![]() I am finally taking a night off of working at the house since I have a crazy work day tomorrow…May 17th is World Hypertension Day! Get your blood pressure checked and help the World Hypertension League meet their goal of 3 million blood pressure screenings!...shameless public health plug. Anyways…it has been a busy, productive week at the house. Many visitors have come out to help. I have really appreciated all of the support and hope I can return the favor someday soon. Project 1: Stripping the Banister Every piece of woodwork in the old part of the home has been painted. I saw a picture of a staircase on Pinterest where the banister was stained and the spindles were painted white. I decided to do this. I bought some paint stripper from Home Depot. I found one that was foam in hopes that it would not drip everywhere. So this is what I did: ![]() Step 1: Collect your supplies. I used Klean Strip™ Premium Stripper. I taped all of the spindles. You will want a sharp scraper. I got a few in different sizes due to the shape of the banister. You may want to invest in tarps to protect the flooring. Also, do not forget your protective gear, a mask and durable gloves. Trust me…this stripper burns when it comes in contact with your skin. Non-latex gloves did not help much either. I ended up using construction gloves, and they kept my skin protected. Step 2: Protect the areas that you do not want striped. I placed blue tape on the spindles. I cut a few garbage bags and laid them on the ground (I did not have any tarps). Step 3: Spray the paint stripper and cover all of the desired area. You need to wait for a short period of time to begin scraping. For my project, I had to wait about 15-20 minutes. Step 4: Once the paint appears to be peeling off, use the scraper to remove the paint. Go with the grain of the wood. ![]() Step 5: Reapply the paint stripper if you were unable to get off all of the paint. There were 3 layers of paint and 1 layer of stain on my banister. I ended up having to repeat it 3 times. **Next Weekend** Step 6: Sanding and re-staining! I attempted to sand it and did not feel comfortable at all with the sander…Dad Project! Project 2: DEMO BATHROOM DAY! I finally got to knock down some plaster! Let me tell you…if you are having a bad week, find yourself something to demo. Swinging a hammer and knocking things down just took stress away. My dad and I decided that the first major project that needs to get done is renovating the full bathroom. Throughout the week, my dad and I began removing the wall tiles, the bathroom fixtures, and the tub. I am a germaphobe…and my dad made me help me carry down the toilet! I had such a hard time with that. I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but I am not about that and I think I washed my hands raw that night. I highly suggest cleaning up your demo as you go. We made sure to clean up any debris before we would leave for the night. I think it just helped move the project along. It was really cool to see the window’s hardware. My windows open and shut using a weight system. It is neat to see how it works. The tub was the difficult part to remove. We (my dad mostly) had to cut it in half in order to get it out. Cousin Paulie, my dad’s cousin, came out and helped remove the floor. (I ended up saving some of the tiles. Not sure what to do with them. If you have any ideas, let me know!) I love it when my dad gets together with family members/old friends. All the stories start coming out. This weekend, I got stuck listening to these two singing polka music. Next, came shopping…the fun part to me, not my wallet! Lowe’s and Home Depot are usually next to each other so do not be afraid to get things from both. Home Depot had a good sale on a toilet and a tub so we got those there. Tip: Check out the tiles on the floor. Most likely, they are on sale. That is what I ended up purchasing. Lowe’s had a vanity I wanted as well as a countertop. After purchasing a faucet and showerhead, I had the supplies I needed for a bathroom. My dad also got: thin-set, liquid nails, cement boards, and drywall (those are not so fun to show). My dad’s good friend Mark also showed up and helped lay down the cement boards and install the tub. Project 3: The Basement My house is still propped up by jacks. But we did make some progress with leveling the flooring in the living room. Cousin Paulie helped my dad build the new walls that will support the house once the jacks are removed. The crawlspace is also coming along. My dad has started adding insulation. He cleared out the space, but we still have a pile of dirt to remove. He also installed overhead lighting in the crawlspace. Project 4: The Backyard and Garage I started clearing out the garage. The garage will also need to be jacked up and new walls will need to be built. But for now, I wanted to just get out the remaining junk from the previous owner out. I did find a few surprises…I found the original windows from the house prior to the addition and the original back door. They were stored above the garage door and were overlooked by everyone. I just stumbled upon them when I banged my head on the garage door and looked up. The door looks really cool, and I hope to find a place in the house. I also started working on the “backyard.” There really is no yard but there will be. I picked up all the leaves and removed about 3 layers of leaves under the deck. As you can see, we have been busy. My dad has a timeline of when we need to get certain things done so that I can move in by the end of June. We both hope to complete the bathroom this weekend. I have “homework” to take care of while my dad is gone this week to make sure we stay on task.
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Well I have been officially a homeowner for 1 week! And it has been a crazy week! Before I even had the keys in my hand, my dad had an excel sheet printed out with everything that needs to get done. His program manager background is going to keep us on track! Friday: Just Signed My Life Away…Now What? After opening the door to my new home, my parents and I were ready to get started. Little did I know that the electricity was already shut off, and there was no way for me to get it turned on until the following day. So in the little bit of daylight, my mom started peeling of wallpaper because she hated it. Using our phone flashlights, we peeled off wallpaper until we could not anymore. Saturday: Fun-Filled Day My dad was ready to get to work bright and early in the morning…I was not! So I handed over my keys and let him have fun.I, instead, decided to go with my mom and sister to a flea market (miantiquefestival.com). If you live in Michigan, I highly suggest going. They only hold it a couple of times a year, but there are so many vendors that attend that you are sure to find a treasure. I watch way too much of Flea Market Flip on HGTV, and always hope to find something that can become a statement furniture piece. My shopping list consisted of finding a burlap sack and a railroad cart. After making the rounds, I did not spot anything. I saw a railroad cart that was cheap but not in great shape. I decided to buy it; however, I found out people take antiquing seriously and some lady yelled at me for looking at it. Apparently, her daughter was going to buy it, but was still debating. Doesn’t that mean I could buy it? I guess not. As we were walking out without any purchases, I found a burlap sack in perfect condition with the colors I was hoping for (I will post what I do with it in the future). Then…literally the last vendor we visit…I found a railroad cart in perfect condition! The downfall, it was $400! So I tested out my negotiating skills. I talked the vendor down to $280. I took it and never looked back! Then came the task of rolling it to the truck. My mom and sister (who act like the Gilmore Girls) told me that they would get the truck and pick me up. Well 10 minutes later, I get a phone call saying “Bethany, we don’t know how to get to you. So can you just wheel yourself to the car?” So here I am with a railroad cart that probably weighs 200-300 pounds rolling it about a half mile up and down hills. When I get to the truck, I find the two of them sitting in the car laughing at me pushing the cart. It probably was a funny sight, but I could have used some help. At least I got what I wanted (I will post how I restore the cart in a future post). ![]() After spending the morning at the flea market, I finally headed to the house. I found my dad had already cleaned out the crawl space (Thank goodness because I was not crawling in there), took apart a few bookshelves, and removed wallpaper in one room. A man with a mission! So the first thing I really wanted to do was remove the carpeting. This was the first surprise. Upstairs under all the carpet, there was hardwood flooring in great condition. All the flooring needs is a good sanding and new stain. My job for the day was to remove the tacking along all the walls. To do this, I used a crowbar and hammer. Aim for the nails and pry the tracking strips off the flooring. It is tedious task but needs to get done. This is how I spent my whole afternoon. Sunday: Looking for Windows I got to the house bright and early in the morning. I wanted to surprise my dad with a “clean” house. We started piling everything in the living room. I wanted to take it outside while we waited for a dumpster. I was in the process of prying more of the tacking strips off the floor when my dad made it to the house. I think he was impressed that I got everything out the house. I asked if we could finally see if there were windows behind the built-ins in the living room around the fireplace. Many homes in the area have beautiful stained glass windows next to the fireplace. We could see that at one point there were windows around the fireplace, but they had been covered up. We thought we were going to get lucky again since we already found the hardwood floors and the previous owner thought the windows were just covered up by the built-ins. So we started demoing. To prevent cracking to the plaster ceilings, we sawed the selves in half and pulled them out. This was mostly due to the way they were built. Next came a layer a plaster. As we started peeling it away, we saw wood. My dad thought that this was possibly protecting the glass windows. He then decided to try uncovering the windows from the outside. We hit more wood there. At this point, we were guessing that the windows were not there. And we were right. Both pieces of glass were missing, but the original windowpanes were there. So now I know the size windows I need and can start searching. After this disappointment, I went back to my tacking strips. That didn’t last long because my dad decided to start working on leveling my floors. This meant that jacks and poles needed to be placed in the basement. What we found was that some of the wooden structure support below the basement floor on a pier was rotted. We cut the rotted wood and started jacking up the house so that we could prepare for the addition of new beams and structural support. Let me tell you…it is not a great feeling hearing your home cracking and settling. Most of the upstairs walls above where the basement was being jacked buckled and will need to be repaired. We were expecting this, but it is still scary. Once this was done, I thought that was enough for the day. My dad left me a list to complete while he was away for work. Overall, it was a successful weekend. And throughout the week, I was able to remove wallpaper in another room and got all of the tacking strips up and staples out of the floor. When I got home from work on Friday, I had no energy to go work on the house. So I took the night off to prepare for full Saturday…hopefully, more good surprises!
![]() I will never forget the moment when I learned I was about to become a homeowner…and let me tell you, it does not happen the way our favorite HGTV shows portray it. I was not at a restaurant where my realtor just got off the phone with the seller’s response. There was no hand shaking. No cheers. I was in sweats walking to the gym when I found out my offer on my first fixer upper was accepted. Finding a Realtor I was lucky with finding a great realtor because she worked with my dad previously when he was looking for a home to flip. If this is the first time that you are buying a home, I really suggest that you use a realtor. Find one that is familiar with the area that you are interested in and that has experience. My realtor was awesome. Now, I cannot say the same for the seller’s realtor. Mine ended up having to educate and help him throughout the process too. My realtor also meant business. The seller only had hours to decide to accept my offer or to get back to me about the condition of the property. She set me up with reliable companies for my inspections. I really cannot explain how blessed I was with my realtor. But I would not be able to write this blog if it was not for her! Making an Offer If the first home offer you place is accepted, you are one lucky person. The rest of us get to enjoy multiple open houses, bidding wars, and just the overall stress of “where am I going to live when my lease is done?” I was pretty lucky that my offer on the second house I wanted was accepted. I learned the hard way that if you like a house, do not wait to put in an offer. That is how I lost the first home. My home (saying that is still surreal) went on the market in the middle of the night. As soon as I woke up, I contacted my realtor and had a viewing scheduled that day. I did not make an offer on the home right away because this fixer upper was a big project and came at a high cost. But a few days later, the listing price dropped $26K overnight. At 7:30a, I put in an offer $19K under listing price. After some negotiations, the seller accepted my offer, which was $40K less than the original listing price! My Offer was Accepted, Now What? Before making an offer, you should have already contacted a lender to get a pre-qualification letter. I asked for about $20k over what I really wanting to pay so that I had some wiggle room. Now the inspections! As stated above, my realtor gave me names of companies that she trusts…and that was good enough for me. Because I was purchasing an older home, I decided to get a home, pest and sewer inspection. Be prepared to learn about every crack, creak, and cranny of your home. My inspector took me on a 3-hour tour. I was told to bring a pen and paper with me, but he was talking so fast that I could not write down a thing. He actually walked around with a recorder and gave me a copy of it. I was later able to listen to 45 minutes of what was wrong with my house and jot down notes. Overall, the inspector said the home is a great structure, but will require a lot of work and money. Little does he know, labor is free or me! The pest inspection was not as entertaining…but who really wants to go looking around for termites, spiders, etc. Luckily, my home was pest free…and I will keep it that way. The most disgusting part of inspection day was looking at the sewer. The inspectors put a camera down the sewer pipe to see if there are any sags (aka. there is no slope down towards the main sewer line). This was the last inspection of the day. Everything was looking good for the house and then we hit mud. We ended up having the inspector snake the line. My realtor and I went up-stairs and started flushing toilets to help. We found a small sag. Luckily, they were able to get passed it, and made it to the main city sewer line! What came back up with the camera is something I will spare you all. Overall, there were no roots or cracks and because the house was vacant awhile, mud was probably just building up from the recent rainstorms. The inspections were complete without any red flags. I was so happy and decided to proceed with the purchase. In the community where the house is located, a city inspection is also required to determine if there are any code violations. If there are no violations, a certificate of occupancy (C of O) is issued. Well, the report for my house ended up being about 3 pages long and everything on the list was the seller’s responsibility to complete. Here is where the fun began…so the seller was not aware of this. With only a 45 day closing, there was no way that they would be able to complete everything that was on that list. So, I decided to negotiate even more on the purchase price and took responsibility of the C of O. The seller was hesitant and declined my initial offer. However, we were able to talk them down another $25k. So now I was getting the home for $65k below the initial asking price. This was an amazing deal…I could not loose it! Picking a Lender Today, we are all on our phones/computers most of the day. Days of going into the bank to deposit a check is long over. Apparently, mortgages can now be done online too. I am going to explain why you should stay old school with this. My mortgage application process was awful, and I hope people can learn from my experience. So I did my mortgage through a large bank’s online system. It was nice. I could upload all the documents I needed to submit to the system. At first it was super easy and a smooth process, but that did not last long. I got a call from my mortgage broker one day stating that they would be declining my loan application due to my debt-to-income ratio. This is due to the fact that I have student loans (which I pay every month). I have never paid the standard rate on my student loans, because I always qualified for the income based payment plan that is slightly lower. In order to get my ratio to change, either my income needed to increase or I needed to pay off a loan. I thought I was in luck; I was just starting a new job with higher pay! They say changing jobs mid-mortgage application can be bad thing, but my broker thought this could save my application. A week went by, they denied my loan again all because my new job offer letter state “this position is non-tenure.” Because they could not be sure that my job would last three years, they would not accept my loan. This was 8 days before my scheduled closing! There was no way I would find another agency to make my closing date. I tried everything to get them to change the status of my application. I contacted my HR department and had them contact the broker. I tried to get my parents to co-sign on the loan. I talked to my broker at least 10 times a day, even if he did not want to talk to me. I was persistent reaching out to supervisors. I was so frustrated. How could they say any other job would last 3 years? At my new job, I am managing million dollar projects that will last longer than 3 years. After days of pushing and making about 30 calls a day to the bank, they accepted my application; however, I had to get a bunch of other documents for them in a short period of time. I am making this sound a lot simpler than it was, but I really do not have the time or the strength go through that roller coaster ride. I ended up having to write a hardship letter to allow me to sign on time. If I would not have been able to sign on my scheduled day, I am pretty sure I would have lost the home. Moral of the story, ask your realtor about lenders they recommend and go into an actual branch and sit down with a person. Closing on my First Fixer Upper I closed on a Friday. I had hard time concentrating at work. I was so excited…all my hard work paid off! I did a final walk through with my realtor about an hour before the closing appointment. I could not believe I was about to own my first home. When I got to the closing table, I was able to meet the seller, the previous owner’s son. At first it felt a bit awkward. The previous owner had recently passed. Because my lender was slow with giving us the “okay” to go through with the purchase, we sat there with the seller who has to get rid of his childhood home. I think he appreciated knowing this was my first home and that I wanted to make the property look nice. This made the situation a bit easier and we all needed up having a great conversation. I learned a lot of the history of the street and the property. After 2 hours, we finally were able to go through with the purchase, and I was given keys to my first home! The next step…opening my first fixer upper! |
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AuthorA twenty something about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of my life…buying a fixer upper. Archives
September 2016
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