For a year and a half, Nick and I had an extra job on our hands as property managers of two apartment buildings. We managed 23 apartments and many personalities. It proved to be a lot to juggle (with our other jobs, law school and grad school) but we are so grateful for the experience, because it allowed us: 1) a chance to learn about property management and rentals, in case we want to own/rent in the future, 2) a way to hone our business and management skills, and 3) opportunity to save for a home of our own!
It's an exciting time and we feel incredibly privileged to 'get in' when so many are getting pushed out. (including our sellers, who were in foreclosure). It has 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, living, dining, kitchen with breakfast nook, and a large 3-season porch. Fantastic neighborhood and location. The purchase was 'as-is' with a lot of work to do. In the month between purchasing and moving in, we had the hardwoods refinished, new plumbing in baths and all faucets replaced, GFI's installed, electric fans installed (no air conditioing), new vinyl in kitchen and one bath, painted all the kitchen cabinets with new hardware/hinges, painted rooms... Some of the work we did ourselves, and some we hired out for. We hoped to do more but learned some of the tasks, like cloth-wrapped wiring, were not our forte.
The drawback of doing all this work in winter is that we can't open the windows (enough) to let the place off-gas. I'm concerned about the environmental reprecussions on our bodies. That's why I made such a push to get work done before we moved in, so we weren't sleeping in the formaldahyde and BPA. Here are some pics of the house after the work we did. It's a project house, but that's okay.
Here's where we spend the majority of our time in this big old house! The 80's style breakfast nook!
The sellers purchased a warranty for us, to sweeten the deal when we were concerned about all the fixes necessary. We assumed that the warranty would be useless, because we've heard that other friends' warranties never paid for anything. However, thankfully, the warranty company has been totally reasonable. They've already paid for replacement of two parts on our very old hot water furnace, 4 gas leaks fixed (eeek!), and a new water heater. Next stop, new garage door. And later, a bathroom remodel! (YES, it's okay, you can laugh at the swan.)
We began the house search in September and toured nearly 100 houses (really!). We put an offer on the house on 10/28, closed 12/28, moved in 1/28, and had our open house party 2/28. No special reason for the choice of the 28th of the month, but it's kinda funny. We're glad we did it all quickly, though. We're both busy, so we really appreciate the privacy and warmth of our new home. With plenty of rooms for friends and family to visit!
