"AS IS"

I still remember filling out the paperwork and making the offer on the house at the Realtor's office and then being told to "go play". I had done everything I could do on my end and we probably wouldn't hear anything until the next day. I decided to drive back to the house and even though I couldn't get inside, I wanted to walk the property and start to day dream. I was surprised to find a message on my voice mail from our Realtor saying that the bank had accepted our offer!! I called Dave immediately and he was just as surprised as I was!

When I had my initial showing with the Realtor he had arranged for a contractor to meet us at the house. From the inspection report, we were already aware of some of the work that the house needed to have done. Having the contractor on hand assured me that these issues were fixable and that they wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg! His expertise would also allow us to do some remodeling and upgrading on the house itself. We could have moved in almost immediately, once the electrical and plumbing issues were addressed. All we really needed to do was to upgrade the kitchen appliances.

I still remember seeing the house for the first time and all of its possibilities. We believe that the owners knew they were going to wind up losing the house so they didn't complete some of their projects. We will need the contractor to add trim work in many areas and in the case of the kitchen, I have asked him to rework the kitchen island.

Our first project was the exterior, since winter was just around the corner. The garage roof had a significant leak which needed immediate attention!

(The garage has a workshop upstairs and down the road, I would love to finish it out and make it into a scrapbooking and crafting studio.)

The Family Room was an addition and needed to be finished with extra insulation and exterior wood siding.

(Before)

(After)

There is a well on the property and the "Well House" needed a little attention as well. The contractor insulated the Well House, finished the exterior siding and we had an Electrician hard wire a light fixture for us so we wouldn't have to use a flashlight. We will have a Plumber install an emergency shut off valve for the pump as well.

In this photo you can see the unfinished, exterior portion on the Well House. Additional work that the contractor did was to raise the door so we could close it all the way and attach some trim work that had fallen off.

The Well House is somewhat visible off in the distance. The pump for the well takes up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the Well House and I envision using the remainder for a Potting Shed down the road.

This area where the window is located would be my Potting Shed.

There is also a Playhouse on the property and we had him replace a broken window. Eventually we will need to have him check it out and see if it needs a little extra support, etc. for when the grand kiddos are visiting and want to play inside. Wouldn't want them to fall through the floor!!

(The Playhouse is to the right of the front porch.)

I am eager for my next trip which is only 5+ weeks off. I want to be able to take some more exterior pictures and do a comparison. We're discovering that "as is" doesn't have to necessarily be a bad thing. As the issues are addressed, we have the peace of mind that things have been done right!