Not Your Typical Starter House….

So I’m a little self-conscious about the size of our house. Consider this post my insecure disclaimer, and I will preface it with the fact that there is a story behind how we got this house.
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A few people have joked us and said that we “skipped the starter house stage,” which is somewhat true. Basically we got a 2,000 square foot house for the price of a starter home. It was a foreclosure and the third house we looked at.
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We actually put offers on two other houses, both much smaller than this one – one 2 bedroom brick ranch right up the street from our current house, and another 4 bedroom Cape Cod about ten minutes away.
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Both were great houses and the second house we put an offer on, the Cape Cod, was my favorite house we looked at. It was charming and in our price range, and we placed an offer on it for less than $3,000 below the owners’ asking price. The owners countered our offer twice for the full asking price and finally we withdrew our offer.
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At this point, I began assuming we would postpone our house search until I got a text message from Tommy at work saying to give him a call – that he’d found us an “incredible house.”

Tommy visited the Hanover County Circuit Courts that morning to check out houses up for public auction, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
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Tommy relayed that he had met a young guy at the circuit courts that morning who was putting bids on foreclosed properties – a guy who flipped houses locally with his brother and another business partner. Tommy began talking to him, shared his business card, and described the area we were trying to buy a house in. �
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The man told him he was in the process of flipping a house in that area, and he asked Tommy if he wanted to see the house that afternoon. Tommy looked at it. I looked at it – and initially, the house freaked me out. Tommy loved it. I was freaked.
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It had two huge Bradford pear trees in front of the house so when you first pulled up in the driveway, you couldn’t even see the house. The composite siding was baby blue, the shutters and doors were hunter green.

Grass was overgrown, the window seams were cracking, and the yard was sorely neglected. It was your typical foreclosure situation and I was apprehensive. But, the dining room and the master bedroom had me at hello.
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And I should also say that the first time I saw the house, it was in the early stages of renovation. It only continued to improve, and I’m so thankful that my smart husband had the ability and foresight to see potential I couldn’t.
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The guy who flipped it was also dream to work with. Put on all new vinyl siding, new shutters, new windows, and new doors. He and his crew installed brand new carpet, repainted each room, and purchased all new appliances to replace the existing ones. He even cut down the two Bradford pear trees in the front yard and laid down new mulch.
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In the end, we ended up purchasing a newly renovated house for nearly $30,000 under its assessed value – with major improvements taken care of and a great foundation for our own projects to come.
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For an idea of our house pre-flipping, check out these photos below: