Buying a home is never exactly what you think it will be. Home inspections are only as good as the inspector, and unless you're construction savvy, you'll be fixing everything the inspector missed. As it stands, our inspector was not quite what we were hoping and I am not altogether construction savvy. I once dreamed of a project house and it seems I got one.
I love my house. I do. However, within a week, we'd considered naming it the college fund of the local plumber's children. It got worse from there. There were siding issues, ugly concrete walls and a misplaced fence. We were not batting well in the happy homeowner world.
The to do list loomed long. Luckily I discovered something that made it all better. Insiders at http://www.nari.org/ call it staging. You see. I'm thrifty by nature, but not so good at long range planning. I didn't know how to break the job down into smaller chunks. Doing the house renovations in one fell swoop sounds great except for the price tag. As I said, I'm on the thrifty side. With staging, I plan the renovations and set the schedule for when the work is done. I will do some smaller tasks, like painting and closet shelving. As for the rest, I know my limits. I want the work to be done right and I'm not a professional.
Scratching the Extreme Home Makeover with Ty Pennington, we had to do some real thinking. We are listing all house use and family needs; we're making a wish list. We're working on the budget and saving. Baby steps. The good news is that as I make the list and we tackle items, I can go back to enjoying my house.
While I work on my list and learn more about choosing the right contractors, I invite you to send me your questions.
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