What is there to do when the final touches are put onto a home, when that last coat of paint has dried and the carefully chosen decor sits in its rightful place? For Ericka and Wes Birkett of Salmon Arm, that next step is simple: sell it, and start the whole process over from scratch.
The Birkett鈥檚 have turned their passion for home renovation into a lucrative hobby, fixing up four run-of-the-mill houses in just two years with intensive renovations and improvements. Their finished products have caught the attention of home buyers in the area and, somehow, they balance this all between work and keeping up with the schedules of four busy children.
鈥淚t just started out as a hobby,鈥� Wes says. 鈥淚 mean I鈥檝e always enjoyed finding houses where the structure is good and it just needs a little bit of TLC to make it look nice again. And then you just step back and say 鈥榳ow, look what we鈥檝e done, what we鈥檝e accomplished.鈥欌��
They never intended to sell their first renovated house. The home improvements were something to add a personal touch to the place they were calling home. However, after noticing an up-swing in the real estate market, they felt the time was right to sell and put the profits towards a productive goal.
鈥淭he first one was kind of accidental,鈥� Ericka notes with a laugh. 鈥淚t was a foreclosure and we bought it, we did a few things to it, we did the roof and we did the landscaping and some flooring, paint, just cosmetic stuff. And then the market went way up and we were like 鈥榳ow our house is worth this much!鈥� And then we decided to do it again. This is the fourth one in just over two years that we鈥檒l be selling.鈥�
This process, buying a house, putting it through substantial renovations and then selling, is known as home flipping. While it may sound like a straight-forward process it doesn鈥檛 come without its challenges, especially for a family of six.
鈥淲e really only have weekends to do this, that鈥檚 it,鈥� Wes says. 鈥淏ecause we both work and the kids have activities. We just have to commit, say we鈥檙e going to do something this weekend and do it.鈥�
Along with the time constraints amidst their busy schedules, they quickly found that completing substantial renovations on-time and on-budget is not as easy in practice as it is on paper.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like it is on TV!鈥� Ericka exclaims, 鈥淲here they go in and buy a house for next to nothing and fix it up for next to nothing.鈥�
One thing that has constantly kept the Birkett鈥檚 on their toes is the fact they live in these houses while renovating and preparing to sell, meaning a constant string of packing, moving, rearranging and living in the midst of a construction zone.
鈥淟ast November to Christmas the kitchen table and all of the cabinets were in the living room, I had my stove and my fridge in the living room. It was a challenge, sometimes it鈥檚 definitely tricky,鈥� Ericka says.
However, she notes that living in these homes gives them perspective on what renovations hit the mark for family living.
It definitely helps us make it functional. Like we know what works and what doesn鈥檛 because we are living in it,鈥� she says.
It can also lead to some impromptu construction work that lets the whole family get in on the fun, such as when their eldest son, Lucas, helped them make up their mind about whether or not to demolish a wall.
鈥淟ike when we took down the wall in the kitchen. Wes was at work and my oldest son he wanted to hammer something, so we let him hammer away, and then we鈥檙e like鈥� I guess that wall is coming down, that鈥檚 that,鈥� Ericka says.
Another inevitability of the home-flipping process is the constant relocation to different homes. While some may get quickly frustrated with the repeated moves, it actually seems to be something the Birkett鈥檚 enjoy. Especially their children, who like the fact they get to constantly re-design their perfect bedrooms.
鈥淭he kids are on board too,鈥� Wes says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e actually excited, they say 鈥榠n my next room I鈥檓 going to do this, my next room is going to be blue鈥� or stuff like that.鈥�
Ericka admits that, while she has no problem leaving the home itself, it鈥檚 harder to leave the people they meet along the way.
鈥淚 read a quote once that said home is a feeling not a place, it鈥檚 where you go not where you live,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut sometimes I have a harder time leaving the neighbors, and the kids always make friends around our new houses, I have a hard time with that, we鈥檝e always had super good neighbors.鈥�
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-For some before-and-after photos of the Birkett鈥檚 renovations, check out the story on www.saobserver.net.
