On Sunday Laura and I woke up and decided to go look at some houses in the area we were wanting to move to see how they looked in the inside. Remember, we have already been preapproved for a certain amount. So, we decided to start looking. We went to 5 open houses in the area and man were we shocked. We were wanting to move to a new house for 2 reasons. 1) a bigger kitchen with more counter space and 2) a more spacious bathroom and possibily more then just one bathroom. First of all, we realized that the area we want to move we can get a lot for our money. That was very good news. The bad thing: the houses were built in the 1940's and have very little kitchens and even smaller bathrooms. Literally, the kitchens were about the size of a walk-in closet. And the bathrooms: couldn't believe how much people have neglected them. Yes, they updated the rest of the house, but left the old tile in the bathroom. It was awful. We realized yes we could move into a house in that neighborhood, but there would be a lot of work ahead of us.
When we got home we just stood in our kitchen. As we were standing there I realized that our ktichen is very open and a good size. Laura and I did some talking and realized that maybe we need to rethink moving for a little bit longer. We decided to do some more work on our kitchen and make it even more open. We are talking taking out an entire wall so it connects with the living room. And our bathroom. We already knew we had to do some upgrades before we sold it, but now we are going to put our own touches on it and make it how we want it, not just what needs to be done for it to sell.
In order to do all we want to in the house we would need to refinance the house again. I wasn't too sure, but decided what the heck. The worst they will do is tell us no. We decided to fill out online one of those things where you will get three offers back within 24 hours. They were right about that. By this morning we had 3 calls from companies wanting to refinance our house. Not only are we getting a very, very good interest rate, but we are getting the $$ we need to do the kitchen, bathroom, paint the outside of the house and numerous other things we have put on the list. Wow. Some of the things we will have to have done professionally. Because I know I can knock out the wall, I am just not sure if there is a support beam under there. Things like that we are defininity calling a professional. Same with the bathroom.
I think we are going to wait until after our trip to Florida (just 46 days away) to start. Well, we may decide on the bathroom and have them do the work while we are gone. With only one bathroom, it would be best to have it done while we are not needing to use it. I am sure there are going to be times when I am going to be real bitchy. I love doing home improvements, but sometimes I loose my focus in the middle of it. (Just ask Laura about last summer doing the kitchen...there were some ugly times)
All in all this is very exciting. The best part about refinancing....no house payment for the month of March. Just means extra $$ for Florida.
4 comments:
Good luck with the improvements.
The one thing I noticed when we were house looking was how ugly the bathrooms were. Yuck. Not the wall paper or anything like that, but how dirty the shower floor was and the toilet. ewwwwww.
It sounds like exciting times ahead of you guys! Having hte bathroom work done while you're gone sounds like a good idea.
Sounds exciting! I love having new things done to the house. I always think it odd that people will do all this work to renovate to put their house on the market but if they had done it for themselves, they would have gotten to actual enjoy it. Good for you for choosing this option!
Careful, home improvement is like the plague: it spreads and spread and spreads, but in a good way. Good luck.
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