Understatement of the Year: “The House Needs Some Work” (Pictures)

Today Ryan and I had the chance to get inside and see the house. We already knew his parents planned to put an offer in regardless of what we decided. Still we wanted to get inside and take a look for ourselves because peeking in the windows doesn’t really tell you much.

We knew before we opened the door that the house was in desperate need of repairs and that we were going to have to put a lot of work into it. Knowing that and seeing the reality of the situation are two very different things.

Before you look at the pictures below remember a couple of things

• The house has been vacant for quite sometime.
  
• It was a foreclosure
  
• The asking price is less than $20,000

With that in mind brace yourself. It’s not pretty. But it has a heck of a lot of potential and if I can look out my back door each day and see the amazing weeping willow pictured above everything will be fine. I fell in love with the tree and the back yard the moment I saw them.



Nothing a few new boards, a new front door, and a good power washing can’t fix. (Ignore my finger in the the photo)



This is the smallest of the three bedrooms. It’s right behind the living room off the hallway. According to my in-laws it would make an “excellent larger bathroom.” Wait until you see the existing bathroom. You will understand. I am all for a bigger bathroom but I would also like to make the living room a bit larger. Regardless this paneling has got to go….it’s all through the living room and the hallway as well.



This would be the second bedroom. It’s a little smaller than the one pictured below and its an addition to the original house. The carpet needs ripped up and the doors to the closet and the room itself need replaced. A fresh coat of paint and a little elbow grease and this room would be livable.



This would be the master bedroom. I have a fear of blue bedrooms so that paint has got to go. (once had this bright idea to paint our bedroom dark blue….it was a horrible disaster). Not sure what is up under the window and the giant boarded up window there on the right is where the back of the house used to be….from what I can gather. This room also has another entrance door in it (as most older homes do) but it has been sided over so that will need to come out
.


Talk about a train wreck. I simply cannot shower or use the restroom with all the fish looking at me. The bathroom has got the be the first renovation done. It’s a dark hole off the kitchen and the “Under the Sea” theme is not going to cut it.



The good news is that the window is over the toilet rather than in the shower like it is where we live now. Thank God for frosted glass.



Picture it Sicily….oh crap, wrong show. The kitchen is another room where we have a blank slate. All that exists are some cheap cabinets and a sink. It’s big enough to make an eat in kitchen and if I am a good girl I might just get an island. For Ryan and I a kitchen that is this large and has this much wall space is a luxury. We have about 1 1/2 feet of usable counter space in our existing kitchen so this would be amazing.



Something else we haven’t had in a long time is a flat yard….actually come to think of it we have never had a flat yard. Not sure of the exact size but there is plenty of room for the four legged children to run. We are also happy that there is covered off street parking and that the rear of the house is surrounded by some pretty sturdy looking privacy fence.

You might be reading this and thinking that we are getting in way over our heads. Truth be told, we might be but Ryan’s parents have become experts in rehabbing homes in the last decade. There is nothing they can’t do to a home and with this they/we are getting a blank slate. Yes, it’s nuts but it’s also better than throwing money (rent) into something we will never own.