In October 2023, Nick Volkov got here throughout a novel itemizing for a home and simply knew he needed to present it to his girlfriend, Jenna Phipps, a 28-year-old content material creator.

Although the itemizing included photos of the outside solely and described the home as a “tear-down,” the 27-year-old program supervisor tells CNBC Make It that what stood out essentially the most concerning the property in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was that it was undervalued, had a water view, and wasn’t an ordinary fashionable home.

Phipps says she fell in love with the property and knew they needed to go see it instantly, however “when we finally got to see the house [in person], we saw it was a lot worse.”

“There was a reason they didn’t show photos of the inside,” she says.

The property in query is a 2,757-square-foot single-family house inbuilt 1961. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 loos, a pool, and 0.30 acres of land.

The home had holes within the roof and excessive ranges of moisture all through from all of the water that had are available in through the years.

Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov

The home was so dilapidated that the realtor had the couple signal a waiver earlier than coming into.

“You can really see this property had not been cared for at all,” Volkov says. “Once you got inside, there was a really musky smell with the old furniture and old things there.”

Nonetheless, they had been capable of finding some magnificence within the house: “The architecture showed through all of that. You could see what it was in its former days,” Volkov says. “Even with it half falling apart, it was still really pretty.”

One of the crucial important points the couple encountered instantly was that the roof wanted to get replaced. Different points included utterly overgrown landscaping, mildew all through, and excessive ranges of moisture from all of the water that had come into the home through the years.

Regardless of all the issues, Phipps knew she and Volkov had discovered their ceaselessly house.

“I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was the architecture of the home because mid-century modern homes are so rare for the area,” she stated. “We looked past how bad it was because we knew that we could really transform ourselves. This house has so much potential and we felt very special to be the people to see that.”

The couple determined to make a suggestion.

The home was valued at $3.4 million CAD or $2.5 million USD with an asking worth of $2.6 million CAD or $1.9 million USD.

Due to the property’s situation, Volkov and Phipps couldn’t get a conventional mortgage and needed to go for a non-public two-year mortgage as a substitute.

The couple met with the vendor and shared their plans to revive the house as a substitute of tearing it down. The vendor then agreed to their bid of $2.1 million CAD or $1,525,923 USD.

The median checklist worth of houses in Vancouver, BC, total was $1,578,540 in March 2024, in accordance with Houseful, a subsidiary of the Royal Financial institution of Canada.

The couple cut up the 20% down fee evenly.

“People were very shocked at how we were able to get that price, especially in that area,” Phipps says. “We kind of bought the worst thing in a great neighborhood.”

Phipps and Volkov agree that, for them, touchdown of their desired neighborhood means they bought a fairly whole lot.

Phipps and Volkov are planning on doing as a lot of the renovation and restoration of the home as attainable themselves.

Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov

The couple plans to make use of the 2 years they must repay their non-public mortgage to repair up the home as a lot as attainable after which refinance and get a conventional mortgage.

When the 2 took possession of the house, it had been empty for 4 years. A household constructed it within the Sixties, after which it was handed down to 2 siblings, a son and a daughter. The son, an architect, lived within the house for a few years, after which, when he handed away, the home went to his sister, who then offered it to Phipps and Volkov.

As a result of the vendor lived a number of hours away, she would not often go to, which is why the property was so deteriorated, the couple says.

“It was in a state that probably no one should have lived there,” Phipps says. “She would come to visit and take things out, but no one lived there for years.”

The unique home was inbuilt 1961 and had been deserted for years earlier than the couple purchased it in 2024.

Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov

After closing on the home, the true work started

The couple closed in January 2024 and began the clearing-out course of instantly. Step one was to place tarps all around the roof to make sure no extra water or moisture entered the home.

“It was a very eventful first weekend of just trying to maintain what the house looked liked and not letting it get worse,” Phipps says.

Whereas cleansing out the house, they discovered a number of the unique furnishings, outdated photographs of what the home seemed like earlier than, and a report participant that was hooked as much as audio system all around the home. Volkov discovered that discovery fairly thrilling.

“Imagine having a house back in the day and you could play music everywhere in it from a record player,” he says. “The record player was still there when we bought the house, so that was really cool.”

There was a variety of mildew and doubtlessly hazardous areas in the home, that the couple tackled themselves. The 2 purchased full-face fuel masks and set to work. It was additionally a means for them to save cash.

After a number of months of cleansing, the 2 enlisted their mother and father’ assist to get it right down to the studs. Now, the couple is working with an engineer to get a brand new roof on earlier than winter begins this 12 months and has shifted to clearing out the home’s grounds.

“The property was very overgrown, and unfortunately, a lot of the greenery will have to be taken out,” Phipps says.

The couple plans to maintain as a lot of the home’s unique design as attainable. They’re nonetheless within the technique of getting the permits they should begin development.

Volkov and Phipps plan to maintain the mid-century fashionable feel and look for the outside with fashionable home equipment and options all through the home inside.

The deserted property’s yard was utterly overgrown.

Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov

Up to now, the couple estimates they’ve invested $10,000 CAD and hopes to maintain the complete renovation below $300,000 CAD.

“Over the next two years, we’re putting everything we have into the home and living the frugal lifestyle,” Phipps says.

They plan to do a lot of the work themselves and can cut up the prices, with Volkov paying off the non-public mortgage and Phipps paying for all of the renovation bills.

“We decided to do that to keep the flow going and help keep costs down,” Volkov says. “The really fun part of it all is that you get to witness every stage of the construction.”

Conversions to USD had been finished on April 19, 2024, utilizing OANDA conversion charges of 1 CAD to 0.73 USD. All quantities are rounded to the closest greenback.