Romantic Renovations

by Blake Allwood

  I expected to see a judgmental reaction to all this, but Les didn’t seem to have one. Interesting and shocking at the same time, I thought.

  Les walked around the perimeter poking the wooden beams, flashing a pen flashlight into the dark spaces in the corners, kicking the supports, and so on. After about thirty minutes of searching he said, “The foundation is in excellent shape. The wiring appears to have been updated in the mid-80s so it’s not horrible. If the rest of the house is like this, it’s got potential. Do you know if there were any leaks around the place?”

  I shrugged. “Seriously, I don’t have a clue. You’d just have to wander through and have a look. There are rooms in this house that I doubt have been opened in twenty years.”

  “Well, lead the way. Let’s see what the damage is.”

  We walked through the house and to my surprise, there was little water damage. The only evidence there had been a leak was under the third floor bathroom and when we went up to check it out, it was clear my grandpa had drained it and disconnected the plumbing to prevent any future damage.

  We walked around the exterior and although the roof was too high to get up on, Les said it looked decent from down here. We could have an inspector get up on top to verify it though.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  “To be honest, I’d love to strip a house down to the studs and start from the beginning to show you the process from start to finish. It’d be great television, but it’d also serve the purpose of forcing us to work together just to get an idea of how well we do that. If we do this though, it’ll take all our time. In fact, you won’t have enough time to do any other projects. Oh, and it’ll cost a fortune. But from where I’m standing, I’d guess when we’re done, the value of the finished product would be worth between two to two and a half million.”

  “Yep, that’s what I heard as well. As land only, the assessor valued the property at half a million. How much do you think it’d cost to renovate it?”

  “Depends on the problems we find once we get into the walls. But to bring it up to value, you’re looking at a significant amount of money.”

  “So, you think if we gut this and rehab her top to bottom, that the profit margin for this project would make it worth it?”

  He nodded and smiled. “Yep, you could triple what we were going to profit on any of the other homes,” he replied. “You up for a challenge?”

  I shrugged, “There’s a lot of emotional baggage wrapped up in this one for me. Besides, all my grandpa’s cash reserves were spent paying inheritance taxes to the state and the federal government. I’m currently cash poor.”

  “How attached are you to the homes you had left on your list to renovate?” he asked.

  I shrugged again. “Well, not massively so. I’m attached to all the houses in one way or another. They are brilliant homes. I wasn’t joking earlier when I told you I think each home deserves to be brought back to her former glory.”

  “So, why don’t you sell enough to get the cash you need, and I’ll talk to my financial advisors to see if I can afford to go in with the same deal you had with Frank. That way, we both have some skin in the game.”

  I thought for a moment and couldn’t help but feel the excitement in the possibility. On one hand, it would get this beast off my back and free it to be returned to its former glory. In another way, it might exorcise a few of my demons around my grandpa and dad.

  “Okay, deal,” I said. “Do you think you can have a decision about the financing soon?”

  “Don’t see why not,” he replied.

  “Then why don’t we have the crew meet us here tomorrow morning and we’ll hash out the details in real time?”

  “Deal,” he smiled and stuck out his hand taking mine.

  Be it sexual attraction, excitement, or down right happiness, an electrical current flowed from that handshake and into me. Today was turning out to be a really good day.

  Les

  I really didn’t need to talk to my financial advisors. I already knew where the money was and had access to it. The problem wasn’t the money. It was that I made a commitment to invest some of it into my family’s business to expand it when I came back. Also, investing into Bennett’s business was a big gamble on my part ‘cause if we lost the money, I wouldn’t be able to invest into my return to civilian life once the network contracts were over.

  I sighed as I drove around the area, seeing that the homes around Bennett’s grandpa’s neighborhood were outstanding but none of them had the acreage that his did. The problem of course, was that we were building this home for the uber elite. It would have to be flawless, with excellent features. If we were in Boston, I wouldn’t hesitate; I’d hire my family to do the work, knowing their commitment to quality would bring this old lady back into style. Seeing the crews working on the other project, I knew without a shadow of a doubt I didn’t have enough eyes to keep them on task in a project this big.

  I got on the phone, realizing it was 4:00 PM in Boston, and my dad would be hot as a hornet being disturbed while he was working.

  “What the hell, Les?” my father answered, and I had to resist the chuckle.

  “Good to hear your voice too, Pop.” I said as sarcastically as I could.

  “Boy, you know not to call me in the middle of the damned day. I’ve got a ton of shit riding on top of my head. What was so important you couldn’t wait until this evening?”

  “I have a huge deal I wanna invest in, but Pop, I don’t know or trust the crews out here. Do you know anyone in Seattle we can rely on? I sort of have to make a decision on this sooner rather than later.”

  My dad was quiet for a moment. “What kind of project?” he asked.

  “Large home, 20s or 30s. Full renovation, belonged to a hoarder, but it appears like the old man kept the basics up. Reno costs could reach up to a million.”

  The old man whistled. “That’s a lotta dough, son. You footing all the costs?”

  “No, the owner of the property is putting up the real estate as well as a third of the costs.”

  “You're still putting down several Gs, though?”

  “Yep, if I do it.”

  “How long are you thinking?”

  “At least eight months. From what I’m seeing, we’ll probably need to take it down to the studs and rebuild her.”

  “Give me an hour and I’ll get back with you.” he said, letting his Boston twang kick in. He only did that when he was interested in something himself. I wouldn’t even expect or hope to get my family involved, but if I could, that would solve a whole hell of a lot of problems. No matter where my pops was, if a building project was in his hands, it’d be done right and when done, it’d sparkle like the Hope Diamond.

  I called the network and asked them to get me comps on the house, eight thousand square feet more or less in the neighborhood the house was in. I also asked them to do some research on the property itself, how big the lot was and all that. I wanted a good idea what all the specs were and what the closest comps were going for. Also, how long it would take at our projected price to sell.

  I texted Emmitt and told him to cancel the pub meeting for tonight. We needed to do the discussion regarding the change from twelve houses in twelve months another time. This was going to have to take priority.

  “On second thought, text me the address of the pub so I can check it out.” I messaged him.

  He sent the address back and as I waited to hear from my father, I drove to the pub and went in. I was pleased to see the location was less than fifteen minutes from the property. It was also real close to what you’d expect to see in the seedier side of Boston, the places where my pops and siblings tended to hang out.

  I called Emmitt and told him the pub was a perfect place for the crew to meet after work. If all worked out like I hoped, we’d use this as our headquarters away from the project.

  I was staying in a nice hotel, about thirty minutes away and knew that wasn’t gonna fly. I wanted to be
as close to the project as possible. If all went to plan, I needed to find a closer place, preferably even on site. I wondered what the rules were for an RV or construction trailer. I called the network back and asked them to check on that for me too.

  By the time I was done checking the neighborhood out, walking through the different commercial shops that lined the drive next to the property, the network had gotten back to me. The value for the property was more than we’d anticipated, and the only other comparable homes that were sold in the last few years had sold in less than a week after being listed. This meant the properties were probably under contract before they were even listed.

  Construction trailers and RVs were off limits unless they were being parked on the property for storage, and even then, the requirements were stringent according to the network’s researcher.

  However, there was a nice bed and breakfast located just a few blocks away that they could rent for me. I didn’t tell them I needed places for more than just me if my family agreed to come out.

  I was still sitting at the pub enjoying my second pint when my pop’s called. “It’s a deal. If we can make it work out, we’re in for the reno.”

  I texted Bennett sending the address of the pub and asked him to meet me here.

  When he sat down, I ordered him a pint without asking what he wanted or liked. If I were gonna put that much money on the table for a project, I wanted the man I was going into business with to drink a pint with me.

  “Here’s the deal: I don’t know Seattle. I don’t know the contractors and because of that I’m afraid of the mess we can get into doing something at this level.”

  Bennett glanced down and I could tell he was trying to hide his disappointment.

  “The men at the other project are green, Bennett. They will take lots of training to get to the level where you can put them on a project with this level of sophistication.”

  He nodded and looked me in the eye. “Seriously, Les. I never planned on renovating that old home. It’s all good.”

  “No, you didn’t let me finish. I want to do the home, but not with these bozos. I called my pops and he said they could probably break away from Boston and help pull this off. It’s a big gamble for all of us. I mean, my family are basically putting their entire business on hold, and they are highly sought after in Boston, but these past few years the property value has increased so much that they aren’t being asked to do the big projects like this property, and that’s what inspires them. So my parents will come out first and set up the process, interview and hire subs and then as projects out east finish up, my siblings will come on out here as they can. What do you think? I know that’s a lot to put on you. My family’s big and overwhelming. They yell at each other, cuss you out just as quick as they hug you, but they’re the best in the business. I can give you a hundred referrals all over the Northeast for you to call.”

  He chuckled. “No need. If you’re confident they won’t mind pulling up stakes and coming to the other side of the country, then who am I to say no?”

  “You’re gonna regret that when they get here but in the end, I promise it’ll be worth it.”

  He downed his pint and ordered us both another. “I need a lot of alcohol if I’m gonna do this. So, I’m guessing you want to announce this tomorrow, right?”

  “Yep, tomorrow morning bright and early. You’ll need to decide how much of your family history you wanna disclose, cause there’s gonna be some judgement when it comes to all that hoarding stuff.”

  “No need. The network has been hounding me to talk about my dad being in prison, my grandpa passing and leaving me the properties. It’s a big part of the story and I’ve kept it under wraps. You said this project was about transformation. Well, I might as well let people see how big of a transformation this really is.”

  I called Emmitt and told him our plans and he twisted our arms to let him see the property before the next morning. We met him there and I could tell from the expression on his face what he thought about the idea.

  “Can you film in here?” I asked.

  “Not easily,” he replied, “but if you wanna do this, I’ll have my film crew walk through and get shots of the house without you all. I don’t see any place to have you stand while we film you, so we’ll have to meet somewhere later to chat.”

  “I tell you what then: I need to be at the other project first thing in the morning to get the crews moving. I’m sure you’ll need to film that as well. By the end of the day, you and Bennett bring some of the guys over and film as much of the chaos as you can. Maybe Bennett, if you’re comfortable, you and Emmitt can meet back at the pub and share with them about your grandpa and the emotions around him being a hoarder. Now that I think about it, Emmitt, why don’t you and Bennett do this alone so it’s more personal? The pub will give it an informal feeling as well.”

  Bennett’s face paled and I put my arm over his shoulders again and said, “It’s okay, just share what you feel comfortable sharing. When the camera’s on, you can just say it’s a hoarder. You don’t have to admit it was your grandpa.”

  Bennett nodded. “It’s gonna be hard, but I don’t like pretense. Reality is better, that way there are no hidden agendas that can sneak out and bite you on the ass.”

  __________

  The next morning, my excitement was palpable. After we got the crews started working, I talked Bennett into meeting me at a little coffee shop around the corner. Emmitt demanded that he be allowed to come with us, which I honestly didn’t mind.

  “I’d like to get a crew inside the house to begin cleaning it out so we can see what we’re dealing with. Are you cool with that?” I asked.

  Bennett’s face took on a shade of green for a moment. After he gulped it down, he replied. “Yeah, but I’ll need to be with them as they do it. I have no idea what kind of personal effects are buried under all that trash. Hell, there’s likely to be money, jewelry, all sorts of other stuff.”

  “Would you feel better if I came and helped you myself?”

  He stared at me for a long moment. “Yeah, I would. I don’t mind having a crew helping, but I want to keep my eye on everyone. Seriously, I know for a fact my grandma had an expensive diamond ring that my father tried to steal multiple times. Well,” he looked into the camera, “my grandpa alleged he tried to steal, but couldn’t find it in all the mess.” He clarified, which I guessed was meant to keep his dad from coming after him. “Maybe we can come up with some sort of plan for the crews to put the crap in piles outside the home while I do a quick search of them.”

  “I’m sure we can ask them to look for specifics like important papers, deeds and such as that.” I added.

  “Okay,” he sighed, “I guess there’s no time like the present.”

  After we were done, and Emmitt turned the camera off, I stood up and pulled my new partner into a hug. “I know this is hard buddy, but you aren’t alone in this, okay? I’m here for you and once my family gets out here, they’ll be here for you as well.”

  Bennett snuggled into the hug and I could almost hear him purr, the soft sounds of comfort coming out of him stirred emotions deep inside me and I was about to pull away when Emmitt came in for the bear hug as well.

  Before I knew it, several other folks who’d been in the coffee shop came over and joined in. We were all laughing once it was over, Emmitt was beginning to grow on me. He seemed to have an innate understanding of comedy and timing. Even in tough moments like the one we’d just been in, he seemed to know how to break the tension. We definitely needed to help him enhance that skill because we all needed to bring some levity into our show if we wanted to keep the ratings up.

  When we all pulled back, I peered over at Bennett and almost blushed from my reaction to his ruffled, joyful expression. I needed to remember this man had a profound impact on me. I was investing my money, his money, and my family’s livelihood in this venture and it was stupid to pee in the bed you sleep in, a saying my mom was notorious for.

&n
bsp; No matter how adorable this man was, or how much I’d like to have him under me, or on top of me or…

  God man, keep it together!

  No matter what, he was my business partner, not my lover. The sooner my pops and mom got here, the better. Nothing like overbearing parents and a few nosey ass siblings to cock block you and keep your mind on the task at hand.

  __________

  As luck would have it, the studio found an agency that specialized in cleaning up hoarding situations. Under the camera’s close eye, they emptied Bennett’s grandpa’s place like champions. They were amazing at separating the chaff from the wheat. When they were done, there were six boxes full of important papers, several valuable pieces of jewelry were found along with about thousand dollars in miscellaneous forms of money.

  The process was an emotional one for Bennett and I could tell the cameras were loving him. His vulnerability and the ongoing underlying sadness seemed to be pervasive throughout the process. When his grandma’s ring was found, the entire crew cheered like they just won a huge tournament.

  They were upbeat and funny, keeping everyone, especially Bennett, in good spirits throughout the process. When they finished, we allowed them to talk with Emmitt about the process of helping hoarders all over King County and how it was important that people not give up or let the fear of being embarrassed overwhelm them.

  My parents showed up just a few days after the house was emptied and the dumpsters had been hauled away.

  “So, I want you two to stay at the hotel with me,” I told them when they crawled into my car at the airport.

  “That works. We need to strategize about the project,” my dad said.

  “When do we meet your partner? Bennett’s his name, right?” my mom asked.

  “We’ll head over to the project now, if you aren’t too tired from your flight?”

  “No, we’re both fine, honey,” she said. It was a good sign they were excited about meeting him.