Moving Day! Moving from a split level house hack to an owner built raised bungalow

Yesterday was moving day! For the last 3 years we did a house hack of a split level in Ingleside, Ontario. We lived in it while fixing it up in order to gain some sweat equity. We listed this split level house way back in March, thinking that it would take all summer for it to sell. But thanks to our amazing real estate agent, Vicki Vanderveen from EXSELLence Realty, our house sold within 5 days!

That may not seem like that big of a deal, but in our area houses don’t seem to sell too quickly. (And especially in our experience, we are never this lucky!) We ended up with a really great buyer who didn’t have many conditions, and also agreed to a long closing date. Just the fact that I didn’t have to clean the house and pack up all the kids to get out of the house for showings all summer has been a huge perk.

Feelings about moving out of this house hack…

Moving out of this home has been a little bittersweet. We bought this house knowing that we would only live there a few years, since we knew we wanted to build our forever home. It was an outdated house, but we saw a lot of potential and knew we could flip it and make a profit. However, we grew to love the house and the neighborhood. Our kids have made some great friends with the neighbor kids, and the people on the street are kind and trustworthy.

We moved into the house with two little kids, and had two more children while living at this house. In a short time we made a lot of great memories. Maybe it’s the extra stress that has piled on us this summer, or maybe it’s because we were so tired, but it was an emotional day.  There’s so much second guessing about whether we are doing the right thing for our family, but at a certain point we need to trust that we are making the right decision and doing what’s best for our family.

Owner built raised bungalow

The new house is not ready yet to move in, so we will be living at my in-laws for a week while they are on vacation, then we will be living in trailers on the land. Sounds like fun, right?

Move out house tour

As a little wrap-up for our third house, here are some final pictures of the empty house with links to the before and after pictures.

The basement bathroom didn’t need much work other than some new paint and accessories.

We also didn’t do anything to the basement family room. Our family spent a lot of time down here watching tv, and having movie nights, and playing video games with the kids.

We used the basement spare room as our guest room when we had family from out of town visit. This was one of the first rooms I painted, shortly after we had our third child.

I spent a lot of time in the second bedroom taking care of my babies. There were many hours spent in my rocking chair in the middle of the night. We moved in when our second child was a year old, then had two more babies that lived in this room over the next two and a half years.

And the bigger kids room. By the time we moved out the three oldest kids were sharing this room. It was tight with all of them in there, but we had the bedtime routine down to a science!

I tried out some wall stripes with Frog Tape in the master bedroom. I was eight months pregnant at the time, so I don’t remember it being as much fun as I had hoped. The floors turned out beautifully though!

Not the greatest picture, but I loved our living room and dining room. We took down a small wall between the two rooms. Then we replaced all the dated oak flooring with some new dark hardwood. Tony also added a light to the centre of the room. When we moved in this area was so dark, but now it feels bright and welcoming.

The kitchen renovation was such a big project (it took about two months from start to finish) but it was totally worth it. Tony spent a lot of hours spraying the cabinets until they were perfect.

Then there were the stairs. It was so messy while we did this. Then we all ended up with strep throat around the same time that we refinished the floors. I remember nagging Tony to put on the next coat of polyurethane, in between his fevered naps. And then I got strep throat and realized it was a little worse than the regular man cold.

The laundry room was sort of my first big renovation that I started on my own. I was on maternity leave and I was a little bored. One day Tony came home from work with the old toilet on the front lawn.

I forgot to take a picture, but there is also the toy room. We spent a lot of time here playing with my kids. Also a lot of time cleaning up after them.

And then there was the backyard and the pool area.  The kids just loved jumping in and out of the pool and playing in the backyard with the neighbor kids. We are going to miss this part of the house.

Moving forward to a new house hack

As much as we will miss this house, we will look back fondly on all the good times we had. There are a lot of great things to look forward to at the next house. As soon as the house is ready, we can move in, set things up, and make new memories with our family! Have you ever tried a house hack? Living in your home while fixing it up and adding some sweat equity?

And here is the full to-do list of everything we completed in this house

I would say we have finished all the major things on our to-do list for our current house!  I love using lists because it keeps me organized and helps me keep track of the goals to accomplish, and it also feels so satisfying to cross something off when it’s completed. Here is a list of everything we did on our house, with links to each blog post in more detail.

Front hall

• Replace and paint closet doors
• Replace front door
• New front door handle
• Paint trim

Play room

• Replace patio door
• Replace laminate floor with hardwood
• Install trim
• Paint trim
• Paint walls
• Update fireplace
• Change light

Laundry room

• Stack washer and dryer
• Paint walls and trim
• Replace vanity
• Replace toilet
• Replace light
• Add some shelves
• Tile backsplash

Basement family room

• Paint touch-ups

Basement spare room

• Patch and paint walls and trim

Basement bathroom

• Patch and paint walls and trim

Stairs

• Add newel post
• Sand, stain and polyurethane stairs
• Sand, stain and polyurethane handrail
• Paint spindles and risers
• Do final coat of paint on spindles and risers
• Add trim below treads

Living room/dining room

• Take down half wall
• Add light to living room
• Replace hardwood flooring
• Paint and install trim
• Paint windows

Kitchen

• Replace lights
• Paint walls
• Paint trim and windows
• Paint cabinets

Master bedroom

• Refinish floors
• Install and paint trim
• Paint walls
• Replace and paint closet doors
• Fix light

First kid room

• Paint walls and trim
• Refinish floors

 

 Second kid room

• Paint walls and trim
• Refinish floors

Upstairs hallway

• Replace light
• Touch up wall paint
• Paint trim
• Replace bedroom doors

Main bathroom

• Nothing!

Exterior

• Paint front door and shutters
• Plant flowers in flower beds (front of house and around pool)
• Stain deck
• Replace chain link fence around pool with wood fence
• Stain fence
• Do stamped concrete around pool
• Fix shed (roof and siding)
• Buy and fix a hot tub