LOLC's old house money pit before/afters

[lolc]

House was built in 1925
3 bed, 2 bath, 1341 sq. ft.
Part of the city grid system (so urban/suburban)
Bought in 2005, sold in 2012.
Money pit

Before (2005) & After (2012)




This was shortly after we bought it in 2005


This was how we left it in 2012


2005


2012


2005


2012


2005, heading into the backyard (garage to the right, house left). Notice there was a chain link fence in the back.
Beyond the chain link was an alley (and that yellow you see was someone's garage that faced into the alley).
The chain link was broken and the full view of the alley was bothersome. I will never live in a place with
alleys again. NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES FROM AN ALLEY... in my opinion.


2012 - amazing what a pressure wash can do. This was shoddy work done by a previous owner at some point.
Not at all even, it was pretty treacherous to walk... and notice those stairs? I'm just thankful nobody got seriously
hurt. Notice that top step. It was STEEP.



2005, this was the back of the house. And anyone questioning "Why did you buy it?" Answer: "Because believe
it or not, when we were looking, this was the best offered at the time in our price range that was in the area
of the city we wanted to be in. We looked at at least 30 houses, put offers on more than 5 of them (which people
had already beat us to - every single time) - it was a ridiculously hot market and we had a realtor who made fixing
things up like this seem easy to do and relatively inexpensive."



2009 (not much changed up to 2012):




"Floor plan" of the old house (I got skillz) lol





This was the view when you first walked in (in 2005) - the room you entered immediately upon walking in
used to be a porch that was converted, so it was long and narrow room. The room with the red "accent wall"
was the living room, which went straight to the dining room, which went to a kitchen.


This was how it looked when we listed in 2012:

2005, taken from the original listing to give you a better idea of this front room. The floor was a vinyl/laminate peel-n-stick-roll.
It was awful. Everytime you walked on it you'd hear "bubbles" under the laminate cracking/crinkling.


After (2012)



Another view of the front room


Living room in 2005 (seller's stuff)



2012:


Listing photo 2012:


Taken from 2005 listing. I've been asked "Why did you get rid of those windows?"
Main reason? Very old, extremely inefficient, wood around was completely rotted.
We went with transom windows (though I initially planned just one long one in the
middle) because I felt that room needed as much wall space as possible. Plus the
window in the front room and dining room enabled you to see outside clearly so
you could still see people pulling into your driveway, etc.


Taken in 2009:

And in 2012:


Taken from 2005 listing photo


2012 listing photo:

2005 dining room (before we moved in):


2012 listing picture:

This was actually taken in 2008 but it looked similar to this in 05.

2012 listing photo:


2005 (original listing photo)


2012 listing photo:

Before (taken in 2008)

2012 listing photo

Another 2012 listing photo:

2005, previous owners things. First thing we got rid of upon moving in was this propane stove.
I swear that thing had a leak. We hadn't even used it and it smelled so strongly of propane it was
making us sick. Plus inspection showed a burner was not working anyway.



2009:


2012 listing photo of the smallest bedroom:


2005 - this is a picture of the same bedroom above, but you are looking at it from the opposite direction (so if you were standing near the window). The open door is the closet, the door next to it goes to a hallway, and the door to the left goes to the kitchen. Too many doors!


2005, picture from kitchen looking into master bedroom:


2012 listing photo (after):

Before  (Unfortunately no real "after" shot apart from the one you see above)





2005 Before (took picture while we were there for inspection): All kinds of wrong in this picture.
How could I be so stupid as to not notice that the previous owners were pigs and let their dogs
piss on newspaper (which doesn't stop pee from soaking through) right on the carpet!? Vomit. And notice
the door leading into the bathroom.
Yes, that's a "door" - it is a vinyl/plastic accordion door with a magnet on the end to close it.


After (2012). We had a sliding door to the bathroom installed I think in 05? Or 06?


2005 (previous owners things) Master Bathroom. Another "how many things can you find wrong"


After:


Master bath before:

Master bath after:


Main bathroom in the house (we never did anything to it, not because we liked the way it was....
but with everything else, we hadn't yet saved up the funds)
This was in 2005, sellers things. The bathroom didn't look this cluttered when we owned it!
There was a toilet and a pedestal sink to the right and some built ins on the left


2005 before we moved in, view of the "office (and later boys bedroom) from the hallway (the main bathroom would be to the right in this view). Not sure that you can tell but that orange to the left was actually a door. Not ever used by the previous owners or by us. We had it walled in a few years back and the guys did
a pretty great job, considering they used drywall and the house has plaster walls.


2005:


2005 - closet to the left and you can see down the hallway a little. The open door on the right in the hallway
goes to the dining room.


After:

2012 Listing picture (the carpet was just a giant rug):

And to finish up:
A nestie (wish I could remember who it was!! Would love it if she's on here so I could thank her again) did this for me
back when the board was "Your home" (I think??) Like 2008 or 2009. She photoshopped the green
trim and door paint (and I'm sure everything else is obvious!) The house was fugly (looking more like
the 2005 "before" pics, but with new windows and roof) She was offering to do this for various people
who were willing to send her a pic and several ppl took her up on it so someone here has to know (I hope!)
"Vision" pic

And this was the actual house in 2012






Any questions or comments? Feel free

[sju]

You did a great job in that house!

[sratsey]

Great job! It's night and day from the before pictures. I love the color in the kitchen.

[Blueper]

I adore your house- you did some serious work! I even find myself liking things that you did that I normally don't like.

[pitterwoo]

wow, you guys really did an incredible amount. I'm sorry you didn't get that equity back in the sale. You transformed the place for the next lucky homeowner.

lol at the plastic accordion door.

[Deleted]

Wow, I love the transformation!

[pickel]

Even though it was a money pit, you guys did an amazing job!

[katecoop]

Gorgeous! I love that color in your kitchen!!