Kitchen Before

Crazy, NASTY kitchen.  The pictures don't really do the ickyness justice.  There is a smell, one that can't really be described, in this hole of a kitchen, that forces me to pull my shirt up over my nose and inch about the room as if it's filled with landmines.

That being said, it is larger than it looks in the pictures, with two windows, space for a breakfast nook, and a backdoor that leads out to the garage.

On the to do list is:

1. Gut the whole lot!
2. New cabinets, shaker style (paint-grade solid wood)
3. New counters, honed black granite
4. Subway tile back splash
5. New flooring, hex tile salvaged fir floors, painted "Jadeite" green
6. New sink, faucet, plumbing
7. Gas range
8. New hood vent
9. Sub-zero fridge (thank you, Dean!)
10. New sheet rock, if needed
11. Fresh paint
12. New wiring
13. New outlet covers
14. School House Electric Lighting (if the budget allows, most likely, I'll end up at IKEA!)

One Hot Mess

I know.  This looks like a nightmare, and I assure you that I'm terrified.  Welcome to my nasty basement.  Aside from the obvious things, what we found out from our inspector, yesterday, was that we need a structural engineer to tell us exactly how effed the foundation really is.

Apparently there is ZERO drainage and therefore, significant water damage, and the foundation is failing in some parts.  Enter structural engineer.  We thought we'd have an estimate for repairs by now, but there is giant question mark over the foundation--it could be 5k or 50k--we just don't know yet.  We should, however, have a good idea by this Tuesday. 

Exterior of the House--Before

Sad, yet full of potential.  We're  chopping at the bit to get to our inspection today.  Fingers crossed!

203(k) Loan

My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home with a 203(k) or "rehab" loan.  This type of loan is handy when you want to purchase a property in need of some work, because you can combine the purchase price of the home with the cost of the remodel into one mortgage, right up front.

The first step is to locate a house.  This took a bit of doing for us, because we are on a pretty tight budget and Seattle real estate is crazy town!  We finally found a classic, little, old craftsman, in the Central District, in need of some serious love.

The next step was getting mutual acceptance, and it turned out that our offer to deal with all of the junk in the house (the woman who owned it passed away and all of her stuff is still inside) moved our offer to the top of the list.  Since we already plan to do a total remodel on the house, a day of cleaning and dump runs aint no thang.  At this point, you should have a contractor lined up--you technically cannot do the work yourself, unless you are licensed, bonded, and have the liquid funds for all materials and labor. Lucky for me, my husband is a carpenter and we're getting a screaming deal from his old boss who is a contractor. 

We had a sewer scope scheduled and that went well.  Tomorrow is the initial inspection.  With a 203(k) loan, a HUD inspector is required.  This is where we'll find out what work the bank and HUD will require. From there, we will be able to determine the rest of our budget and create an itemized work order of the things that we want to do.

I will post before pictures of the house soon and continue to track our progress and post ideas for the remodel.