Oriace listens wide-eyed and giddy, then says excitedly, "I think it's great. A property in the noble's quarters. We could make it our stage! And get famous." 

After a short pause, he adds, "Hey, if you really want to barter with Volo, we could ask him to give a free reading of his books once we restored the place. This could jump start our business there! And it would give him a honest and honorable way out of his dilemma of not having kept his side of the bargain, don't you think?"

"Good idea, Oriace."

So it sounds like you are accepting? (Which is good, as the module assumes you do. We could have made it work but it would have been more awkward). Volo sets up a meeting with a tiefling magistrate named Kylynne Sil­merhelve. The brief session takes place at a courthouse in the Castle Ward at highsun. Magistrate Silmerhelve witnesses the transfer of the deed, rendering the new ownership official, with the impatience of one who has more important matters to attend to. She also collects an estate transfer tax of 25 gp, which is normally paid by the new owners. However Renaer makes sure that Volo has a pouch of coins to cover the expense. 

Your new property floorplan and surrounding area (property is T1):

 You also all level up to level 2

[[What is the general condition of the building as somewhere to sleep? Is it completely broken down, or is it safe and dry, but too shabby to be used as a tavern?]]

"We need income to fix this place up, no way can we foot the bill straight off!" says Wagner.

When you first arrive, the tavern’s taproom is filled with broken furniture, tarnished silverware, casks of wine that have turned to vinegar, and worthless detritus. The tavern’s other rooms are all empty, except for cobwebs, dust, and harmless rats. You can pay 2gp however for some people to come and clean it from top to bottom, and you might not have beds yet but at least it is warm and dry. 

If you wish to purchase furniture, leave a list and I will work out prices. 

Sterling motioned as if to roll up his sleeves, stopping just as he realized it would crease the material. "Alright," he said in a determined voice, "go ahead and collect all the furniture fragments you can, and anything else important that's broken, and bring it all here."

(( He'll spend time using Mending to fix broken furniture (and whatever else he can,) and Prestidigitation to clean all of it. ))

It will take a long time due to the number of broken things (especially as it only does a single break at a time) and the 1 minute casting per break. Due to the level of damage, I don't believe that mending would really work on some of it (like a splintered chair leg) however for the sake of a good story, I will allow it. It will take most of the rest of the day to do all the damage, or you can spread it over a few days. This does bring the tavern back into a basic state (tables chairs and a bar). But still nothing in any of the upstairs rooms (which will probably be personal rooms for you all). It still could do with a better clean than your magic can manage (objects are larger than 1 cubic foot) but it is a definite improvement.

(This chapter is less time critical. It is effectively a bunch of downtime with missions thrown in. But the missions find you. I just need to decide which factions have their eyes on you and how fast word spreads)

Oriace, at first a bit overwhelmed by the literally huge mountain of work that this new estate brought onto them, gets infected by Sterling's enthusiasm. He begins a ritual to summon a helping hand or two (Unseen Servant), and instructs them to start collecting and organising everything into what can be repaired and what not, and generally helps cleaning up the place. "You're great at restoring broken things, Sterling! I didn't know! We could check around in town if we find some discarded furniture and you get it back in shape. Then the tavern will have a unique charm on top of being cheap to outfit." 

(Perhaps with magic we can get a sizeable discount on getting the place into working order. I suppose its more than just putting tables and chairs in a room and some work that needs doing won't be fixed so easily, but at least the furniture part of it might be solved by picking up broken things from around town.)

After hours of mending and cleaning, Sterling finally sat in one of the mended chairs and sighed. Oriace was right--they'd still need more furniture, and even with cantrips, it was going to take a while to get the place into shape. Which meant they'd need to hire help. Which meant, as Wagner had pointed out... income was also needed.

He turned to the others. "I've done what I can on the simple stuff, but obviously we're going to need extra stuff." He stretched. "Like a bed."

Sitting back in thought for a moment, he then continued, "We can still perform at the inn for tips, I think. I don't know how long that'll last when they hear we're planning on opening our own tavern, but for now, it's a bit of coin. What do you all think of putting on a show this evening?"

(( I presume we've already we've already brought our belongings from the Yawning Portal and claimed our own rooms here, so hopefully nothing we'd make from our show would go towards the inn. ))

"I could use a good bit of performing. Rescuing damsels, err... dudes is an interesting change of pace but hasn't proven very lucrative yet."

"Yeah, let's do it. Let's see what it brings. And who knows, last time we were there we've got the job to get Floon out. Might be we land another job."

You head back the tavern to perform. You have cleared all your stuff out so you aren't covering the cost of your rooms. You make an excellent performance, gaining 30 dragons, 22 shards and 8 nibs (helped by Renaer being in the crowd, being the most generous benefactor of the evening).

You make your way back to your new home, and upon arrival, discover (despite no sign of a break-in), two of the chairs in the taproom have a broken leg. (If you don't enter the tavern as the stairs to upstairs are separate around the back, you would discover this in the morning when I assume you all meet there to discuss your plans). 

Sterling stopped and stared at the chairs.

"Umm.... no. I KNOW I mended those." His eyes narrowed as he began looking around the taproom. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice:

"I don't know who you are, but unless you want to be hurt, or charmed into unspeakable acts, I suggest coming out now!"

There is no response. No sound of moving. And if you look around to investigate, you find no sign of anyone having been inside at all since you left.

In a joking manner, Wagner says, "Clearly, we have ghosts!"

Still quite suspicious, Sterling sighed. "I could use some magic to try to see if anyone's hiding in here," he stated, a bit loudly. "But they're likely gone anyway."

After a few more seconds of silence, the bard decided to ignore the odd detail. He turned to the others, holding up a clinking tin cup that they sometimes used to collect their tips. "Well, we made enough coin for a start. What do you want to do first?"

"They must be spirits from previous caretakers!" adds Oriace enthusiastically, "But why do they sabotage us and break chairs? Who gets anything from breaking two chairs, anyway? It makes no sense at all!"

When they count their profit from tonight's show, Oriace says, "What do you think if we split it in two, one part goes to coffers for improving this establishment and the other part we divide between us?" He counts, 14 dragons, 17 shards and 16 nibs for the group, and that leaves 5 dragons and 3 shards for each of them. "Like this we can save up for larger reparations. What do you think? Is this fair?" 

(I created a container on Oriace's char sheet to keep tabs on what common items and money we have (left) in the estate. If you prefer to manage it differently, I can delete it again.)

(I am happy to track the estate items and money on one of your sheets if you guys want, it is up to you all)

(( I'm fine with that tracking. ))

"Quite fair, I'd say," said Sterling. This way they could each save up for their own endeavors while also making the best use of the property. "And feel free to manage the group purse if you like," he added.

Pocketing his coin, he then tried to broach the next issue. "Alright... what about renovations? I imagine it's hundreds of dragons to get it done, but we could at least find a quote for now."

You have noticed on your street there is a woodwork shop who can do custom furniture (or say, a stage), as well as bedroom furniture if you are so inclined. I am going to assume you have had your long rest and this is a conversation happening in the morning and therefore shops will be open.