We saw the potential of what it could be, into our dream house. However, saying you're going to buy a fixer upper and do the work, and ACTUALLY DOING IT art two entirely different things. This is the story of what we went through. Since I'm starting this blog 6 months later let me get you up to speed.
It was one of the many foreclosures on the market. We purchased it for $124,000. We got a great deal, we knew that much. We first bid the asking price, but before it was finalized we actually increased the bid much higher (135,000) but our Realtor actually entered the incorrect bid into the system and entered the lower bid of 124. Luckily, there was no one else even close and the bank took the offer! We got lucky, or, so we thought! ;)
We were jubilant when we moved into our very first home, just to be met with the start realization that a lot, and I mean A LOT of work had to be done. First and foremost there was significant mold in the closet by the front door and in the basement. I put my handyman skills to work as my wife cleaned, I demolished, and re-insulated and sheet rocked where the mold once was. We got mold detection kits and the spores were finally starting to dissipate. Before they did, we did notice a marked increase in breathing problems so it's good we took care of that. We also purchased a good hepa filter and ran it in the master bedroom.
We also had another problem right away, no hot water! The water heater was completely shot, and when I say shot I mean it had holes in it, and had rusted a hole in the bottom where debris was collecting. Luckily, our Realtor gave us as a $300 gift card from Home Depot which mostly paid for it.
Next we needed new windows. The old ones were the original windows with wooden frames, they were moldy, and leaking. Luckily again I pulled out more of my handyman skills and also enlisted my father which has extensive experience in home remodeling. Between us we replaced 11 windows and 2 patio doors. $2,500 later we had brand new vinyl replacement windows. They look and work fantastic!
So after this summer I was finally feeling like I was getting to a point where I could stop working on the house for awhile. I knew the roof is reaching the end of it's life and it needs to be done (yet another project and $2000-3000 depending on how much I can do myself). Did I mention roofing runs in the family and I got lots of practice helping my dad as a teenager. Thanks again Dad!
So just as my wife and I were starting to feel like our workload and finances were getting a break from the house. Except for a broken garage door for $200 that I did myself there was nothing else for awhile, or so I thought. Guess what? The first rule of being a new homeowner and especially for a starter house is to expect the unexpected and plan financially for it. When we had the initial home inspection before we bought it we knew the furnace needed a tune up. Of course, like the good procrastinators we are, we waited until just today, Oct 22 to get it looked at.
To our demise, the furnace which could be the original has several problems including the most serious, a crack in the heating transfer unit, which apparently can cause carbon monoxide to leak into the venting systems and into the rooms of our house. Really great when my wife is pregnant!!! So after learning that we could have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, we decided to price out an entirely new furnace.
So that's where we are at so far. Very overwhelming, but we've learned to take it one step at a time. I'll update soon about the potential cost of the furnace (another 3500, again!) Also, did I mention that the reason the furnace was so bad was because it was rusting due to condensation dripping on it from the a/c condensing unit on top of it. So the furnace tech also told us it's possible the a/c unit would have to be replaced due to it being the old kind of refrigerant that is no longer used.
Whew!!! This post exhausted me just to write it. That's all for now, see you soon :)
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