It’s been a little while since I decided to get another house – a second house. The reasons are personal and not relevant to the end results. But, here’s where I will be logging whatever I can as a reminder of what I went through to get where I am today (today as in future-today).
I’ve been searching for a cheap property to call my own for a couple months on and off. My initial search was focused on tiny houses, like Ikea small, like <600 sqft. Those houses are few and far between, and because it’s no longer “the way” to build small houses, you can’t find newer small houses. I suppose that’s because of efficiencies of scale. The ones I found were around 100 years old. A house that old sort of introduces problems of its own.
Just this week, I’ve found a slightly newer, but larger, property. It’s gutted, but I can live with that. It’s about 10k more than what I was previously looking for, but the value is still good. I looked it over yesterday and decided to move on it.
The first step is getting the financing for it. I have enough in savings to cover 50% of the purchase price, but obviously I don’t want to blow it all. After all, I have no cabinets, appliances, or even a water heater. I also need to replace one pane of glass in a room. The other stuff isn’t critical to moving in. Well, maybe a working shower is needed. Hot water first, though!
The property itself has many quirky qualities. The garage was converted to the master bedroom, but the driveway wasn’t removed, so the driveway goes right up to the master bedroom windows. There is a detached garage, but no driveway to it. Past the garage is a large paved pad that looks like a place to park an RV. In the back yard, there’s a cement block shed, another aluminum shed and an empty concrete pad for maybe another shed? Craziness.
The interior is screaming to tell stories, but the walls can’t speak. It seems someone was in the process of renovating the property and gave up or ran out of money or something. Some walls are painted with a faux finish, some walls are partially torn out, bathrooms are partially plumbed. The only cabinet in the whole place looks like a new vanity in the 2nd bathroom. I have no idea why the previous owner stopped. Did someone steal all the new cabinets and the water heater?
So, I’ll have to get cracking on the next step. It’s been 10 years since I dealt with mortgages. I have no idea what I’m doing.