This one was a doozy before we even started… and somehow it only got worse from there.

Before demo could begin, we actually had to evict a “tenant” from the backyard playhouse. Turns out the property had been vacant so long that someone decided the kids’ clubhouse was now a primary residence. We left a very official notice on the door – something along the lines of “We know you live here, please leave before we tear your house down.” Within 24 hours, he was gone. Smoothest eviction we’ve ever had.

From there, things escalated quickly. We ended up removing the entire rear addition down to the plate and rebuilding from scratch. During that process, we realized we couldn’t find access to the basement anywhere. For a minute, we thought it didn’t exist… until we brushed some dust off the floor and found a hidden latch.

Honestly, we wish we hadn’t.

Opening it up revealed a whole new set of problems, including a giant rat that had fried itself on an electrical wire and was hanging right at the entrance, perfectly positioned to scare the life out of whoever went down first.

At that point, it was game on. We had to replace all of the floor joists throughout the entire house and essentially start over. The upside? It gave us the opportunity to rework the layout, add a fourth bedroom, and relocate the kitchen.

Between demo and the completely overgrown yard, we hauled out 22 dumpsters of debris. At a certain point, this stopped being a renovation and started feeling like new construction.

Luckily, we had a great agent relationship that paid off, we secured an off-market buyer and never even had to list it.

Of course, there’s always one last curveball. During inspections, we found the main water line was so corroded you couldn’t run more than one faucet without losing pressure. Not a deal killer—but the buyer was a single mom with four kids, and there was no way we were handing that problem off to her.

So, a few days before closing…in freezing temps, with snow on the ground…we replaced the entire line out to the street. Not exactly ideal conditions, but we got it done and still closed a few days later.

All in all, somehow we still made money on this one… which, given everything, feels like a win.