Skip to main content

a house? what? maybe?

I keep getting emails from realtors for some reason.  But Husband and I haven't really discussed the idea of buying a house for months.  Mostly because the houses here are all tiny, ancient, and expensive, so why bother?  Except a couple nights ago, instead of sending another realty email in the trash, I OPENED IT.

And then I saw a bunch of tiny, ancient, and expensive houses.

But then I kept looking. 

I did one of those searches where you put in only the areas that you're considering and I accidentally put in the wrong area without realizing it.  And then...

THEN....

I FOUND   i t .

"It" being a really inexpensive house with the right amount of space and yard and garage and potential.  And even though it's not in the area that Husband likes, it's not really that far away at all.  As in, it will take him 15 minutes to drive to work instead of 7.

So I got all crazy obsessed with it and checked everything out about the house and the neighborhood online, and then I texted my friend who sells real estate and made her find out more about it.  And then my friend, my husband, and I went and looked at it.

IT WAS SO SCARY INSIDE.

We took our kids with us, but had to lock them in the car for fear of their safety.  The listing online had said that the house "only needed flooring and paint".  NO.  It needs much much much more than that.  The floors were littered with mouse poop and mud and dog pee, and  really gross unidentifiable stuff.  The walls had layers and layers of grody nastiness (and lots of sharpie) on them.  Doors and windows were broken throughout the house.  There was something resembling a blood stain coming out of the bottom of the fridge door and floor around it.  The bathrooms......ugh, the bathrooms.

Basically, it is 157% unliveable.

BUT

I super love it.  Not the nastiness, of course, but the house.  The structure and yard and floorplan and neighborhood and price are amazing.  In my daydreams I'm hiring a hazmat crew to go in and rip out all cabinets, appliances, bathrooms, lighting fixtures, doors, etc. and then SUPER MEGA CLEAN everything.  And then my daydreams evolve into me picking out all the flooring and paint and kitchen and all the other STUFF and getting exactly what I want and then living in it and being happy.

And you want to know a secret?  My daydreams might actually come true because we put an offer in on it last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (<--those would be overly excited exclamation points.)

And now here's the part where I ask you all to tell everyone you know (literally, EVERYONE) to buy stuff from Green Jello with Carrots, and my etsy shop, or my digital scrapbook designs at MyMemories.  Because we need to pull off some kind of humongous miracle and get a downpayment saved.  (It only has to be a small downpayment - but when you're talking house, even a "small" amount is insanely a lot.)

When I'm in my new house (you know, once it's liveable) I'm totally having a party and you're all invited!

Comments

Kristina P. said…
Wow, that is super exciting! I wonder if it will qualify for the FHA loan where they give you money to rehab homes. Good luck!
elesa said…
Wow, I did not expect this post to end that way. I would like to see pictures of your hasmat house. So, is it basically just cleaning and painting you would have to do? If I did it again, that is the kind of house I would buy. None of this tearing everything out and starting over crap.

So excited for you!
elesa said…
I have an idea for something you could sell. Not that you need more, since you clearly have enough going on. But I would like to buy some Doctor Who paper dolls. The doctor with interchangeable clothes. I started to make some myself, and then remembered that I am not an artist.
Barbaloot said…
Wow!! I hope you get it! But I also hope you have someone besides yourself to clean out the nastiness. Keep me posted!!
Cynthia said…
Sounds like a huge adventure! Make sure to call the city the house is located in and talk with the City Planner(s) about the long term plans for the area etc.- especially if there is any vacant land around it. Real estate agents don't do this but I used to be that 'City Planner' who fielded calls from people mad about a new shopping center or something that they could have known about in advance if they had only known to ask. It will likely all be fine but it's good for extra piece of mind.
Jessica Newby said…
Shut it! Why do I learn everything from your blog! That's so cool! SOunds like a fun project! It'd be a lot of work & stress but you will looooove it wen it's done. I hope it works out!

Popular posts from this blog

GIVEAWAY (of the photo Christmas card variety)

I think I just creeped out my four year old. I pulled out the, "You'd better go to bed because Santa's Elves are watching you to make sure you're being good!" routine. His eyes got big, and round, and scared. And he said, "Why would they do that?!" Also, our church building burned down yesterday. No wait, it didn't. But the alarm went off, and the entire ward just sat there in the chapel (and gym, because we have an enormous ward.) I sat there too. I don't know what everyone else was thinking, but the thought going through my head was, "Can somebody please get that alarm turned off, it is WAY TOO LOUD!!!!" Seriously, I think our ward is now 37% deafer after that. Oh, and there was no actual fire. And the first fire truck to show up was driven by one of our ward members who was on duty that day. Good times. And now, that GIVEAWAY: For procrastinators everywhere (that would include me) I'm giving away one free photo Christmas card d

little pieces of my heart will be for sale at D.I.

I have this thing about my kids clothes. The thing is, I LIKE BUYING THEM CLOTHES. I get in trouble frequently for this. It's just that the old ones get so boring after awhile. And I hate it when the really cheap clothes look like poop after washing them a couple of times. Luckily, I live in a city that has outlet stores. I love outlet stores (and Ebay!) Alot of the time you can find higher quality clothes for Walmart prices so how could I NOT buy them? It would be like wasting money for me NOT to get a couple $4 shirts at OshKosh. Right? RIGHT?!! The problem is - we have tiny closets. Miniature, puny, ridiculous, TINY closets. The other problem is - I have saved EVERYTHING. Not only are the kids' closets chuck full of stuff, but we have multiple rubbermaid bins in our garage full of baby clothes they've all grown out of. Also, we may not be having any more children. And I say "may not" because if I say "for sure not" someone will have to co

The Barrel giveaway : SNIS Handmade Leather Goods

As seen in this month's issue of The Barrel I'm giving away one leather keychain or bracelet from SNIS . Their keychains crack me up.  In a really good way.  Like, if I was to ever have a grumpy day (like every day) and I see something like that on my keychain, then I doubt I'll be able to scream at my kids as well. Also, good news!  Even those of you who don't win can get 15% off everything in their shop!  Just enter the code: THEBARREL to get the discount. If you win this giveaway you get to choose the bracelet or keychain out of SNIS's etsy shop (and they have a bunch to choose from): All giveaways associated with The Barrel end on March 15th at 11:59 PM MT. Here's how to enter: 1- For ONE entry: visit SNIS's etsy shop then leave a comment on this post about which is your favorite product. 2- For another ONE entry you can "heart" SNIS's etsy shop. (Leave a separate comment telling me that you "hearted" them.)