House 3 (closed February 2019) in Richmond, Virginia RVA
1977 contemporary-3 bdrm/2 bath somewhere around 1700 sqft
.7 acre lot with greenhouse and what used to be a storage shed
Some of the rooms do not look like this any longer (there is no pink room for example). I think they snapped photos in the summer then made changes as it sat on the market for a few months. OK more than a few. Some rooms are not shown.
The carpet was cut into bits and pieces after these photos were taken and remains this way to this day. The hardwood in the living/dining room was refinished before it was listed, but sadly, it was a really bad job. There are peel and stick vinyl tiles in both bathrooms. It’s not an attractive “update.” Makes me wonder what the bathrooms looked like before. What the entire house looked like.
All of the parts of the house listed as updated were done so half-assed, I wish they just wouldn’t have touched it. I want to go back in time and tell them no. Just no.
The previous owner had only lived there 1.5 years. She didn’t have much for a down payment and wasn’t going to be able to pay off the mortgage unless she got a certain amount for the house. I’m not sure what she was going to do had we not come along. No one was occupying the home while it sat on the market. There was a small price reduction before we came onto the scene. Our first offer was met with a counteroffer-not much give in the situation.
There are total gut & remodels for the kitchen and both bathrooms. There are two decks that need to be completely rebuilt (spanning the length of the house on the front and back) and are needed to gain entry into the home. That’s a humongous chaching! Siding needs replaced-not all thankfully-and painted. The fireplace needs attention. Not even sure what we’re doing there but you can bet it will be a few smileys with dollar signs for eyes. It needs new appliances and a new water heater. There is hardly any storage in this house unlike our last. I need to remedy that. The sunroom and porch need attention. We will likely tear the sunroom off in the end, but for now, it’s my studio for refinishing furniture. It could use a laundry room in place of laundry closet. Every wooden structure in the backyard needs tore down and the railroad ties EVERYWHERE are rotting away, leaving the spikes sticking out in a totally dangerous fashion. Everything is rotting away and a danger. We plan to only rebuild the stairs in the backyard because they are needed to access the paths on the slope. We will not be putting the fish pond, trellis, weird gazebo thing or any of the other 12 structures back. I bet they were great at some point but that time has passed. We need to redirect dirt/mud/water away from the house and ground level deck. We need the backyard leveled. There are weird overhangs attached to the back of the house that have got to go. And at least a dozen other fixes. There is no garage, carport or basement. Just an attic and crawlspace.
And yet, we love this house so much that we went ahead with its purchase. It feels more like us than our last two homes. It’s in a great neighborhood, close to Richmond, close to the river, private but close enough to neighbors. I’m both anxious and excited about this one. Here we go a third time!
