Just returned from second trip to HP, useful tips- do your research prior to going as it is overwhelming if you do not know what you are looking for or manufacturers you are interested in. Boyles, Rose and Furnitureland South have good web sites to see different furniture lines, Drexel and Thomasville each have their own websites with lots of pictures and information. (Those companies have their own stores in the high point area) Major furniture manufacturers have their own websites you can print pictures from and take with you. Jot down dimensions and information, bring a scaled drawing of your room, samples of fabrics and paint colors that are already in your home. The chamber of commerce will send you a booklet with all furniture stores in the HP area and a listing of the manufacturers each carries.In Hickory the furniture mall will send you their own booklet. Most companies and furniture stores are in both areas and it does not really matter where you go, Hickory or HP you will find the same stuff. Then make your plan on which ones you will visit. The stores are huge and take a good few hours to get through each one. They are set up to show each manufacturer in a separate area, so if you are interested in Century or Stanley, you can browse that specific room, jot down the number of the item and then sit down with a salesperson for pricing. They will also help do furniture placement, fabric selection etc. They all price match. I got the lowest price from Rose but did not care for their showrooms or their salesperson and ended up shopping elsewhere but they gave me the same price as Rose as did the others. You cannot bargain hunt or price shop for certain lines(Drexel) but most you can. Each store has their own clearance stores and there you will find great one of a kind pieces with great pricing. Furniture land south has a huge clearance warehouse behind the regular store, Rose has one down the street from the regular store,(not on Main) Wood-armfield(nice showroom in downtown in the mall) has one with Utility craft. As does Kagan's, who has contemporary style, on the Main Street. These will be listed with a map in the Chambers Booklet they send.In Hickory, Hollingate in the mall has discounted samples of Century furniture and good prices. I have done 2 houses this way, found it to be cheaper, better selection and had no problem with delivery etc. You need at least 3 days there to do it right. I spent 4 and still could have used 1 more. any questions I will be happy to answer

No bank will give you a loan to invest in a property that you do not own. You would have no collateral in the building to offer them. You could use an existing property that you own outright as collateral, they might accept that, maybe, but why would you invest your money into something that you could lose? If you were renovating to start a business, that would be different. Retail leases are written differently and a bank may lend you money as a business loan, to rehab a place if you have a good track record of starting and maintaining a profitable business. I've seen a lot of restaurants open this way. Even if you had a signed 99 year lease @ $1/year you still could possibley lose your lease, and hence all the time and money you put into it. I've seen it happen. You also have to consider liability and insurance if you are renovating a place you do not own. What if one of your rehab projects causes structural damage to the building? Or there is a burst water pipe? Or if there is a fire because you left hot wires exposed during demo. Old building often have had many, many alterations to them and there are no blueprints indicating where things are behind the walls. Are you going to be doing all the work yourself or is some of it going to be contracted? What if a worker should get injured on the job? Who would be responsible, you who contracted for the work, or the owner of the building? What if you hurt yourself by falling through a floor or something? Are you going to hold the owners responsible for a rotted wood floor or are you covered for any mishaps that happen? There is a LOT to consider before jumping into this.

I grew up with a kitchen from the early 50's that had white cabinets. 1st house I bought in my first marriage had antique white kitchen cabinets. After that marriage lol, my 1st apt had off white kitchen cabinets. When my current husband and I of 30 years bought our first house, it had oak but so dark almost black you couldn't see the grain. Although that house was built 1950, think the cabinets must have been done early 1970's. We moved in mid 80's. 1990 I striped the cabinets, bought new unfinished doors and stained them a medium oak color. They looked great.. I had vowed I was never going to have white cabinets after living with them so long while growing up. In 1994 had a house built, we chose the new cabinets in medium oak. In 10 years they looked pretty beat up, even after trying to keep them clean and keep up with them. Couldn't afford a whole new kitchen with 16 new cabinets. Started searching houzz and found many where the uppers were a shade of white, and the lowers were stained. I really started to like the look. This also was a way to have a new kitchen at half the price of all new cabinets. So... last Summer, bought a Graco paint sprayer and painted all my upper cabinets antique white, but replaced the doors to be butt doors and 2 cabinets went with frame only and I installed a nice glass and bought all new ORB knobs and handles. We will also be placing LED lights inside the glass cabinets. The whole kitchen looks so much larger than the 16x24 it already is. Being one who loves stained wood, this was a big change for me, even for my husband.when I told him I wanted to paint the uppers white said.. oh no.. don't do that!!.. After showing him the kitchens with painted and stained cabinets, he now loves them too. This year, in fact just over 1 week ago, we ordered lower cabinets from Conestoga Wood Specialties via one of their dealers. 1st part of the order will arrive on Friday. we added 4 new cabinets to the already 16. 2 island cabinets being added on the ends to enlarge the island will be a soft green that I already painted the 2 that are there. 1 corner upper will be antique white like the rest. The rest of the lowers will be Cherry that I will be staining walnut. I do a lot of wood refinishing, so this isn't new to me. 2 years ago, I would have never thought I would ever paint wood cabinets, but so glad I changed my mind. White cabinets in all shades of white have been around probably since the 1800's. If you like white cabinets and it goes in with the style you are going for, they by all means... go for it :) I just have to decide on which Cambria counter to go with.

We've done this on our home, we planned on a a full gut,not necessarily a full "rebuild". Due to the neglect/lack of upkeep on the house, we've hand to fully replace most of the floor joists and about half the exterior walls (for an addition and due to lack of space for insulation). We are on year 3, I'd estimate we still have another 2 to 3 years left without touching the landscaping/hardscapes (kitchen, one bedroom, LR, redoing remainder of siding and roof ) Honestly I don't know if I would do it again. My husband and I are in our 20s and also have access to family friends who have been in the biz for a while. I am consistently prey to underestimating the amount of work involved, just the sheer amount of energy to move all the materials from the building supply store into your home etc. Based on our spending thus far, I'd say your estimates aren't far off, maybe a bit higher if you have more expensive taste in finishes. ill be honest there's times I wish our house had burned down, but for us this was the only way to afford the house we wanted, as we've been paying as we go on materials, since the mortgage was only marginally higher than our apt rent. Id say it definitely can be done, but there are times two sets of hands are necessary. I'd also say budget for if someone professional was going to do the entire job, what if you become sick or injured halfway through?