Creative Homeschooling is...Thinking Out-of-the-Box!

Jul. 30, 2006

The Fixer-Upper

For the past 3 weeks we have been looking for a fixer-upper home to "fix and flip"...and boy, did we find one! DH just happen to be searching the realtor sites and came across this big, pink, fixer-upper. He was so excited that I was whisked away to go look at it that night, or should I say morning since it was almost 1:00 a.m.! The next day, we met our realtor and made an offer right then and there. Two days later we accepted the seller's counter-offer, for the bargain price of $87,000; but still had one major hurdle to overcome. WOULD IT PASS AN INSPECTION? The house is over one-hundred years old and definitely has been neglected of TLC for many years. Although it appears to be a dump, I can see it fresh with paint, wallpaper and a new kitchen/bath. We had the inspection on Thursday, (which took over 3 hours since the house has 3100 s.f.) and it came out with a pretty good report. There are some problems but nothing major. The inspector said that it has the original parts that are still working fine like: doors, windows, 2 clawfoot tubs, hard wood floors, etc. Now I'm not a novice of home repairs as I have done dry walling, installed floors, light fixtures and even remodeled a kitchen almost totally on my own, but this...this is the grand daddy of all projects! Oh, my back hurts already.

To view a slide show of more rooms CLICK HERE!
We couldn't tell if this hutch is attached to the wall or not but it comes with the house. It appears to be old. My dad said when he was a kid, they had one almost identical in his house.

If all goes well and we close on this, I will be posting before/after photos in the months to come. It will be like my little version of This Old House. There is an entire 700 s.f. attached house/apartment that I didn't get any pictures of, I will post those later. It's in pretty sad shape and we will have to paint every room and rip out the carpets before we even move in. My niece said that it reminded her of a house she toured in a ghost town, but it sure has a lot of potential.

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Comments

Jul. 30, 2006 - Jennie!

Posted by ByHisGraceInColorado

How exciting! It looks awesome. I can see the potential too....

Have a great time with this one, I am sure you will do a beautiful job!!

Nancy

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Jul. 30, 2006 - Oh!

Posted by Suzanne

...you lucky dog!!! Actually, I don't believe in luck, and especially not lucky dogs! :-) The house looks gorgeous! Wish we had the money, know-how, where-with-all (whatever *that* means) to do something like this.

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Jul. 30, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ReneeM

wow - I am weary just looking at it!! We just bought a triplex, and are doing things to our condo to rent, and fixing this place up. IT is not a fixer upper, but its starting to feel like one!!!

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Jul. 31, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ChathamMommy

I love it! I love the whole thing. Sure, there's work there, but what potential! God bless you as you get to work!

If you don't want that hutch and it isn't attached...

Chelo

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Jul. 31, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by homeskoolmom

You should not lead your sister into sin lol! This is my dream house all over. It is so beautiful. What a blessing!
Christine

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Jul. 31, 2006 - Wow, wow and wow!!!

Posted by gabalot

What an undertaking you are looking at! At least you aren't living in it and remodeling at the same time. I love home remodeling and getting to see the process, and am thrilled that you will be sharing it with all of us. Can't wait to see the finished result! Hope it all goes through for you.

Jennifer

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Jul. 31, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Happyhome

Wow! What an exciting project! Can't wait to see it as it progresses.

Angela

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Jul. 31, 2006 - Looks Great!

Posted by jaminacema

I cannot wait to see what you do with it!

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Aug. 2, 2006 - Neat a Make Over

Posted by Canadagirl

I grew up watching This Old House, lol. My Dad was always doing something on the house I grew up in.( he worked on it for 30 years (0: )Congrats if all goes well. I am hoping to start building our house in the next week or two and I will show a before and after and up dates on our house too. So if you get tired or frustrated for what ever reason and need someone who is going threw a similar sitation drop me a note. I hope both of our house escapades work out well. God Bless
In Him,

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Aug. 2, 2006 - What a find!

Posted by reformingmama

Looks like a fun project to me! And you don't even have to live there while you're remodeling, which is a major plus! :)
And I love the hutch.
~Stacy

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Aug. 3, 2006 - Beautiful

Posted by joyfulhomeschool

I can just see that this will turn out so beautiful! How fun to get to do that! I bet it will be great to see the before and after!

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Aug. 3, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by humpty

We like fixer-uppers, too. My parents home is over 100 years old, too and my father striped all of the old woodwork, including the 10 in. baseboard and 6 in. window trim and re finished it. He put new wood floors in the house except for the bedrooms. He kept the glass door knobs (some were metal and he replaced them) and the old light fixtures that could be refurbishied. He moved the solid wall of the stair case to the other side so the stairs would be in the livingroom, turned the large utility room into a 2nd bathroom and laundryroom. A few years ago, he got rid of the window units and got central heat and air (he kept the wall heater and the furnace just in case)

We have done a lot of remodeling and fixing and tiling and building ourselves. We completely built our son's house ourselves. I love a project and looks like you have one. I'm a little jealous. Our house is over 40 or 50 years old and needs a lot of remodeling, but it is hard when you are living in it. I am planning some projects for fall.

Keep us updated on your progress.

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Aug. 3, 2006 - SO JEALOUS!

Posted by TeamNewman

Wow, I'm so jealous! I LOVE that place! It has so much character (and in a good way!) I found myself imagining where the Christmas Tree would go in that KILLER LIVING ROOM! I just love it!

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Aug. 5, 2006 - Untitled Comment