Since yesterday's post was all about defining the relationship we are going to have with our house, I thought that today's post should sort of branch off of that. Why don't we talk about our goals with this house. Does that sound good? Shall we delve a bit deeper into this relationship thing?

Just say 'yes.'

Trust me, you want to. :)

When we were searching for this house, we had a couple of things in the back of our minds.

We knew we wanted a house that involved some sort of fixing up. I wanted to be able to make the house ours and Jonathan, being a carpenter, always dreamed of remodeling his own place someday. Needless to say, we both decided to openly communicate about the state of whichever house we were looking at. If we both didn't agree about the amount of work, the house was crossed off the list.

Location was also another thing that we were constantly aware of. We ultimately wanted to have acreage, but knew that it might be hard to find in our price range. Houses in our area that have acreage, need a decent amount of work, and are priced under $100,000 sell very fast. So, an expansive backyard was deemed acceptable. (That was one of the reasons we decided to purchase this house. The backyard made us giddy!)

And finally, the third thing we kept in mind was the whole resale/investment ideal. We knew that to get into the whole house-in-the-country-with-acreage-and-plenty-of-square-footage deal we would need something that had the potential for a great investment. Our thought was to live in the home for approximately 15 years, in hopes that the housing market would rebound a bit, and then sell her for a decent profit. Profit + $ in savings + a bit of time = enough to purchase/build our dream home.

After keeping all of those things in mind, we set out to buy the 'ideal' house. I have to say, I think we found her. :) Why don't we continue to break down our thought process a bit further? I'm going to attempt to explain our long-term plan. Here we go!!

Let's start out with the basics. We purchased our house for $51,600. More on that here. We were also told that the house across the street (which is completely updated) sold, in 2011, for a little over $90,000. So, to do the math for you, that is a $38,400 difference. Why don't we just say $40,000. Based on that we have a lot of wiggle room. Also, to sweeten the deal, we have the huge backyard, whereas the house across the street doesn't.

Of course, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to our house and we know that we may not see some of the money, we put into her, back. Yet, we still feel that we made the right choice. Forty-thousand beans is a lot to work with. Plus, when you have a carpenter for a husband...that sort of helps things a bit.

There are definitely things that need to be done to this house, that we won't see our money back on. You know, the stuff that buyers expect to be there, but probably wouldn't throw cold, hard cash at. These include:  upgrading the electric, putting in new windows, installing a new hot water tank, and tearing down the plaster and lathe. These things all need to be done, in order to sell the house at a decent price, but a buyer wouldn't pay extra for them necessarily.

But the important thing is that there are a host of other projects that we should see a major return on. For instance, renovating the bathroom, kitchen, and master bedroom should prove beneficial. Also, adding-on two more bedrooms and another bathroom should be a big selling point. We also hope that redoing the landscaping, fixing-up the garage, and possibly residing the house will add more bang-for-the-proverbial-buyer's-buck. Catch our drift? We are just banking on someone appreciating that we did all of the work for them.

Yet, we feel that it is important for us to remember that God is in control and no matter what we do to this house, it is in His hands. We just are hoping that He has instilled enough wisdom in us to do the right thing. We are excited about all that is before us and we can only pray that all of this will be to His glory in the end. I mean, isn't that what its really all about?

Now, I do want some input for all of you homeowners out there! Please tell me, are we crazy? Any tips or suggestions? 

'What are your intentions with my son?'

Yes, that is one of the first things that my father-in-law asked me--back when Jonathan and I weren't even dating. 

We had just arrived at Jonathan's parent's house, for his sister's high school graduation party. Having driven six hours, I was more than ready to get out of the car and stretch my legs.  I was really anxious to meet his family. We had come for a visit as friends. I made sure that Jonathan informed his entire family of this before we even showed up. We would be nothing more. 

So, when I sat down at the kitchen table with Jonathan's dad and this question slipped out, I just smiled.  

Was I intimidated? 

Nope. 

Did I squirm a bit? 

Nope.

How did I answer? 

By sweetly saying, "It is up to Jonathan." 

Bam! Conversation over! I had survived my first defining-of-the-relationship talk, with Jonathan's dad. No more pressure. 

Oh and you might be interested to know that we started dating the next day. Friends and nothing more? Ha! What a joke! :) 

That was almost 5 years ago. Man time just flies by. 

Well, all of that to say, I feel like it is time we (you and I) have a defining-of-the-relationship talk. A chat about the relationship Jonathan and I will have with our house. What are our plans? Where do we see ourselves in five years? in ten years? What are our remodeling plans and goals? 

Now, I did go over this a bit in this post, but it was very brief and a few things have changed since then. As we work on the house, we begin to think of different ways to do things. We chat about the future of this place and what we would like it to look like in the end. 

It is our first house and our dreams are huge.

The plan is to work on the house in stages. We are currently in the "beginning" stage or "stage 1" for short. This stage has consisted of everything that we needed to do before we moved into the house. For instance, we needed a bathroom and a place to sleep. We needed to upgrade the electric and do some basic things to the rest of the house (priming, painting, ripping up carpet, etc).

This stage also includes a bit of the small things that we still need to do. We still need to trim our master bedroom, finish some painting, and add some decorative elements to our home. Don't worry, I will be getting more in depth in the upcoming months. I will make sure to document the whole process as we finish Stage 1.

Stage 2 is characterized by the mediocre projects that we need to work on in the next 1-2 years. Things like replacing all of the windows throughout the house; gutting the guest bedroom, living room, and dining room; re-landscaping; and doing some work to our garage. There are a lot of things that need to be done that will fall under the relatively big projects category, but won't be something too mammoth to undertake.

And in the end, Stage 3 is going to rock our world. This stage is 100% characterized by major add-ons. First, we will be adding on to the back of the house and expanding our kitchen. Right now the kitchen is cute, but too small for us. We would love to have a bigger space and even add an eating area so that our dining room can be more of a formal space.

We would also like to add on the rest of the second story. Right now, our master bedroom is the only thing on the second floor. Our future plans include adding on a bathroom and two more bedrooms. Since we don't have any children right now, we easily get by with our bedroom and guest bedroom. Yet, we do plan on having/adopting children, so we would love to have some extra space for them. :) Plus, we are keeping in mind the whole resale factor, and a house with only two bedrooms (one that doesn't even count, because it doesn't have a closet) doesn't sell as easily. So, all that to say a second story addition is really needed.

Want the Reader's Digest version?

Stage 1: Let's do a bit of major work, but see if we can work with what we have. 
Stage 2: Air-brush the heck out-of-her!
Stage 3: Some much needed plastic surgery.


And that is what our intentions are. We mean business here people. And for all intensive purposes (or if you want the real phrase: for all intents and purposes) we are enamored with this house and plan on going all the way.

Of course, we have dedicated ourselves first. Duh! We are Christian's here and want to make an honest house of her.

Took it too far?

Ok.

The end.