The Adventure Begins
We bought our home in 2011, at a time when jobs were scarce, and even those with jobs faced shorter hours and the constant threat of unemployment; the prime rate had dropped to a nearly unprecedented low, and along with that rock-bottom prime rate, the housing market had absolutely tanked.
We were renting a house at the time, and our landlady kept raising our rent, and was threatening to raise it even more -- and it was already more than we could afford, as she was one of those homeowners who became victim to Wall St.'s greed, owing far more on the house than it was worth at that time, so she was trying to gouge it out of us.
We seriously considered bankruptcy... but fortunately, we learned that if we did declare bankruptcy, that would mean we would be totally unable to even THINK of buying a home for at least two years -- so we shelved that bankruptcy idea about one day shy of actually going through with it, and turned our imaginations to figuring out how we could buy a home, and escape the hell our landlady was making for us.
My parents, bless their hearts, agreed to advance us a sum of money for the purpose of repairing my husband's credit, so that he might qualify for a VA loan. It took a couple of months, and much hair-pulling angst, but we finally managed to drag his credit score up sufficiently that he qualified; then another month of hair-pulling angst, while we sought a home to buy -- a lot of homes were derelict, in foreclosure, at that time, but we knew the house had to be livable right from purchase, or the VA would never ok the mortgage. Thanks to a determined Real Estate agent with ReMax, we finally found our home; thanks to a determined mortgage broker, Silverton Mortgage, we closed on that house in 26 days.
We were renting a house at the time, and our landlady kept raising our rent, and was threatening to raise it even more -- and it was already more than we could afford, as she was one of those homeowners who became victim to Wall St.'s greed, owing far more on the house than it was worth at that time, so she was trying to gouge it out of us.
We seriously considered bankruptcy... but fortunately, we learned that if we did declare bankruptcy, that would mean we would be totally unable to even THINK of buying a home for at least two years -- so we shelved that bankruptcy idea about one day shy of actually going through with it, and turned our imaginations to figuring out how we could buy a home, and escape the hell our landlady was making for us.
My parents, bless their hearts, agreed to advance us a sum of money for the purpose of repairing my husband's credit, so that he might qualify for a VA loan. It took a couple of months, and much hair-pulling angst, but we finally managed to drag his credit score up sufficiently that he qualified; then another month of hair-pulling angst, while we sought a home to buy -- a lot of homes were derelict, in foreclosure, at that time, but we knew the house had to be livable right from purchase, or the VA would never ok the mortgage. Thanks to a determined Real Estate agent with ReMax, we finally found our home; thanks to a determined mortgage broker, Silverton Mortgage, we closed on that house in 26 days.
Living Room
The red couch was actually a hand-me-down from my parents, when they bought new furniture -- not a thing in the world wrong with it, but my mom wanted new stuff. So we got that red couch, and the side chair, and that beautiful oak coffee table.
A year and a half later, we were finally in a position to finish our living room, with a love seat that is nearly a PERFECT match to that couch, and a 60" TV to replace the 48". Still wish we'd gotten even bigger.
One of these years we may be in a position to put a sealed gas-log unit in that fireplace; my asthma, a broken flue door, and a house 30+ years old which probably hasn't had a chimney cleaning in all that time, prevents us from ever using the fireplace to actually burn wood.
A year and a half later, we were finally in a position to finish our living room, with a love seat that is nearly a PERFECT match to that couch, and a 60" TV to replace the 48". Still wish we'd gotten even bigger.
One of these years we may be in a position to put a sealed gas-log unit in that fireplace; my asthma, a broken flue door, and a house 30+ years old which probably hasn't had a chimney cleaning in all that time, prevents us from ever using the fireplace to actually burn wood.
Kitchen and Dining
Top two pics were from the house's real estate listing, and they both show the original appliances -- gas stove and old dishwasher; the 3rd pic is just after we moved in, so still with the original appliances. The last kitchen pic shows the new smooth-top range, but not the new dishwasher, which was acquired a bit over a year later. Also in the last pic, you can see the under-cabinet task lighting achieved with "warm light" fluorescent tubes.
In the dining pics, you see first the real estate listing pic, and below it, the very first table we had there, while we searched for what we really wanted -- which my parents found for me, at a Goodwill store! That round pedestal table and the beautiful and comfortable Windsor chairs in the two pics on the right are EXACTLY what I was looking for!
In the top two pics, which correspond to oldest and most recent pics, note the size difference of the ceiling fan -- we finally replaced that stupid looking tiny ceiling fan with one that actually fits the space, and you can see the newish TV in the corner in that most recent pic, in the top-right position.
In the top two pics, which correspond to oldest and most recent pics, note the size difference of the ceiling fan -- we finally replaced that stupid looking tiny ceiling fan with one that actually fits the space, and you can see the newish TV in the corner in that most recent pic, in the top-right position.
Master Bedroom
Initial furniture and arrangement
Same furniture, new arrangement
New bed, similar arrangement but with minor differences including desk, and the gorgeous stained-glass lamp.
Outdoors
May 2012
The backyard doesn't look nearly this good now. That tree died, probably killed by that vine, as well as the huge sinkhole under the tree, and the lirope grass died too, since that whole area has subsided considerably -- and after it subsided enough, the tree just fell right over -- away from the house, thankfully. One night during a heavy thunderstorm, we heard/felt this deep "whomp" -- looked out back, and sure enough, the tree was on the ground.
My husband has worked diligently on getting rid of the weeds and getting grass growing, and in the summer, it looks reasonably good -- but in the winter it's kind of a barren wasteland back there.
My husband has worked diligently on getting rid of the weeds and getting grass growing, and in the summer, it looks reasonably good -- but in the winter it's kind of a barren wasteland back there.
The Front Yard
October 2011
September 2012
July 2013
May 2020
