Full House Renovation Venture!

How It Started…

I called my parents up (they are real estate agents) and said, “Hey! Check out this forclosure. It’s been sitting a while. Maybe I could get a good deal on it.”

My dad responds with, “Yeah! That would be a great move to sell your place and fix this one up!”

Me: “Oh no no no. I’m not living there! No way! I was thinking to rent it out.”

Dad: “Yeah, but you could sell yours and pay cash for this place and not have a mortgage!”

Me: “Nope, not living there.”

The next day I give my parents a call. “Dang you for putting these crazy ideas in my head!!”

Here we go!!

The HOT (House of Trash)

Let me tell you what the neighbor said about this place. “Yeah, tons of people came to look at it! Most of them walked out looking horrified.”

After I looked at it the first time, I called my parents and said, “Hey! Where was the rough-in for the 2nd bath?!” Yeah. If a bathroom is “roughed-in,” it means the plumbing is already in place, but there’s not actually a bathroom yet. You can see the pipes for the shower/tub, toilet, and vanity. It’s pretty obvious. So how could I miss it?! There was that much…crap. Well, there literally was crap, too! But it was BURIED! Under piles of clothes and boxes and small appliances and who knows what else.

Let’s Walk Through This House Together

When we walk up to the front door, there is about a foot around sized rusted, deteriorated chunk of the door. I don’t even understand how that happens. The storm door is also broken. We walk into some filthy pink carpet leading up to the main level with more filthy pink carpet. There are random couches, fans, and electrical equipment sitting around the living room.

Then we wrap around to the kitchen where we’ll find…um…peaches?? So old they have disintegrated and sludged themselves to the countertop. Dishes in the sink. Who knows what spilled onto the walls and floor. White bread and buns sooooo far expired and yet they look perfectly fine! Not a stitch of mold! A bit crusty upon touching them, but no mold. Don’t ever buy that stuff. Ew. Cabinets are sticky with goo. And there is some serious soot on the ceiling. Okay.

Then we head down the hall to the 2nd bedroom. We cannot walk more than 3 feet into this room it is so full of furniture and boxes and some giant, unidentifiable exercise machine and…a freezer. A full size upright freezer. In the bedroom. Yeah. That’s normal.

Carry on. Down the hall to the…yup…we’re going there, the bathroom. The shower is your classic white tile and we’re thinking, hey, this could maybe be salvageable! Next to that is the toilet with one of those cushy, squishy seats. Yet this one is all worn out and broken so looks more like a slice your bum seat. I’ll spare you from the inside of the toilet. Old school vanity that was gross and dirty, but not awful. Also, not worth keeping.

And the master bedroom. Huge! The thing was massive for an older house! I was so impressed! Clearly a smoker’s room as the ceiling was yellow and the window was all mucked up. There were even a few cigarette butts on the floor mixed in with the random clothes, furniture, and paperwork sitting around.

We venture down to the basement where we find a garage stuffed with more furniture! The unidentifiable rough-in bathroom. A laundry room packed with more junk. Under the stairs, piles of blankets and clothes. My dad ventures in and I yell, “No!!!! You don’t know what you’re going to step on or stir up!!” Shockingly no critters emerged! Then into a decent sized living space with some of the most horrendous DIY work I’ve ever seen!

It Was Love At First Sight!

Haha, yeah right!! But it did seem doable. Sort of. Until I thought about it too much. Then it was a bit overwhelming. But then I thought about what it could be! It was a rollercoaster for sure. So when it came time to put in my offer and my dad asks me if I’m sure, I reply, “Put in the offer quick before I change my mind!” I had one last chance to jump ship when they counter offered, but for some reason said I was in!

The Adventure Begins!

Now the race begins! To get my house on the market and sold, which when you have 2 stellar agents working for you, 😉 it’s no problem! Two offers over list within 48 hours! Done! Now I have a 2 week window where I own both houses. 2 weeks to get The HOT habitable. 2 weeks. Working full time. And cleaning out a house of trash. And renovating 2 rooms. Sure. No problem.

The goal was to get a bathroom and a bedroom done. I can live in that. But I do need that as a minimum. I’ll figure out the rest as we go!

And What Did Joey (the dog) Think?!

Hated it. Terrified. Spooked. Not sure, but it was a big Nope from that guy! He loved the yard! But as soon as I opened the front door, he took one look/sniff and refused to go in! Okay. So that’s a good start! Ha! We stayed outside. I mean, can you really blame him?!

And…?!?!

Stay tuned to find out how the transformation renovation venture is going! And if I’m surviving! Haha!