The Story of The Fixer Upper - Part One

A few days ago I shared the wild news that we purchased a second home which from now on we'll call "The Fixer Upper". I explained why we bought the house, and in this post I'll share how we bought the house. It's kind of a weird story.

As you already know, I realllllly wanted to find a house in our little town. We looked at other locations in the city but the homes just didn't have that small-town charm and feel to them. Alex showed me a few bungalows and other styles of homes but I just couldn't do it. None of them had the cute factor. (Alex really hates my totally unpractical house-shopping criteria btw.) 

After months and months of stalking MLS, a house showed up that was in our town, AND one street over to boot. We got excited. Really excited. Especially since it was the same style of house that our friend's live in and we knew right away it would have potential.

Then we went to look at it.

I cringed. I held my nose. I tiptoed over the grimy floor. I let the real estate guy open all the doors so I wouldn't have to touch the door handles. It was that.gross.

Would you like to see just how gross? You asked for it.

{Keep in mind these photos were all taken on our second viewing, after the real estate agent asked the owners to clean up. It was way worse the first time. Shudder.}

Side Entry / Mudroom / Laundry Room

Side Door

Mudroom / Laundry Room / Door to Basement

Mudroom / Laundry Room

Main Floor Bathroom

Dining Room

Kitchen

Dining Room / Living Room

Living Room

Staircase

Upstairs Hallway

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Third Bedroom

Second Floor Bathroom

Basement

Basement

Basement Stairs

After walking through the house the first time, we were so grossed out that we unanimously said, "No freakin' way". Not only did it need a total cosmetic gut job inside and out and all new electrical, it had structural issues all over the place. At the price they were asking, there was no possible way we could have done the amount of work that needed to be done without going way over budget and without investing too much money into the property that we wouldn't be able to get back resale-wise.

So, we walked away. It was pretty disappointing but we decided that the right house (at the right price) would come along eventually.

A few weeks later, we got a call from the real estate agent that had shown us the house the first time. He told us that even though we hated the house the first time (at the original asking price), the sellers had just dropped the price drastically. They dropped the price so much that if we were to buy it, we would be able to hire out some of the major renovations.

We went and had a second look, this time ignoring the dirt, the furnishings, the junk, and the overall ugliness. We brought some family members through to give their honest opinions.

They all told us to go for it.

So, we worked until midnight getting an offer put together, held our breaths and waited, as there was already a conditional offer on the house. The agent told us we had a good chance of getting it seeing that the buyers who already had an offer in were getting cold feet about the knob-and-tube wiring. 

The next day we found out that the sellers accepted the other buyer's offer and we lost out. Wah wah wah.

To be continued............. :)