Fern Hill Extreme Makeover

Playing Housing "Leapfrog" on Huntington

Where: 28xx Huntington Ave. South, in St. Louis Park's Fern Hill neighborhood

What: whole house renovation

Who: Mike Sward, agent; Edina Realty, broker

When: due back on market late Summer

How much: projected selling price = low $800's

No, you won't recognize this home driving by -- it won't look like this for a few more months, when the new dormers are added.

For now, it's a hive of dumpsters and contractors, who are busy remaking this 1949 Fern Hill Cape Cod.

When it's complete, the home will go from the runt of the block (1,949 FSF; sold price $390k this March) to the "Charles Atlas," complete with all the bells & whistles.

The Contractor's Kids Always Go Barefoot??

Factor #2: Lots of In-Process Projects

The original version of the above quote, of course, is "the cobbler's kids always go barefoot."

The idea is that they're so busy attending to their client's needs that they neglect their own -- or their kids.'

But I've also observed that a lot of the contractors I know live in homes that are, shall we say, less than showcases.

A part of that is that they always seem to have a couple projects in progress, making things look especially disheveled.

But I think another piece of that is that, when you can fix it yourself -- schedule allowing -- what I'll call "deferred maintenance" isn't so scary.

For run-of-the-mill homeowners (like me!), I don't recommend it.