.

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 11:35 AM

Wasder, I think you have a very sensible and positive attitude, and all will be well. As someone who also works mostly from home, I envy you being able to devote an entire floor to your job. It enables you to go to work, and then leave and go home, even if that's just upstairs. That can make a world of difference.

I like the spaciousness of your home, and I'm sure it's going to look great. Thanks for sharing, and look forward to more.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at October 9, 2008 11:45 AM

wasder, i like your space. it reminds me of our place, which is starting to feel more and more like home every day. i also am extremely jealous that you work from home (and are doing well enough to occupy an entire floor!) as this makes not only for a more intimate home for you but also decreases the burdens of being a landlord. best of luck!

Posted by: i disagree at October 9, 2008 11:52 AM

Hey Montrose: Thanks. I had tagged the photos with captions but they came up in the entry separated from the photos. The parlor level is going to be my office and yes it is awesome to have a separate floor to be away from my domestic space for work. My business will pay me rent for the floor. I could have not charged myself rent and taken the tax write off but decided that I wanted the upfront money at least for the first year to make the nut easier at the start. Might change that next year. I love the fact that I will be saving the 8 or so hours that I spend on the train every week.

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 11:52 AM

I disagree---how long have you lived in your place? I definitely consider myself very lucky to have the ability to establish my office on the parlor. As I was already paying rent in the city it doesn't change the overhead for my business but it goes to my mortgage rather than to a landlord in the city. Thanks for the nice words.

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 11:57 AM

Congratulations. I am so glad that you referenced the emotional value of owning your own space. In these finacial times the emphasis is on yield, market value, loss of equity, etc, all extremely important, I know, but I think that in the crush of the numbers we miss why having a house is such a valued assest.

A home should provide security, comfort, a sense of accomplishment. It is not the monetary value of the house that gives you the warm feeling (well maybe for some).

I wish all good things for you and your family.

Posted by: bedstuy11216 at October 9, 2008 11:58 AM

11216--nicely said. The sense of security is a big part of it for me too. just nice to have a home base. Love your attitude and hope to see you at the party on the 16th?

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 12:01 PM

Going to the gym right now. back in an hour. Will catch up with everyone then....

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 12:02 PM

Looks great. Clean and simple. I like that you didn't overwork the space with overly personal finishes. I think that's where a lot of people make mistakes. You've given the tenant a blank slate rather like a gallery space where they can fill it with their own objects in order to make it their own rather than you defining what their aesthetic should be.

Isn't it nice to come through the doors knowing it's yours? From personal experience I can tell you that every time me and the hubby uttered phrases like, "Our Backyard" "Our basement" "I'm on the TOP Floor" or my favorite "I'm in the THIRD bedroom" without getting stupid giddy. Sometimes we still look around and have to pinch ourselves.

Enjoy it Wasder. Enjoy every goofy giddy moment of it.

In one of the pictures it looks as though some of the stair steps have slipped out of the riser. Am I seeing this correctly? I ask because we have this problem and are beginning to look at ways to address it.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at October 9, 2008 12:02 PM

we've owned since 2007 but just moved in late spring. our place needed "a bit" of work first!

Posted by: i disagree at October 9, 2008 12:06 PM

wasder, thanks for sharing the photos and your own personal story. What a great thing to do for you and your family. I'm confident all of you will be very happy in your wonderful new home.

Mr.B and lisa, thanks to you both for posting this. I would love to see a follow-up down the road (as well as an update on daveinbedstuy's new store).

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 9, 2008 12:08 PM

Wasder this place has great bones. I'm sure it's going to look great when you're done.
Is your place in Bed Stuy? If so, great to have a production studio in the neighborhood.
Welcome!

Posted by: 7andfive at October 9, 2008 12:08 PM

It's looking really nice! I'm incredibly jealous, both of being able to work from home fulltime (tho at least I get to do so a couple days per week) and of owning your own place. The fact that you're able to have the biz pay your mortgage AND deduct it is truly awesome.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at October 9, 2008 12:41 PM

Thanks for sharing this! It sounds like you have a very sensible approach to ownership.

Posted by: lechacal at October 9, 2008 12:46 PM

Congratulations. Thanks so much for posting this. I look forward to reading more.

Also, my boyfriend and I are in a similar situation: Looking for a two-family to buy so he can run his book business out of the basement.

Posted by: mopar at October 9, 2008 12:49 PM

Cool wasder, so great! Wishing the best for you guys!

I love/adore/covet the sky light, does that have a little attic or storage space up there? It looks like some of the flooring might be original, no? Or did you have to replace some of it? Either way, they look really nice. Looking forward to the next installments.


Posted by: cobblehiller at October 9, 2008 12:53 PM

It's so nice to hear a positive home ownership story during these times. Wasder, you done good. Congrat's, I wish you many happy times in your new home.
Please share more photos. Do you have any before pics?

I love your parlor floor windows. Be careful though, don't stand near them when you're naked.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at October 9, 2008 1:04 PM

Congratulations. I work at home too and have a separate floor for my business. Like Montorse said, you can really leave work behind if you need to. And you don't have to be as neat! And I can wear my shorts to work and go home for lunch! That save money too.

Posted by: Susan Elkins at October 9, 2008 1:07 PM

I guess it is unremarkable that brownstones are very similar but I will remark anyway that your house looks very similar to ours. We've had ours in CH for about 4 years and I've never loved living anywhere as much. So great for a family, and to have a back yard again after living in an apartment.

I have worked on it every weekend. I know that this might seem like a never-ending nightmare to many, but I get so much enjoyment out of it. Particularly out of restoring parts of it that have not been touched in 100 years.

Wasder; Do you do any of the work yourself?


Posted by: Aussie at October 9, 2008 1:25 PM

Man, you go off to the gym and there is a lot to answer when you get back!

Townhouse Lady--haven't moved in yet so haven't had the "I'm in the third bedroom" moment yet but will soon. The stairs are definitely leaning a bit as you can see in the photo. Don't know how or when we are going to address this but once we are in and can get a better sense of what needs work will look into it. They still feel pretty sturdy but who knows...

I disagree--you guys must have done alot. This house needed more aesthetic help than structural luckily so our renovation window is a lot smaller.

Biff--thanks (as always) for being supportive.

7and5--its in Clinton Hill but not far from the border of Bed Stuy. We looked a bunch in Bed Stuy before finding this place so I am pretty familiar with the various precincts in your neighborhood. Thanks for the nice words.

cwbuechler--can't pay rent and deduct it tax wise. Its an either or situation--take the rental income or take the write off. I have chosen the first option at least for the first year to see how it works financially.

Lechacal--thanks. How's spousal approval going for the 16th?

Mopar--hopefully this has been at least a little inspiring as to the feasibility of doing this. Good luck.

cobblehiller--it is just a skylight, no storage above. Its a cool little detail though and brings alot of light into the interior of the top floor. There are actually two skylights up there but I love the little round one. I don't think much of the flooring is original except for the floor in the parlor entry. Most of it seems to have been put down in the last decade.

bayridge girl--if I stood next to the parlor windows naked it would mean being in the middle of my professional space naked and I don't think my co-workers would appreciate this!

Susan--its going to be great just padding downstairs for my commute!

Aussie--I have been in Clinton Hill for 7 years now and I love love love it. But yes, getting out of our co-op and into a house with a yard is going to be a definite live changer for the better. In re the work, I am not doing any of the initial work myself--while I am handy enough I am by no means proficient with power tools! I hope to be able to do future maintenance/upkeep projects on my own though. Our contractor, who I will recommend heartily when this is all done, is amazing.

Thanks everybody for the nice words. Hope to meet some of you on the 16th!

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 1:57 PM

Wasder - I love the curvy staircase. I think they have so much more character than the straight staircases. I love my home also, eventhough my staircase is straight. It took me a few years to feel the love. There was so much stress with the renovation process that I wanted to love it but was hating living through the process. Now that it is 65% done, I look around and go - I can't believe this is MY house! not my parents house but my own. It's a wonderful feeling of pride, accomplishment and overall joy. I still have work to do but I love talking about the process and planning now that I am near the end. I hope to put my home on tour one year....

Posted by: bkny at October 9, 2008 2:06 PM

bkny, it's so nice, as bayridgegirl said before, to hear people talking so proudly about their homes. Congratulations and good luck in having it included in a future tour.

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 9, 2008 2:14 PM

Hey Wasder thanks for sharing. looks great. Can you share roundabout your renovation costs and what work was involved?

Posted by: couldashouldawoulda at October 9, 2008 9:44 PM

Coulda--The work is/was: some carpentry (added a few walls and changed some aspects of the configuration of the living space, added some closets and a built in desk), some demolition, the building of a deck off the parlor with stairs to the yard, buffing and refinishing all the floors, painting the whole house. We were aiming to spend around 40G. Will let you know if we come anywhere close to achieving this. Not replacing any fixtures in kitchens or baths. These will come later as they are currently quite livable and this is not the time to try to sink all that money.

Posted by: wasder at October 9, 2008 10:02 PM

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