The structure of the house is good, but it definitely needs some cosmetic work. We think the folks who abandoned it intended to flip it because they started renovations, but clearly never finished. The main floor is all hardwood, which is absolutely beautiful. The layout is opposite of our current house, with the kitchen in the front, which makes the living/dining room much larger. There is a fireplace in the living room and the deck is off of the living room. The kitchen is about half the size of our kitchen, but it’s still an eat-in and the floor was updated. The frig is in terrible shape and probably needs replacing. I didn’t look too closely at the stove/oven or sink, to be honest. There is crown molding and a chair rail in the LR/DR - the walls are painted red and pink so we would need to paint over that. And there is a wallpaper border above the chair rail that wasn’t done very well.

The carpeting in the rest of the house all needs to be replaced. There are paint drips all over it in addition to some scary stains so we think they intended to replace the carpeting after they painted, which was started and not finished. Halfway up the stairs to the upper level, the pink color they started ends mid-wall. The bedrooms are just like our house, but the closet doors are trashed and need replacing. The master bath is tiny - more like the master bath in our previous house, but in good shape. The second bath up there is good for guests and Jesse (and Beau) with a tub/shower. They added a linen closet in the hallway in the tiny end where the space would be wasted, so that’s a nice addition.

The basement is basically the same layout as our current house with a bedroom/office that does have a closet, unlike the room Beau is using as his office. The carpet in that room is in better shape than the rest and is a nice blue color. The small full bath looks like a new addition and while the shower looks lovely inside, the drywall wasn’t done very well and we think it wasn’t sealed properly because there is evidence of possible mold. But we figure replacing that shower enclosure wouldn’t be too hard to do if it is mold. There is a washer and dryer that look in good shape. The rec room is the same and includes a door to the backyard, which is a huge plus. I like a walkout basement for Annie.

The backyard is mostly patio under the deck. But there is a short rock wall garden area and a small shed. It’s overgrown, but had potential to be really nice out there for Annie and/or Jesse. It is fenced, too. The deck is large but it does show evidence of some fire damage in one spot and it needs cleaning and treating. The outside needs painting in both the back and front. The front looks weather beaten, but had potential to be pretty with the same short rock wall garden beds on both sides of the steps that lead to the front door. There’s an overgrown rose bush under the bay window, but it’s healthy because it had one lovely pink bloom and several buds. There’s an overgrown boxwood on the other side of the steps. And lots of weeds, but a nice bed for planting bulbs and flowering plants.

So the house has potential but would require a lot of work to get it livable. If we decide to try for this one, we would need to ask for money for home improvements with our lender. But since the house is priced so low but appraised almost three times higher (last year), she thinks our lender would give us the extra cash to do the improvements that are needed.

Our realtor is not available to show us houses today, so Beau and I plan to do a lot of driving around today on our own. We want to map out the houses we looked at online to see what the neighborhoods look like, where exactly they are located for commuting purposes, etc. We think we can rule out entire neighborhoods this way to save time with our realtor on Saturday when she takes us out to look again.

So it’s officially started.