Not much to report lately.

Today I had a garage sale to try to get rid of the rest of the construction junk I've accumulated over the years. One guy took most of it. The rest is pretty much tossable and that's what I'm going to do.

From now on I'm going to apply a JIT (just in time) philosophy. First, I'm going to try not to take on any more of these monster projects. Just smaller ones. And, I am hoping to be disciplined enough to finish one before I start 3 others (hah). And, I'm going to try not to accumulate anything that I "might" use some time in the future which usually means never.

Back to the garage sale. I told one guy that I'd be happy if I made enough to pay for the ad. He told me that the newspaper is pretty useless now. Everybody puts garage sale ads in Craigslist. But the part I didn't know is there is some sort of app that hooks up to Craigslist and shows all of the garage sales on a map. He showed it to me. Pretty cool.

I need to wrap this up properly.

When I started this I was a bit of a mess. I figured the best way to not be a mess was to start fixing things in my life that made me unhappy. My house made me unhappy.

I really thought when I started that I was going to retire and life my life out here. However, about 2/3 of the way through this project I started rethinking things. Maybe decide what I think might make me happy instead of thinking about what makes me unhappy.

The thing I probably enjoy doing more than anything is fishing. I love the ocean. I love the smell of the ocean. Any time I drive to the coast and that smell hits me I feel good. I've always had a thing about the water.

So, I started thinking about maybe having a plan B. I started looking along the Texas coast, possibly to buy a second home. Then, for ****s and giggles I started looking at Florida. Long story short, it seemed that Tampa might be a good place to live. The real estate there is ridiculously cheap. For what I can sell this tiny house, I can get a nice house on the water there.

So, about the time I was ready to start on the bathroom, I'd made my mind up to make the transition and just do what I needed to do to sell it. That's why I did the bathroom the way I did it. It certainly isn't what I wanted if I had stayed here.

Anyways, I landed a job in Tampa and I think this house goes on the market soon.

I want to publicly thank zikzak here. You've been an incredible help throughout this ordeal. I've learned a ton from you. I may hit you up from time to time if I do any work on my next home.

However, I doubt I'm getting another fixer upper.

I'll probably start another blog because I like blogging. Maybe a fishing blog. Or a moving to a new city blog. Or a poker blog (they has a casino!).
I dunno.

Wow, congrats, what a great result! I've enjoyed your blog throughout. Having recently bought a house, I've often thought of your renos, and hope you haven't inspired me to do anything foolish, because what I'd like to do to with it is far beyond my ability. Still, I may just give it a shot before paying someone to do it over once I fail.

Excellent ending to a fine job blogging and building.

What I think you should consider is asking one of the moderators if you can change the name of your Blog and Maybe your first post - so that people can understand that the blog is in two parts.

E.G. Biggerboats blog P1 Build (1-800), Bigger does Tampa Pt 800+

Then add a rider to your first post - Clarifying the changes to a new reader.

I am pretty sure a green or orange (like Mike Haven) would be happy to help out - given your stellar contribution to this sub-forum and forum wide.

Well done and good luck house hunting and fishing - I am sure I am one of many who wish you the best of bright futures and who will happily enjoy following you if you continue to blog.

Gj sir. Bring an extra rod and I'll bring the beers.

GL in Tampa, bb. I've really enjoyed this blog, and I think you should be very proud of your efforts and results with the house. You put a ton of work into it, and it shows.

Like gregorio said, having bought a house a year ago I lived semi-vicarious through you while tackling my own minor home improvement projects. This blog was definitely an inspiration and a guide, of what to do and sometimes what not to do lol.

I hope your hard work is appreciated by the next owner and you get your money back tenfold!

GL

Congrats bb. Nice work. The accomplishment should be very satisfying.

My limited experience in Florida was Tampa was much better weather than Miami. GL.

Great blog and great job on the house, Bigger. I admire your spirit. Good luck in Florida.

Thanks everyone!

Great stuff

Now that you have fixed the place up, does it give you a clearer head about deciding to move? Do you think you would have wondered "what if you had fixed it up" had you have not done this before moving?

You should build your own boat. It would be an awesome blog!

Seriously though, congrats. This has been a great blog and I hope things go well for you in Florida.

really pleased for you mr boat <3

Boondoggle part deaux

I have agreed to terms to purchase a condo in St. Petersburg, Fla.

I have been looking since I got here for various properties. There are a lot of canal homes available but I started to re-think if I really want a home with a yard and all the hassles. So, I started looking at condos.

My real estate agent sent me a ton of listings but one particular one (condo 1) stood out. I looked at it and was immediately floored by the view (in a good way) and floored by the inside (in a bad way). The carpet was ancient and stunk. The bathrooms were beyond dated and there was some mold. The floorplan was a bit funky as well.

So, I told my agent to keep looking and she found another one (condo 2) in the same complex and on the water as well. It was in perfect condition so I put an offer on it. However, I got buyer's remorse almost immediately. Although it was in great condition, the bathrooms were tiny and it is two story. I'm not a fan of stairs. In fact, the whole condo seemed sort of cramped. So, I just wasn't feeling it.

I asked my agent if I could look at condo 1 again. Apparently this unit had originally been a 1/1 and a 2/2 and they tore the middle wall out and made one unit out of it. It is quite large. The upside is there is so much to work with. The downside is there is so much to work on. In fact, since I viewed the first time the owners realized the carpet had to go so there is no floor. Which is fine because it saved me the trouble of tearing it out and it smells so much better now.

So, it looks like I have another remodel in my future. I doubt seriously if I do much of it myself but my inner handyman may take over. I just don't know.

Anyways... I will revive this blog and post updates on the progress. As soon as it is officially mine I'll post before pics.

Here's a taste of why I bought it. I took these pictures from the back porch.

Thanks for the update. I like that view out the back better than the one you had in your last place.

Bigger back to home renovating: The Lone Ranger Rides Again!

I will be there for the journey if you decide to buy.

Jesus that's a view. Also pretty excited about biggerboat ii, just need to figure out the subtitle. The drywall strikes back?

I think it is relevant to note that this new place has 50% more sq. footage than my old house and for the price I got for my old house I can easily pay cash for this place AND do a total remodel.

Seems crazy to me but that's how much different the Austin and St. Pete markets are.

How long do you think it will take?

If I hire someone maybe 6-9 months. If I do it myself................

I'm gonna go ahead and sound racist but the owners of this condo are Indian and, sheesh.

They have nitpicked every single minor detail of the contract. There has been no negotiation of any kind in good faith. They refused to do this electronically. I'm not sure if any of you have done a real estate transaction lately, but about 95% of it can be done online. But these people have insisted that I physically initial and sign every single piece of paper.

I've been tempted to tell them to **** off because they've been such a pain. They have no clue that they would be shooting themselves in the foot if I did. The condo has been on the market for a while and I'm offering cash but they seem oblivious to that. But I really want this particular place so, oh well.

I would walk away saying that this was too hard. I would put back some pressure on them. See where they are at in a fortnight. Really you have time on your side. It is not as if it is a boom sellers market and I get the feeling that you have not been looking long. People look for a year before buying sometimes.

I think playing it cool will work for you. Particularly as a cash buyer.

Well, it's a little more complicated. They had just started doing work on the place. They tore out all the carpet and were going to put in some cheap ugly floors and some other work so they could raise the price. I would never get it for this price and i would end up tearing up everything they did anyway.

They aren't being buttheads just to be buttheads. They just aren't smart enough to realize they would be shooting themselves in the foot if i backed out.

We are talking insignificant amount of money here. It's just annoying.

I think, take the extra hassle into account, but if it's still a good deal do it. Cost of doing business sometimes and it'll be over soon enough.

Just got the inspection report. Lots of little things but no big ticket items. Just about everything he found will get replaced during the remodel so I think all is well.