See My New House

[Imagebuffet]

Here are some snapshots I made of my new house, the day after I bought it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagebu...7621805117095/

[ggeen]

Looks very nice. Congratulations. Are you going to set up one of the rooms as an office?

[tc95]

Nice looking home...Congrats...!!

[Cajungaltx]

Looks like it's got great potential! I love - LOVE home projects like this. Typical female mentality... lol.

I think you'd said you wanted a bigger kitchen - and honestly - after your in it a while - t's got a great layout to be able to expand.

One really good thing I saw though - was that whoever did the landscaping was intelligent enough not to put the bushes 'right' next to your slab... and they did the nice gravel area... smart, smart, smart.

I hope you enjoy it! Are you going to rip out the carpet? What are your plans?

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by ggeen

Looks very nice. Congratulations. Are you going to set up one of the rooms as an office?

I haven't decided what I'm going to do, yet. Of course, I would like an office, maybe a weight room and computer room. I'm also thinking of getting a roommate, because I really could use some help with the mortgage.

Imagebuffet added 0 Minutes and 14 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by tc95

Nice looking home...Congrats...!!

Thanks!

Imagebuffet added 38 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Looks like it's got great potential! I love - LOVE home projects like this. Typical female mentality... lol.

LOL! Yeah, I like thinking of what might be done with it, too.

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

I think you'd said you wanted a bigger kitchen - and honestly - after your in it a while - t's got a great layout to be able to expand.

The kitchen is a bit cramped, even for a single man using it. There is hardly enough room in front of the sink to turn around to face the stove. My realtor observed that the built-in cabinet in the garage could be removed, adding about 2 or 3 feet of space to the kitchen, moving the refrigerator and stove towards the front of the house. The only other space it has would be the dining room area, which isn't very big.

Between the dining room and the garage is the laundry room and water heater. It needs new flooring and I think the back wall might be rotting. The other side of that wall is the bathroom for the master bedroom, which I would like to see larger.

The garage, of course, is just a one-car garage. It isn't very large. I would have preferred to have had a two-car garage. I imagine that adding another garage bay would be very expensive, maybe impractical. The former owner kept his motorbikes in there and stores house paint (it's still there) in the built-in cabinet.

Although I love the big, open back yard, I am very much thinking of adding at least a small store room, and maybe a workshop. I need a storage shed. I had been looking for a 1500 s.f. house, so I could store all my stuff without being cramped, but I decided that it would be cheaper to buy a smaller house with less to A/C, and put in a storage shed for my papers and such. This is an ideal opportunity for that plan.

One of the neighbors has a 2-story "playhouse" in his back yard. Honestly, he could rent that thing out as a guest room or something. It has a window that looks across the ally and over into my backyard. If he can do that, I think I can, too.

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

One really good thing I saw though - was that whoever did the landscaping was intelligent enough not to put the bushes 'right' next to your slab... and they did the nice gravel area... smart, smart, smart.

Yeah, the previous owner knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, I don't. He used to work with people who did foundations, and he knows all the right things to do. You can't see it in the photos, but he has soaker hoses lining the foundation around the house, too.

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

I hope you enjoy it! Are you going to rip out the carpet? What are your plans?

The only rooms with carpeting are the bedrooms, and none of them match. I don't know what to do with them. I'm not a big fan of carpeting, but I don't know what else would be good to put in there. I would like something resilient and soft.

My main reason for buying property is for financial investment. A rough estimate tells me that in 15 years, I could make about $80k over what I would have if I rented all that time. That doesn't count any changes in the market value of the property.

My main goals for the property are to increase its market value; make it a source of income for me; and make it a comfortable refuge for me. There is a limit to the increase I can make to its market value. My neighborhood is nice, but nobody is likely to pay double the value of other houses in the neighborhood, no matter how nice this house becomes. I'm in a basic, middle-class, working family neighborhood.

A roommate would be a simple way to bring in a bit more money, though roommates usually are a problem. Another option would be to set up a business. Either way, it is likely to affect my insurance premiums.

If I had my preference, I would turn the house into a high-tech haven. I'd put a pneumatic sliding metal door on the front; voice-controlled, computer operated electrical outlets throughout; and a diffuse, illuminated ceiling. I would love to have a full-sized bathtub, so I could lie down completely in it and soak and doze (I'm 6'3" tall). I would like to have a garden for food and flowers, maybe a greenhouse. I'd like a swimming pool, but that probably isn't practical. I'm thinking of how I could set up the back yard so it is like an outdoor photo studio, in which I could move plants and props around to make it look like various exotic locations. That's all fairly far off, if I ever do it.

I probably won't do much for the first year, while I plan out what to do and how to do it. Of course, I need to replace the broken windows, though they still shut, so that isn't really a pressing matter. I have three patterns of floor tile and three colors of carpet. The rooms are different colors, and not really complimentary colors. I think the changes that I want should be planned out as a whole, instead of making piecemeal changes to small parts at a time.

I'm open to suggestions!

[carrbowl]

Make sure you think thru things before you get started...don't replace the floors before you redo things above them!!! It's easier to do painting and construction when the floors don't matter. There is ton's of potential...I'd love to be around in 15 years and see if your plan works out!!

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by carrbowl

Make sure you think thru things before you get started...don't replace the floors before you redo things above them!!! It's easier to do painting and construction when the floors don't matter. There is ton's of potential...I'd love to be around in 15 years and see if your plan works out!!

Thanks for the advice. That makes sense. Though, the previous owners put down a very nice tile floor in the living room. Hmm... I have a bunch of tiny rooms, surrounding one huge living room. I'm thinking I would like to make the other rooms larger and the living room smaller. Why would he make such a big living room? It's like a dance hall! The bedrooms and kitchen are about 10x10 boxes.

Oh, I'd also like to install a solar hot water heater.

[C!LLY]

it's very cute. congrats! :)

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

Thanks for the advice. That makes sense. Though, the previous owners put down a very nice tile floor in the living room. Hmm... I have a bunch of tiny rooms, surrounding one huge living room. I'm thinking I would like to make the other rooms larger and the living room smaller. Why would he make such a big living room? It's like a dance hall! The bedrooms and kitchen are about 10x10 boxes.

Oh, I'd also like to install a solar hot water heater.

I saw the tile - it's gorgeous. If you like wood floors - laminate floors are always very durable, and gorgeous.

As far as the size of the rooms - it's because you sleep in the bedrooms, and live in the living area...

I would have larger living space, than to have larger bedrooms... lol.

Plus - you could break up the living room into two areas and have one as your office area. That's leave you with two bedrooms.

Sometimes you have to get creative...

Check on a tankless water heater - they are very economical when it comes to conserving energy.

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

I saw the tile - it's gorgeous. If you like wood floors - laminate floors are always very durable, and gorgeous.

As far as the size of the rooms - it's because you sleep in the bedrooms, and live in the living area...

I would have larger living space, than to have larger bedrooms... lol.

Thanks, I wondered if someone would say something like that.

I was raised by wolves, so I spent most of my time locked in my bedroom. That's my refuge, my domain. I like to have it nice.

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Plus - you could break up the living room into two areas and have one as your office area. That's leave you with two bedrooms.

That's a good idea.

Although I'm not sure that I want to go the roommate route, I definitely want to keep that option open.

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Sometimes you have to get creative...

Check on a tankless water heater - they are very economical when it comes to conserving energy.

Thanks for the suggestion. I wonder which would cost less? Solar or tankless? It seems a shame to waste all this Texas sunlight. Then, again, solar water might put a strain on the roof.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

Thanks, I wondered if someone would say something like that.

I was raised by wolves, so I spent most of my time locked in my bedroom. That's my refuge, my domain. I like to have it nice.

The whole house is now your domain... you own it, it's yours... Your bedroom can be nice... but so can the rest of your house... lol.

That's a good idea.

Although I'm not sure that I want to go the roommate route, I definitely want to keep that option open.


Thanks for the suggestion. I wonder which would cost less? Solar or tankless? It seems a shame to waste all this Texas sunlight. Then, again, solar water might put a strain on the roof.

I did research for a friend on replacing a water heater a year or so ago - and I found this -most hot water usage in homes occurs in the early morning and evening when sunlight is not available to reheat the tank. So that means that your (usually) gas has to kick on to heat the water... which results in a higher bill. With the tankless units - it kicks on when you need it - and your done. With rebates, etc for upgrading - they run about the same cost.