i mentioned a little while back that we got some crazy news about the house we rent being auctioned off on the courthouse steps on my birthday.....well, someone just reminded me that i hadn't updated everyone on what actually happened
well, i found out 2 days before my birthday (from our downstairs neighbor, chris), that the landlord had gotten some sort of extension on the foreclosure.....and that chris was in the process of trying to get financing to buy the house himself.....chris had already been discussing the idea of buying the house with our landlord before all the foreclosure stuff happened - this just sped up the process, i guess
so, if the financing comes through for chris, his plan is to really fix up this old house.....it's 100+ years old & hasn't been remodeled/extensively worked on since the 80s.....we LOVE it for all the space it has & for the big backyard - but there are definitely some things we don't love...
-the roof has some leaks here & there that have been patched over the years - it really just needs a new roof
-it needs a whole new electrical overhaul - my hubby is an electrician, so that comes in handy....but it really needs a LOT of work - not just a one man job....honestly, i've wondered if it's even safe.....we have it down to a science now - u can only plug so many things in, in certain areas of the house.....examples - the dishwasher & dryer can not be running at the same time - in the winter, you can only have so many space heaters running at one time in certain areas, so there's a constant rotation when it changes from daytime to bedtime - u can't run the vacuum if there's a space heater plugged in....why so many space heaters? that brings me to my next bullet
-it needs central heat/AC installed....currently, it has gas heat (old school hot water registers that really do work well) which costs a FORTUNE - even before gas prices shot up! and we have 2 window AC units right now....which really isn't enough for our huge apartment, but we deal (especially me with cakes - the kitchen is the hottest room in the house!).....the landlord did put in new windows right before we moved in, so that does help some
-the big front porch needs some serious work - the floor boards are coming up here & there, and you can tell there's something going on with the support underneath - it's kind of leaning & wavy? and one of the beams it loose.....the whole porch needs sanding/repainting/etc.
-our floors need to be refinished.....they're old beautiful wood floors, they just aren't finished - painted an ugly gray - yuck.....chris' downstairs apartment has had the floors done, so i know just how nice ours could look
i know, everyone is probably wondering if our house is ready to fall over! ~lol~ i swear, it's a sturdy old house....but it IS an old house, that needs some maintenance.....hopefully chris will get the house, make all the repairs he's talked about (including some beautification with new paint, siding & doors, etc.) & he won't hike our rent up too much (i understand he may need to, some)....he's already let us know that he's going to continue to keep it as a rental & we have a really good relationship, so i know he'll keep us as renters.....then we can just stay put until we are ready to buy on our own
we really do LOVE living here! it's a prime location - downtown, only a mile from our kids' school & daycare, the town park, a grocery store, etc.....it's got so much character, & it's got just the right amount of space for our big family!
say a prayer for us & our old, sweet house! ;0)
6 comments:
I hope Chris gets the house! And you guys get to stay...and it gets all fixed up!
J & I really really want to buy...but it's SO expensive around here that we have to buy a fixer or forclosure. We figure it's a buyers market right now...whoo hoo! lol
...danielle
Glad to hear you won't be homeless ;)
Yup, we can empathize. Our house pops the kitchen breaker every time we have more than three things running in the kitchen. Lately, the AC has thrown us off, so it's popped like 20 times this month. Don't know if the AC is on the same breaker, but I' guessing it is. We have had an electrician out here more than once and he said the whole house needs to be rewired. None of our bathroom outlets work either. Glad I don't style my hair all the time, cuz that would be a pain. I plug in an outlet right outside one of the bathrooms when I need to. Our house also has all the original stuff, although it's only 20 years old.
Your house sounds awesome. I love old houses. They really do have a lot of character. One of my friends lives in a 115 year old home in downtown Lexington, KY. She loves it. They walk to work, shops, park. It would be neat to be in a home like that. We also have all that stuff less than a 1/2 mi away, so we walk a lot.
I hope everything works out with your neighbor buying the place.
ugh!! I hope that you get some definite answers soon. Your home sounds perfect even if it is a bit of a "fixer upper":)
Oh good luck!!!! I wonder if I've ever passed by this house before growing up?
I just hate being in limbo! So what great news!
oh yeah, the house you described, sounds sooo much like our house! With the leaks (only when it rains really hard)and only so many things can be on at a time...etc...
I love the extra space, but there are challenges that come with it!
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