Feeling sorry for THINGS

Before my husband moved to California for law school he was living in Portland, Oregon. He owned his very first house there and remodeled much of it while living in it. Up until a couple of months ago he had the house rented. When the renters moved out it became apparent that the house was in desperate need of TLC. For starters it is a very modern house with a flat roof (See picture of Rummer homes). A flat roof in Oregon where it rains much of the winter. The roof has been leaking for years. In addition, the heating metal ductwork was on top of the roof and that was leaking. Also, the same renters had been in the house for three years and had not taken the best care of things on the inside.

So my husband and I were faced with a choice. We could either try and patch the problems to make the house ready for sale or we could truly fix the problems and keep the house long term. Financially, the most fiscally responsible decision would have been to patch and sell. However, we felt sorry for the house and knew if we patched it then the house would never be quite right.

We made the decision to fix the house the right way. This has led us to a complete remodel and has left both of us wondering how we could feel sorry for a THING, such as a house. The architect we hired says we have lots of scope creep. Meaning we have went from fixing just the roof and HVAC, to fixing every imaginable problem with the house.

According to my personality profile I am a feeler, so I guess it should come as no surprise that I would feel sorry for the house. However, my husband is a thinking type and is usually totally rational in his decision making. In this instance though he seems to have a strong emotional attachment to the house. One of the contractors we met with told me that an emotional attachment means the project will cost an additional 30%.

It will be interesting to see how the house turns out when we are finally done with the remodel. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Portland over the past few months, it has taken a while for the new roof to be framed. I think we are about two months away from completion now. After we finish the remodel we are going to try and rent it as a seasonal rental over the internet. Hopefully other people can appreciate the house we felt sorry for as well!

Kari Ann Hong, DDS
1000 Newbury Road, Suite 190
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
www.dentist4smiles.com