Probably as much as anything, this here defines me as a person: this is a snapshot of my Google Drive set up for tracking the fliphouse project.
2. Ah the before photos. This is a great big train wreck–not because I haven't taken photos or because I don't organize them (because I definitely organize them.)
The train wreck is the house itself. I knew this going in. I love the space, regardless of the current state of things. When I look at the sun streaming in the windows in the front bedroom I feel peaceful and happy. (Yes–I am going to sell it... don't even go there.) I've digressed a bit. I have these photos for a couple of reasons: one is that when we do sell it, the person who buys it will only see a beautiful, finished house–they will never know (really know) how much work went into making the house perfect.
When the smoke clears (so to speak) I want to know, to remember, what we did. I also like it as a possible beginning to a portfolio; if we are going to turn this project into a profession, there may come a time when I'm looking for investors and what every investor wants to know is that you'll get their money (plus some?) back to them. Showing successful projects, with budgets and timelines, makes a great point.
3. Images of business cards from contractors we met with (and got estimates from).
4. Interior design stuff. This is a combo of actual stuff (appliances we purchased), pain colors I'm intending to use, and inspiration photos. I won't be fully furnishing the house, but I will be picking out fixtures, painting walls, etc. And yes, I did buy all new cabinets and appliances for the kitchen.
5. Receipts! For this project we got a Home Depot card so we get all our receipts digitally. I file them in a place where I can easily find them in case I need to return anything and so I can keep an eye on the budget. I'll be honest–I don't even manage my daily finances this well!
6. My budget and timeline document. This is the thing that made our lawyer incredibly happy: it lists all of the estimates we received, the actual cost of those tasks, the estimated timeline for each task, and the actual timeline on completed tasks.
I also have all of the receipts / expenses (including utility bills, cost of getting permits, etc.) entered into a sheet in this document so that I'm actually keeping a running tally of the money spent. Those "little details" (turning on the utilities and whatnot) weren't really things I thought about when I put together my initial budget. I did add a buffer to my numbers for "unknown"–because there is "unknown" in any project–I'm just now learning what those "unknowns" are.
I update the document often, but not every day. I find it important to track the information so that we can learn what worked and what didn't, but I'm not obsessing over anything.
7. The demo task list. This was really handy for keeping everyone on the same page because we had a team of people working on things at different times. This list ensured that we all knew what needed doing (and when) so that everything got done. Here's an important life lesson: communication is the key to everything. Second to that is managing expectations.
8. Other documents. A couple of our contractors submitted digital versions of their estimates, I file them in here.
So, last ime I posted I wrote that you would just have to keep reading if you wanted to know if our project is on track. Before I spill those beans, I'll end with this: now that you've read this post, do you think we're on track?
Here's the breakdown of what's in there:
1. Placeholder folder for photos of the completed project. Why? Because some days I feel like we may never finish this project and when I get depressed or frustrated about it, I look at this folder layout and my inner completionist can't leave it empty... I know we're going to finish the project. I just want it done right now.2. Ah the before photos. This is a great big train wreck–not because I haven't taken photos or because I don't organize them (because I definitely organize them.)
3. Images of business cards from contractors we met with (and got estimates from).
4. Interior design stuff. This is a combo of actual stuff (appliances we purchased), pain colors I'm intending to use, and inspiration photos. I won't be fully furnishing the house, but I will be picking out fixtures, painting walls, etc. And yes, I did buy all new cabinets and appliances for the kitchen.
5. Receipts! For this project we got a Home Depot card so we get all our receipts digitally. I file them in a place where I can easily find them in case I need to return anything and so I can keep an eye on the budget. I'll be honest–I don't even manage my daily finances this well!
6. My budget and timeline document. This is the thing that made our lawyer incredibly happy: it lists all of the estimates we received, the actual cost of those tasks, the estimated timeline for each task, and the actual timeline on completed tasks.
I also have all of the receipts / expenses (including utility bills, cost of getting permits, etc.) entered into a sheet in this document so that I'm actually keeping a running tally of the money spent. Those "little details" (turning on the utilities and whatnot) weren't really things I thought about when I put together my initial budget. I did add a buffer to my numbers for "unknown"–because there is "unknown" in any project–I'm just now learning what those "unknowns" are.
I update the document often, but not every day. I find it important to track the information so that we can learn what worked and what didn't, but I'm not obsessing over anything.
7. The demo task list. This was really handy for keeping everyone on the same page because we had a team of people working on things at different times. This list ensured that we all knew what needed doing (and when) so that everything got done. Here's an important life lesson: communication is the key to everything. Second to that is managing expectations.
8. Other documents. A couple of our contractors submitted digital versions of their estimates, I file them in here.
So, last ime I posted I wrote that you would just have to keep reading if you wanted to know if our project is on track. Before I spill those beans, I'll end with this: now that you've read this post, do you think we're on track?
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