INTERIORS AND ARTICLE BY STEVE MARRAFFINO, MARRACAR DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY BY CATHERINE NGUYEN
WHAT I LEARNED FROM PURCHASING A FIXER-UPPER DURING A PANDEMIC The Pandemic taught us many things: How to cut our hair by watching YouTube videos, how to conserve toilet paper, contactless grocery shopping, the joy of baking, and how to be more neighborly. One lesson my partner and I learned was how to successfully purchase and renovate a fixer-upper house from 3,000 miles away. Having our own interior design firm, we shifted our business model during the uncertainty of the pandemic. While adhering to the current CDC guidelines and protocols, we limited physical interaction with clients by incorporating virtual design presentations, teleconferencing, contactless sample drop-offs, and scheduling personal masked appointments to visit local showrooms. These newly applied tools and learned skills were valuable in undertaking this challenging remote fixer-upper renovation. However, as with anything new, there was a learning curve. We are sharing our experiences and the lessons learned with you, dear reader, because you can do it too! We’ve learned through this experience that when you know absolutely no one in a particular location, you need to rely heavily on referrals to make the purchase and renovation possible. We asked a cousin who lived in Raleigh for recommendations on finding a Realtor. After we studied the recommended Realtor’s website and read past client reviews, we made the call. Alex Lawrence (AKA Big Al), called us back shortly thereafter. With his enthusiasm, jovial demeanor, and extensive knowledge of the Raleigh housing market, we knew we had found the right person. 24
As we were considering which home to buy, we depended on video walk-throughs that Alex created for us. After meticulously analyzing MLS photos we came across a home that looked promising. Our fantastic Realtor once again worked his magic with his smartphone so that we could virtually “see” almost everything inside and around the property. It was enough to encourage us to move forward with an offer and eventually an accepted purchase agreement. We then flew from California to Raleigh, signed all of our closing documents and were handed the keys to our newly purchased home. When we opened the forest green double front doors and entered our new property for the very first time, we were met with the strong stench of cigarette smoke. We’re talking Nugget Casino, Reno Nevada circa 1970 type of cigarette smell. We remember asking our Realtor during one of our virtual showings what the house smelled like. He simply replied, “Like your grandma’s house.” And, while I understand that to mean a mixture of mothballs and oatmeal cookies, I neglected to remember that my own grandmother did in fact smoke cigarettes inside her California home. So, in all fairness – our Realtor wasn’t wrong. The existing wallpaper which we thought was a beige chintz was actually a white chintz stained from decades of cigarette smoke. The buttercream doors, trim, casing, baseboards and molding were actually a gloss white that was discolored yellow from 50 years of tar build up! One important lesson we learned from this experience is that when you are house hunting “virtually” you are eliminating two vital and, arguably, most important senses: smell & touch.
www. NewHomesAn dIdeas . c o m
