Where I'm at right now...

Well, I will be living in Fargo for 3 more years to finish my Architecture degree, so I decided to purchase a fixer-upper home that I could live in and renovate instead of paying rent. I figure I'll significantly refurbish a house and sell it after college to, hopefully, make a little money for a down-payment on a post-college house. In the mean time I will be having some roommates to help pay the mortgage since I only work part time. I hope they won't mind dust/fumes/demo!

I found this 1928 house that is conveniently located, large, and cosmetically challenged. That seemed to be a pretty good investment for my first house, so I put in an offer (which was accepted) a few weeks ago. I'm now extremely excited for closing because I want to start working on the house as soon as possible! I have to wait until mid-august to close because the home is currently rented out and the tenents needed some time to find new lodging.

The house was bought by the previous owner in 1984 as a forclosure, then converted into a duplex which has been rented out for the last 23 years. You can about imagine how well it's been taken care of! I will be converting the house back to a single family home which, after some light construction, will feature four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's somewhere between 1300 and 1400 square feet, but laid out well. The foundation is perfect and the house is structurally sound, she just needs a little cosmetic TLC to make her shine again.

I have begun planning the renovations that need to take place as soon as I take possession. These changes need to happen to make the house ready for my friends and I to live in. They are as follows:

• removal of 2nd story kitchen
• removal of extra wall dividing the livingroom from the entry
• removal of closets in living room and dining room
• replacement of wall separating master bedroom from hallway upstairs
• replacement of kitchen appliances. I got some that are about 5 years old from a friend'suncle for cheap, so all I need to do is get them into the house. My back hurts thinking about it!
• CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!!! My house is gross now.

After those issues have been tackled, my list for future projets so far is:

• bathrooms: upstairs needs tile on the floor and tub surround, new sink/vanity, some sublfoor work. basically everything. downstairs needs floor tile, shower stall, new toilet, and because of space issues I'm thinking pedistal sink. I'm hoping that money falls from the sky for these projects, 'cause it won't be cheap!
• windows all need new glazing, some have cracked glass.
• refinish wood floors throughout house
• strip paint from banister and 2nd floor woodwork and refinish. (just got a heat gun on sale, really excited!)
• update kitchen cabinets somehow. I'm thinking paint and hardware because that's all I can afford!
• tile in the kitchen, looking into how to replace the counters.
• replace some wood trim outside on the soffits, bargeboard, etc. then paint. The house has white aluminum siding, so that has to stay, but every available wood surface will be painted because I can't stand how bland the house looks in all white!
• replace light fixtures throughout the house (will happen as sales present themselves! I'm not paying sticker price for anything!)
• repairing cracked plaster in bedrooms upstairs. There are some really weird texture issues!

I have been scouting through salvage shops for some of the items needed for the projects and so far have only found a sink. Hey, it's a start! I'm also watching enough HGTV to make a person's head explode. I'm excited to try my hand at tiling, paint stripping, floor refinishing, and demo. I've done some work in the past, so hopefully it will serve me well.

I think that's about it for now. Future posts will feature photos, but I can't get in there to take them until August!