NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

Extra! Extra! We have a new (to us) house!

by

Let me introduce you to our new (to us) home!

Yeah… it doesn’t look too welcoming now. But, have faith in us. With a little fairy dust, some hard cash and a heckuva lot of sweat equity, it’ll be a lovely little thing. (Don’t forget that we’ve done it before.)

I’ve been holding out on you for what seems like forEVer. Remember this post about house hunting way back on MAY 6? (No? Me either.) In that post, I showed you two houses. One would have been a rental. One would have been a home for us. You overwhelmingly voted for the rental house.

And, believe it or not, we actually had an offer in on that very house. But, then, when the other home came on the market, we wondered if we had made the right decision. After looking at the house and crunching numbers, we knew that it was the right detour for us. So, we withdrew our offer from the rental (we were going back and forth with the bank seller) and put a bid on the other home.

It was a HUD foreclosure, which meant we were blind bidding. The offer had to be in by Sunday, May 9 at midnight. We looked at recent HUD listings and what they sold for, analyzed those numbers and made a bid based on them. Because we know that HUD goes strictly to the highest bidder, we wanted to avoid losing the house by $50 (which happened to us before).

On Monday, May 10, at 5 p.m., while I was getting my hair did, I got the phone call from our realtor that we won the bid. Yeehaw! We ended up outbidding six others and won by $500. Whoa, right?

And, then began the waiting game. We were planning and hoping to close by the first of July. But, that didn’t happen. We waited and waited. And waited. And, if you know me, you know I don’t wait well.

Finally, I began emailing the title company directly. That was the best decision I ever made. I found out that there was a $1,000 water bill lien with the city that needed to be paid by HUD. After a little back and forth, it was approved for payment by the seller. And within two weeks, we had a closing date.

Monday, Aug. 2. Yesterday.

So, we closed and now we have lots to do. But I couldn’t hold out any longer. Ryan asked me to wait to broadcast the news until the papers are signed. Now, we’ll have months of work before we move in. (We’re aiming to put our house up for sale in the spring. Possibly. Unless something changes.)

For now, below are some photos to show you the potential that we saw. Beautiful woodwork, huge rooms, loads of character, a large yard, a fireplace, wood floors. It’s all there. (You can click on the links below the mosaic to see the photos directly.)


1. Front exterior with fence (before), 2. Side exterior (before), 3. Front porch exterior (before), 4. Window dummies (before), 5. Garage (before), 6. Back of the house (before), 7. Outside garden shed (before), 8. Back door and porch (before), 9. Kitchen (before), 10. Kitchen (before), 11. Kitchen – to be a bathroom (before), 12. Half-bath to be (before), 13. Dining room (before), 14. Staircase and banister in the living room (before), 15. Front door – entryway (before), 16. Second front door (before), 17. Living room (before), 18. Living room (before), 19. Bedroom 1 (before), 20. Bedroom 1 radiator ( before), 21. Bedroom 2 (before), 22. Bathroom (before), 23. Tub (before), 24. Wall texture (before), 25. Brick fireplace (before), 26. Living room woodwork (before), 27. Basement shower (before), 28. Kitchen exposed brick (before), 29. Entry way tile (before), 30. Banister detail (before), 31. Dining room ledges (before), 32. Door detail (before), 33. Basement (before), 34. Basement (before), 35. Yard (before)

So, *phew*.

I’m glad the cat’s out of the bag. My posting may eventually become more sporadic than usual. With this new house, we’ll both be spending most weeknights and free weekends with our new baby. However, I have scheduled posts for the next few weeks with content I already had ready. (After all, I did have a full month that we thought we’d have the house when we hadn’t closed.)

And, I hope to figure out a way to fill you in on the progress as it’s going, without losing my precious sleep or sanity. But, this is the first time we’ve been in renovation-mode while blogging. (And, this post is a snippet of our lives during the first renovation. Wendy’s, powertools and rubble… here we come.)

The first things on the agenda:

  • Get all the junk and carpeting out of the house (Ryan) and bleach it (Kim).
  • Pull out the junk and weeds, clean up around the house, paint the foundation and transplant perrenials (Kim).
  • Get gas, electric and water turned out by some act of god (Kim). 
  • And, maybe begin creating a working bathroom (Ryan)?

Most of all, we’re excited for this new adventure. To make another neglected house into a well-loved home.

So, I hope you’ll tell us what you think and wish us luck. You can even tell us we’re lunatics. (But that probably won’t change our mind.)

Comments

  1. I’ve been MIA in the blogosphere, so I’m late to this news, but congratulations! Fixing up and moving into a new home is such an exciting time. I see a ton of potential in that home, and with your and Ryan’s talent, it will be unbelievable. Can’t wait to see the progress!

  3. I think its a fantastic house, I love the fireplace and the moldings. If we didn’t have a four year old, we would be ready for a big project like that.
    Can’t wait to see progress.
    Londen

  5. Yep, I’m in love with it already. I CAN’T WAIT to see all of the amazing improvements you make to it!

  6. How exciting! Can’t wait to see the after pictures! You guys do such great work and have such a good vision! Good luck! I’m sure it will turn out even better than the other house now that you’ve had practice!

  7. Hi, I like this information so much, that I would like to post some of this information into my blog. Can I?

  8. You are really talented in writing posts and sharing ideas. I like very much your posts and your thoughts.

  9. I am SO excited for you! What a great find and I absolutely cannot wait to see what you do to make it home. My favorite part is that you labeled all of the photos with “before” because it makes me so excited about the gazillions of “afters” that you’ll have to share.

    Cheers to you and Ryan!

  11. First I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for you. That place is definitely a diamond in the rough and I can’t wait to see what you do with it.

    Second, when I saw your post on FB I thought to myself “yeah….can’t wait to see pictures on the blog in a couple of days” And then they were already there….and having a couple weeks of posts saved up. You are my new blogging hero/idol.

    Good luck with all the first steps!

  12. Woo hoo!!! Congratulations!!! That is awesome and I can’t wait to see what you do with the place!! 🙂

  13. Congrats! I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things you do it the house.

  14. Kim,
    I am so so so very happy and excited for you and Ryan! It looks fantastic! Can’t wait to watch you bring it to life! Congratulations!!
    Wendy

  15. So jealous! I’m sure you will do a wonderful job. Can’t wait to watch the progress. Congrats!

  16. Oh wow! I love that woodwork, especially the banister! I can’t even imagine what this is going to look like when you guys finish. Fantastic I bet, especially the kitchen – it looks like it get fabulous light!

  17. OH MY GOD! I am sooooooo excited!!!!! A whole new, fresh crop of fabuloso Before & Afters just waiting to be seen! I seriously wish you could hear me squealing in delight right now!! Yay!

  18. awesome! I’m sure your magic touch will make it look awesome in no time fast. Where do you get your energy from? The front is so cute and that bathtub- amazing! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!

  19. Congratulations! I’m really excited to see what you do with it! I wish we had the guts to take on something like that. It really does look like it has fantastic potential, and like another comment mentioned, I love the tub!

  20. That’s so exciting! Can’t wait to see and hear about renovations. Perhaps it will be the motivation we need to keep working on our own home!

  21. I love it! I know that you guys are going to make it look stunning! I see hours and hours and hours and days of work in those photos- but I also see an AWESOME canvas to start with. Congrats!

  23. CONGRATULATIONS, Kim!!! 🙂 I am so excited for you. This house does have a lot of potential, and I know you’ll make it great again. Can’t wait to see what you do with it…you’ll have all sorts of updates to share at my next Progress party. 😉

  25. Well it looks like you have your work cut out for you but I know you can turn it into a beautiful home, you did it with the home you are living in now. I can’t wait to see the progress. I’m just drooling over your ability to transform things.

  26. Wow! I’m lusting after that claw footed bath tub. The molding detail is pretty sweet as well. Happy renovating! I look forward to seeing more!

  30. Oh, Kim and Ryan, how exciting! The house does indeed have great potential!!! So excited for you both!
    (Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points. 😉

  32. Congrats on the new home!! So many neat little details that make it really charming. Can’t wait to see you work your reno magic!

  33. Wow, congratulations!!! That is so exciting. The house looks like it has a lot of charm. Can’t wait to see how your renovations go. Good luck & best wishes for your new home!

  35. I think it’s awesome! Good for you guys! Buying our foreclosed fixer-upper and restoring it is one of the most fulfilling things we’ve ever done (and tiring…and stressful… 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your before and after pics!!

  37. Congrats guys! What a huge project, I’m sure you will work wonders with it! I think it looks pretty freakin cute from the front already. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.

    Working bathrooms? Who needs em?

  38. Wow GOOD FOR YOU GUYS! I can’t wait to see what your fariy dust makes shine this time… what a beautiful “base” to get started on… I can’t wait to have an old farm house of my own here in a few years… but for now Bungalow 34 suites us fine.

  41. Are you going to paint the claw foot tub a la Sarah Richardson???? I want to do this, but B and I are not that handy.

    Congrats you two! I cannot wait to see you transform this gorgeous home!

  43. that’s so exciting!! good for you guys – i’m sure it will be super hard, but also fun at times – and very rewarding in the end. 🙂 can’t wait to see how it progesses

  48. AWESOME!! If you need some perennials let me know.. I would be happy to share some with you.

    I also have lots of old-house literature etc… I’m kind of a geek that way!

  51. I think it’s great that you are brave enough to take on this major renovation. It will really be like home for you because of all of the work you will put into it. I can’t wait to see the results! Enjoy.