In the Summer of 2021 the real estate market in Austin, Texas was hot, hot hot! Buyers were pulling out all the stops just to have their offer glanced at by a seller. Josh, who at the time was my boyfriend, bought a property in Central West Austin in 2016, lived in it for many years, fully renovated it and sold it in September of 2021.
In the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki discusses reinvesting your capital gains and any rental income to continue to grow your assets in order to build wealth. Reinvesting capital gains is commonly known as the 1031 exchange which outlines that one has 180 days (6 months) to reinvest money earned from real estate back into real estate. This is in no way tax or financial advice.
After the sale of his property, Josh was flipped over to the buying side in a highly competitive sellers market. Having a longtime interest in real estate, he asked me to property shop with him. We attended a plethora of open houses and toured more properties than I can honestly count. Multiple over asking offers accompanied by beautifully purpose-driven written letters were rejected except one.
Keeping Austin Weird
After a thorough inspection and a few rounds of tense negotiations, Josh closed on a home in East Travis Heights in December of 2021. The house was built in 1974 and needed major work but it had something that dozens of properties that we toured lacked … this house had soul.
Not just any soul, that old school keep Austin weird kind of soul. This house sits on a .34 acre lot in a quiet pocket between Riverside and Oltorf off I-35 just minutes away from Downtown and South Congress.
Passion Project Goals
Josh asked me to be a part of this project and so I drew up a simple business plan that would also account for compensation for my time. Before I crafted the business plan, I wanted to clearly define goals and an intention for this project.
Austin Community & Culture: To preserve, enhance and contribute to unique and authentic local architecture.
Earth & Sustainability: To slow the tear down of buildings and creatively explore solution-based opportunities within a space. Acting with earth-first mentality, using non-harmful materials, up/recycling materials or donating when possible.
Family Home: To make money to fund our dream forever home.
We had intentions and goals for the home but we couldn’t help but feel that the house needed a name. We organically landed on “Sol House” which is the Spanish translation of sun and light with the same pronunciation as soul. We also felt that incorporating Spanish in the name paid homage to the pre-existing Spanish influence on the East Side.
At the start of 2021, we had Sol House, goals, a business plan and a whole lot of enthusiasm. What we didn’t have was a crystal ball to see market trends or where the project would go from there. This entry is the first of many detailing the journey to fully renovate Sol House in East Austin, Texas.