Everyone that knows me knows that I am not impulsive, I think things through to a mind numbing degree and there are usually spreadsheets involved. Call it my training, my nature, my being, but yes I like to make informed decisions. This is why these last couple of months have been.... a little, shall we say, out of character.
It probably has to do with the COVID pandemic or binge watching too much HGTV and DYI Network, or something, but I have been feeling well thus far from the cancer (see Cancer Blog here: https://vpons1.wixsite.com/website), and bored so I decided to start my own home renovation project.
The first step was looking for a house...really a home as I would like to live in this house for some time.... this is quite the challenge here in Austin, Texas where the housing market is beyond anything I have ever seen (and this includes Denver, CO pre-COVID).
Most houses go on the market here in Austin and have multiple offers within 2-4 hours. When looking at houses there were multiple times where my agent and I would have to wait outside for the people ahead of us to finish looking at the house, rush home and fill out the paperwork for an offer prior to the deadline. Asking price was really only a suggestion of where to begin the process. All the houses that I put offers in around the area that I was looking at (and there were many), sold significantly over asking and with multiple crazy offers.
Well I finally found a house in a beautiful 1970's neighborhood called Balcones Woods. The house is perfect as it is in need of major renovation, has beautiful large trees on the lot, and the neighborhood is centrally located to the Domain, the Arboretum, and the Tech Corridor/new Apple Campus. I put in my offer and closed on February 1, 2021. Below are "before" pictures of the house:
Along with the renovation, many walls will be moved and a new larger kitchen is being planned. These are my renderings so please be kind. I have included here an original floor plan (more or less) and what I would like the new floor plan to look like.
I am currently "interviewing" contractors and architects for the project, there have been already a couple that seem excited, one that handed me the folder back and said this was above what he could do, and one that does not return calls.
Through out the process I will be asking you guys for help in voting for various options including but not limited to tile, fixtures, colors, etc. I am looking forward to sharing the joys and tears, thank you for reading!
I will also hope to eventually invite everyone over for an open house (once the COVID gets tamed!)
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