When Amber's mom Sandy helped her invest in a starter home, they relied on trust and teamwork as the foundation for turning a run-down house into a place they're proud to call home.
Amber's Story
"My boyfriend Michael and I decided that we wanted to live together."
Amber: The fact that we are young entrepreneurs living in L.A. made it hard to afford buying or even renting a home, but when my grandmother's estate was closing, my mom decided to invest the money in her family. Rather than invest the money in stocks or let it sit somewhere, she wanted to invest it in real estate and in helping me buy my first home.
"It was a way for me to help Amber get started in her adult life."
Sandy: When I decided to buy the house for Amber, I was focused on the business aspect. But after it was ours, the scary feelings set in. It all hit me at once, all the work we had to do, the fact that it was the first house that Amber was ever going to pay a mortgage on and the fact that Michael was moving in with her. There were a number of different issues going on all at one time.
"We found a little old house owned by some very old people who had probably not taken care of it for 30 years."
Sandy: The house had good bones, it was in a great neighborhood, and we went with it. We decided to strip this house down to its bare, bare bones and then we all contributed to basically rebuilding the whole vibe and atmosphere.
Amber: Within six weeks, my boyfriend, mom and I took a house that was old, dingy, and run down and made it beautiful, fresh and a wonderful place to come home to.
"There were times that the project seemed impossible."
Sandy: I don't think that many people have ever gutted and completely renovated a house. I was looking forward to the renovations, but I was also apprehensive because it was obviously going to take a lot of money and a lot of work. There were times when the project seemed larger than us.
We demolished the kitchen all by ourselves complete with crowbars and sledge hammers. It was very funny because Michael arrived with a screwdriver and was prepared to unscrew all the hinges, one by one. I took away the screwdriver and gave him the crowbar. He got the hang of it.
"I got to see the strong woman I came from."
Amber: My mom seriously planted all these trees and dug holes. It was very inspiring to see the strong woman I came from. It was a tough project, but we had fun together.
The hardest part was trying to figure out all the details - the colors, the tiles, the furniture, how we should design the kitchen. Luckily, my mom has really good taste.
"It's starting to feel like home."
Sandy: When it was all over, we sat on the new brown and gold shag carpet and had a glass of wine. It was time to celebrate. We had taken a neglected home and given it a simple, zen-like feeling. It will certainly evolve over time, but now that we've brought in furniture and put things up on the wall, it's starting to feel like a home - like Amber's home.
