In October 2023, Nick Volkov came across a unique ad for a house and knew he had to show it to his girlfriend, Jenna Phipps, a 28-year-old content creator.
Although the listing only includes photos of the exterior and describes the home as a “demolition,” the 27-year-old program manager told CNBC Make It that what stood out most about the property in Vancouver, England British Columbia, Canada is that it was undervalued, had a water view, and was not a standard modern home.
Phipps says she fell in love with the property and knew they had to go see it immediately, but “when we finally got to see the house (in person), we saw it was much worse.”
“There was a reason they didn’t show pictures of the interior,” she says.
The property in question is a 2,757 square foot single-family home built in 1961. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a swimming pool and 0.30 acres of land.
The house had holes in the roof and high levels of humidity from all the water that had entered over the years.
Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov
The house was so dilapidated that the real estate agent made the couple sign a waiver before entering.
“You can really see that this property hasn’t been maintained at all,” Volkov says. “Once we got in there was a really musky smell with the old furniture and old things.”
They nevertheless managed to find a certain beauty in the space: “The architecture shines through it all. You could see what it used to be,” says Volkov. “Even if it collapsed halfway, it still looked very pretty.”
One of the biggest issues the couple faced immediately was the need to replace the roof. Other issues included completely overgrown landscaping, mold everywhere, and high humidity levels from all the water that had entered the home over the years.
Despite all the flaws, Phipps knew that she and Volkov had found their forever home.
“I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was the architecture of the house, because mid-century modern homes are so rare in the area,” she said. “We ignored how bad the situation was because we knew we could truly transform ourselves. This house has so much potential and we felt very special to be the people seeing this.”
The couple decided to make an offer.
The home was valued at $3.4 million Canadian or $2.5 million US with an asking price of $2.6 million Canadian or $1.9 million US.
Due to the condition of the property, Volkov and Phipps were unable to obtain a traditional mortgage and had to opt for a two-year private loan.
The couple met with the seller and told him they planned to restore the house instead of demolishing it. The seller then accepted his offer of 2.1 million Canadian dollars or 1,525,923 US dollars.
The median listed price of homes in Vancouver, British Columbia, was overall $1,578,540 as of March 2024, according to Houseful, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada.
The couple split the 20% deposit equally.
“People were very shocked at how we were able to get this award, especially in this area,” says Phipps. “We kind of bought the worst thing in a great neighborhood.”
Phipps and Volkov agree that, for them, landing in the neighborhood of their choice means they got a pretty good deal.
Phipps and Volkov plan to do as much of the renovation and restoration of the house themselves.
Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov
The couple plans to use the two years they have to pay off their private loan to fix up the house as much as possible, then refinance and get a traditional mortgage.
When the two men took possession of the house, it had been empty for four years. A family built it in the 1960s, then it was passed down to two siblings, a son and a daughter. The son, an architect, lived in the house for many years, then, upon his death, the house went to his sister, who then sold it to Phipps and Volkov.
Because the seller lived several hours away, she rarely visited him, which explains why the property was in such disrepair, the couple said.
“It was in a state where probably no one should have lived there,” Phipps says. “She would come visit and take stuff, but no one lived there for years.”
The original house was built in 1961 and was abandoned for years before the couple purchased it in 2024.
Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov
After the house was closed, the real work began
The couple closed their doors in January 2024 and immediately began the gutting process. The first step was to install tarps over the entire roof to ensure no water or moisture entered the house.
“It was a very hectic first weekend where we were just trying to keep the house looking good and not let it get worse,” Phipps said.
While cleaning the house, they found original furniture, old photos of what the house looked like before, and a record player connected to speakers throughout the house. Volkov found this discovery rather exciting.
“Imagine having a house back then and you could listen to music everywhere inside with a record player,” he says. “The record player was still there when we bought the house, so that was really cool.”
There was a lot of mold and potentially dangerous areas in the house, which the couple tackled themselves. The two men purchased full gas masks and got to work. It was also a way for them to save money.
After several months of cleaning up, the two men asked for help from their parents to get him back to the stallions. Now the couple are working with an engineer to install a new roof before winter begins this year and have been busy cleaning up the house’s grounds.
“The property was very overgrown and unfortunately a lot of the greenery will have to be removed,” says Phipps.
The couple plans to retain as much of the home’s original design as possible. They are still in the process of obtaining the permits they need to start construction.
Volkov and Phipps plan to maintain the mid-century modern look for the exterior with modern appliances and features throughout the home on the interior.
The yard of the abandoned property was completely overgrown.
Jenna Phipps and Nick Volkov
To date, the couple estimates they have invested $10,000 CAD and hope to keep the entire renovation under $300,000 CAD.
“For the next two years, we will devote everything we have to the house and live a frugal life,” says Phipps.
They plan to do much of the work themselves and will split the costs, with Volkov repaying the private loan and Phipps paying all renovation expenses.
“We decided to do this to maintain flow and help reduce costs,” says Volkov. “What’s really fun is that you can watch every step of the construction.”
USD conversions were made on April 19, 2024, using OANDA conversion rates of 1 CAD to 0.73 USD. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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