[Mark1130]

My wife and I purchased a new 3 bed CYV in Buttonwood last summer.

We are renting it out for the snowbird season only until our move to TV. hopefully next year.

What improvements/ upgrades does anyone suggest that we do to our home?

I have considered a pull down attic stair, more or better shelving in the master closet, and a murphy bed in the 3rd bedroom.

I want to make most or all the major changes before we move in.

[Ohiogirl]

We rented out our CYV for 4 years. You probably should maximize tax write offs as much as you can while it's a rental, but that all depends on your tax situation. You may want to check that out.

If you do your own taxes, and use Turbo Tax, you can make up some figures and do a dummy run while you are doing your taxes for last year, but you will have to buy the Premier version (home business version), I believe. Not sure what the tax situation is if you move down full time before the end of 2012 - check it out with your accountant or do the dummy run on Turbo Tax. We moved down in November of 2011 and should probably have waited until Jan. 1st 2011 tax-wise.

Over the 4 years, we had some landscaping done, added attic stairs, gutters (not everyone feels these are needed here - we do), storm door (wonderful addition, adds light and a cross breeze), furniture, customized closets, added garage storage system, attic stairs, a fan light, lanai shade, golf cart).

Keep all receipts.

[Ohiogirl]

forgot to say that I would wait on the Murphy Bed and see how you are going to use your room in the end. We thought we wanted a sofabed in the 3rd bedroom and are now glad we didn't do that. I've seen a lot of Murphy Beds for sale here. The 3rd BR in a villa is not that big, and you might not have room on the opposite wall for anything usable, which can make it look kind of bare. Hard to move stuff like a desk out of the way when the bed is open.

We use the 3rd bedroom for an office and a music practice room. I thought I would be using it for my sewing room, but turns out I often sew when Ohioboy is practicing and sharing would not work. I sew in the guest room and it works - when we have guests, I don't have time to sew, and with a customized closet and guest dresser I have lots of room for my stuff. Also like the light there. We actually still have empty drawers in the guest dresser, enough for guests and me to fill up a couple more.

We have rethought how we use our space once we actually lived here.

Another thing we did was add window film to cut the glare and heat from the windows. The neighbor's CYV is close and reflects more glare into yours. Didn't notice that much until we were here more often.

[Barefoot]

Birdcage for more outdoor living space.

[jane032657]

We have not moved into ours yet, we bought at the new Haciendas at Mission Hills. This is what we are in the progress of doing.
-closing in lanai and changing it to Florida Room with stackable sliders and also a sliding glass door on the short end. Also filled in extra space on the walls with just pane windows for the view, all low e windows as are sliders. Also ensuring air and heat are added. Bringing lanai floor up so it meets the kitchen and flows when it is a Florida room. Drywalling the stucco in the lanai and putting wood floor down so it matches house
-Taking slider out between kitchen and new Florida room
-Put wood brazilian floors throughout the CYV except where there is tile floor. Took out all the new carpet
-attic steps
-Painting the whole place
-Birdcage with a dog door in the Florida room and a dog door in the bird cage so the dogs can get out anytime they want onto the grassy area
-Finish all windows with trim throughout
-Bought a Michael Phelps Momentum Swimspa which will go under birdcage
-Putting epoxy floor in garage
-Putting coating on driveway and then finishing walkway to the house and fence gate
-Put a finish on the cement on the back yard deck that will be under the birdcage. The cement they put down is gross and is stained when you go to look at the place brand new. You have to finish it or it looks a hundred years old.
-I would also suggest loading up every closet with organizers as there are not too many and also getting storage for garage!
We could have bought a designer house with every option by the time we are through with the CYV but we wanted the yard and loved the view so we got what worked for us, but for the size, it is very expensive to complete it as you want it.

[jebartle]

We love ours, helped our power bill also!

[rabonkmontage@msn.com]

Solar tubes are a nice addition.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by rabonkmontage@msn.com

Solar tubes are a nice addition.

We installled five solar tubes and a new front door with glass. Both installations really helped to brighten up our home. And the front door adds curb appeal.

[Mark1130]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I work for a door and window company and like the idea of solar tubs for both baths. I also have a door glass ready to be installed in the front door that looks awesome.

[redwitch]

My first thought was solar tubes. They're really nice in the kitchen, too.

[getdul981]

I'm not sure how your cabinets are, but we had pull out shelves installed in all the kitchen cabinets and in the storage cabinet in the master bathroom, and we love them.

[lightworker888]

We are thinking of installing one to make the attic cooler for storage purposes. We already have a ceiling fan and vents in the garage door. Also thinking about the sliding or lifting garage door.

LW888

[lovsthosebigdogs]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl

We rented out our CYV for 4 years. You probably should maximize tax write offs as much as you can while it's a rental, but that all depends on your tax situation. You may want to check that out.

If you do your own taxes, and use Turbo Tax, you can make up some figures and do a dummy run while you are doing your taxes for last year, but you will have to buy the Premier version (home business version), I believe. Not sure what the tax situation is if you move down full time before the end of 2012 - check it out with your accountant or do the dummy run on Turbo Tax. We moved down in November of 2011 and should probably have waited until Jan. 1st 2011 tax-wise.

Over the 4 years, we had some landscaping done, added attic stairs, gutters (not everyone feels these are needed here - we do), storm door (wonderful addition, adds light and a cross breeze), furniture, customized closets, added garage storage system, attic stairs, a fan light, lanai shade, golf cart).

Keep all receipts.

Great information. Thanks. I was thinking of doing some of those things also (added garage storage, attic stairs, customized closets) and didn't know that they could be tax deductions when renting. Can you put on a storm door without ruining the front door? Where I live now it can't be done without compromising the front door and I truly miss the cross breeze. Also, it's good to know about the Murphy bed as we had planned on getting one od those also. I keep a 'diary/log' of all the great ideas I read here so that when we are finished renting and ready to move down full time I will have all the info I have read in one place. Your post went right onto that page. Anything else for my CYV that you think we should know? Thanks.

[jmm2760jmm]

How much does a solar tube cost?