Don't Marry Your Contractor*

Chapter 9 - The Carriage House

Present Day:

One night late in March, Charlotte was watching Sports Center and eating room service in a drab airport hotel in Anchorage. Her phone bonked with a text from her boyfriend. She smiled to herself as she read it. Attached was a photo of an exquisitely remodeled multi-million-dollar Victorian mansion.

//C, Great news, finished the Harrison Blvd house today! Owners very happy. Got a nice bonu$//

//Awesome babe, come on over to my place in the morning. Need to get your professional advice on something. Sounds like you might have some room in your schedule//

//okay sounds good//

//great. But not too early, I don't land in Boise until 2200//

//how about 10?//

//Perfect. ❤ C//

The next morning, Justin arrived at Charlotte's house with coffee, maple croissants and a bowl of sliced melon. Before he could knock on the door, the tall dark-haired girl opened it. Charlotte was wearing old paint-spattered sweats, a bright orange Boise State Broncos sweatshirt and a big smile. She leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on his warm lips. "Come on in J, and thanks for bringing breakfast. I just got up, have not showered or anything yet."

The two of them sat down on the barstools at the back of the large granite island in her new gourmet kitchen. As they were eating, Justin asked. "So, what's up Char? What kind of help do you need?"

She sipped her coffee and pointed out of the back window at the detached garage building. "I want to start renting the carriage house again."

He nodded. "Sounds like a great idea Char, rents in this part of town are way up."

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I heard. Anyway, after living up there for the better part of six months last year, I want to fix the place up before renting it out. Other than a couple of new appliances, I don't think anything has been done to the place since Gramps built it like 30 years ago."

A few minutes later, they finished their coffee and Charlotte removed a set of keys from a drawer by the back door. Justin smiled and removed a notebook and stubby pencil from his jacket pocket. Charlotte then led the way through the bright but cool late winter morning. As she made her way up the steep stairs, Justin paused to stare a moment. Charlotte paused at the top landing and turned around. "What?"

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Oh nothing, but even in those old sweats your butt is an 11 on a 10 scale."

Charlotte rolled her eyes but smiled silently at the very sexist comment and then unlocked the door to the old apartment. She turned on the old overhead fluorescent lights which flickered a bit. "J, you haven't been up here since you helped me move in, right?"

He gave her a wry smile. "Right. Didn't seem proper for a lowly contractor to visit his client's apartment unchaperoned."

Charlotte smiled at the memory. "Oh well, what could have been? But I think that things worked out in the end. Anyway, take a look around and tell me what you think."

Justin put on his professional home inspector hat and carefully walked around the small studio/above garage apartment. It consisted of two single beds, a student desk, small couch, an old tube TV/VCR which was sitting on a cinderblock and board stand. There was a small kitchenette with a two-burner electric range, microwave oven and half-size refrigerator, dishwasher and a small stainless-steel sink. The tiny bathroom consisted of a fiberglass stall shower barely big enough for one full-sized person, a toilet and a small wall-mounted sink. As he was performing his inspection, Justin took several pages of notes in his spiral-bound notebook and took a couple of pictures with his phone. When he was finished, Charlotte asked expectantly. "Well, J, what do you think?"

He raised his brows and gestured to the small and quite worn apartment. "You lived up here for almost six months Char?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, and if you remember I also lived up here for most of my senior year at Boise State. Needed to be closer to Gram when you know..."

Justin reached over and squeezed her warm hand. "Right, I remember."

"You do?"

"Well, my mom and dad were still in the old house and Lena and Mike and the twins were pretty close by in the neighborhood. So yeah, I knew you were here."

Charlotte smiled at the mostly fond memories of that time in her life. "Right then, so back to business. What is your expert opinion Mister award-winning contractor?"

Justin paused before answering. "Well, the place is clean and everything works but, um, it's pretty worn out. You could probably fix a couple of things, put some paint on the walls and rent it as is. You could probably get, I don't know like $750 a month from a student, and most people in that price range wouldn't care, but..." Justin looked around. "...it really is pretty beat up."

Charlotte laughed. "You mean it's a dump?"

Justin nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. I can't believe you lived up here Char."

"Well, compared to tent city in the desert or barracks made out of old shipping containers in Afghanistan, this place seemed like pure luxury!"

Justin nodded knowingly. "I see what you mean. Okay, to get top dollar in rent, we really need to gut this place to the studs, put in modern insulation, new drywall, paint and flooring. We'll also need to completely redo the bathroom and all of the lighting. As a rental, I recommend laminate or vinyl and not carpet. I don't care if you rent to Mother Theresa, renters will trash the carpet every time. Anyway, we can keep the kitchen where it is against that wall, and I'm pretty sure that I can get permits for two architecturally appropriate dormers to make the bedroom area and bathroom a little bigger. We'll have to install a new high-efficiency HVAC system and wi-fi of course."

Charlotte laughed. "Of course, is that all?"

Justin shrugged. "Well, we never know what will find once we open up the walls, but this building is not that old and it appears to be pretty well-built. And let me tell you, your grandfather was really smart to build this when he did. It wasn't but a few years after that that they stopped allowing new above-garage apartments in the North End. That does also mean, that fixed up, this place really will bring top dollar, real estate is all about location you know."

Charlotte walked over and sat down on the full-sized bed and indicated that Justin should sit next to her. "So how much and how much?"

He looked down at his notebook and did a couple of figures in his head. "Should be about $20K for the reno if we do the two dormers, less if we don't, but done right, I'm thinkin' that you could rent this with legal double occupancy for at least $1,500, maybe even a little more."

Charlotte smiled broadly. "Awesome, that's pretty much what I thought. When can you start, and you don't mind working for your new girlfriend, do you? I hear that she can be very demanding."

Justin smiled at the girlfriend word. "I think that we can start right away and I'll do my best to satisfy her needs."

Charlotte stood up and held out her hand. The two of them shook hands formally and instead of leaving, to Justin's surprise, Charlotte slipped out of her old sweats and stood naked before him. "Well, maybe we should send this old place out with a bang."

And they did.