Written by: Rene
When I started The Host Hacks, I made a promise: I would be fully transparent with you. No perfectly curated renovation stories that only show the pretty finishes, the beautiful before-and-afters, and the easy parts. No pretending that every project goes according to plan while quietly leaving out the chaos behind the scenes.
The last thing I want is for someone to look at my renovation and think, "Why does everyone else make this look so easy when mine feels like an absolute disaster?"
I do, however, have a confession to make.
I wasn't fully transparent about this renovation...
I wasn't fully transparent about this renovation...
During my renovation, there was a period of more than SIX WEEKS when the entire project was at a standstill because of permitting delays. And when I say delays, I don't mean a little extra paperwork or waiting a few days for an inspection. It started when the city put a hold on my renovation, initially stating that the property needed a Historic District Review. There was one small problem: The property is nowhere near a historic district. Once that little misunderstanding was cleared up, I thought we were back on track.
Nope.
What followed was delay after delay. Phone calls. Emails. More phone calls. Even showing up in person, desperately trying to get answers and approval to move forward. For most of that time I heard nothing but silence. Eventually, we were given the green light to continue, but there was one mysterious addition to the permit: a Land Disturbance classification. Which would make perfect sense if we had, you know, disturbed any land. Except we hadn't. Not one single square foot.
Even after the city acknowledged that there had been zero land disturbance, they refused to remove the classification. Unfortunately, that seemingly small detail created additional requirements, scrutiny, and delays throughout the remainder of the renovation. Fun times.
I wanted to share all of this while it was happening. I wanted to talk about the frustration, the uncertainty, and the helplessness of watching weeks go by while a project sat completely untouched. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was genuinely concerned that if I spoke publicly about my experience, someone from the city might see it, take offense, and potentially make an already difficult situation even worse. Was that fear justified? I have no idea; but when you're in the middle of a renovation, with contractors waiting, expenses accumulating, and an entire project dependent on approvals from people you have absolutely no control over, you become very aware of how vulnerable your position is.
Frankly, I wasn't willing to take that risk. I continued sharing the parts of the renovation that I felt comfortable discussing, while keeping this particularly frustrating chapter to myself.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned throughout this process is that you can plan meticulously, research endlessly, hire great people, and do everything you're supposed to do—and things can still go sideways.
Sometimes it's a product that's out of stock. Sometimes it's an unexpected construction expense. Sometimes it's a bureaucratic process that brings your entire project to a screeching halt for reasons that don't seem to make any sense. The hardest thing to do was recognizing that there are limits to what I can control. I can make the phone calls. I can send the emails. I can show up in person. I can advocate for myself and my project. But at some point, I've done everything I can do. Then I have to figure out how to move forward with the circumstances I've been given. Which, as someone who likes to plan, research, and have at least some sense of control over what's happening, is not exactly my favorite life lesson.
Was a being dishonest by not sharing this setback? I've thought about this quite a bit.
I started The Host Hacks because I wanted to share the real experience of renovating, furnishing, and managing midterm rentals. The wins, the mistakes, the unexpected expenses, and all the little things that nobody seems to mention. I still believe in that mission, but this experience taught me something important: Being transparent doesn't mean you have to share everything in real time, especially when doing so could potentially put you or your business at risk. Sometimes you have to wait until you're on the other side of a situation before you can comfortably talk about it. And that's okay. Now that the renovation is complete and the final approvals are behind me, I can finally share this part of the story. I think it's an important part of the bigger picture.
When you see someone's beautifully finished rental, you don't see the weeks of delays, the unexpected bills, the difficult conversations, or the moments when they seriously questioned whether the whole thing was worth it. You just see the finished product. While I'm incredibly proud of how this rental turned out, I don't want the pretty pictures to erase everything that went into getting there. A successful renovation isn't necessarily one where everything goes according to plan. Sometimes it's one where absolutely nothing goes according to plan, and you figure out how to make it work anyway.
So here's my reminder to anyone in the middle of a renovation, or thinking about starting one:
Build flexibility into your budget. Build extra time into your schedule. Advocate for yourself when things don't make sense. And recognize that even when you do everything right, there will still be things you can't control. And if your renovation feels a whole lot messier than the beautiful transformations you're seeing online? Trust me. You're probably just not seeing the whole story.