Nighthawk House *Before*

Some time around Christmas, Jamie & I started looking at houses online. We'd gone back and forth for a few years trying to decide if we wanted to move, or add on to our house. With both of us working from home, we just needed more space. Jamie's theory: 'I don't want to be the most expensive house on the street.' So that meant we'd be leaving Celebration Ct.

We each chose houses to go look at. I, of course, chose brand new homes and Jamie, of course, chose foreclosed homes. The very first house we looked at was on Nighthawk Dr. It wasn't at all what I was looking for, but the price was right for Jamie and he grew to like it more and more. The house was too big for me and the maintenance looked like too much work. We knew it hadn't been lived in or updated in quite a while.

But, after a few more weeks of looking at other houses, we decided to put in an offer on the Nighthawk house. (I'll admit that I'd also been thinking about all the things we could do with the house. A guest room, a gym, my very own office and Jamie's very own office all the way down in the basement...)

A few different offers and 10,000 pieces of paperwork later, the Nighthawk house was ours! We kept hearing that we'd be getting the keys 'any day' and that finally happened on Monday, March 19th.

Here are the *before* pictures of the house. We have a lot of plans and a lot of ideas...if only we had a lot of money to go with those we'd be fine. Don't forget, the house was a foreclosure and hadn't been lived in in almost 2 years. There are two stages of work that need to be done on the house. 1. To make the house habitable. There is damage that needs to be fixed before we can get our 'remodel' money out of Escrow. 2. To make the house ours. Once the 'remodel' money is in our hands, we get to add all of the things we want to the home.

Stage 1 - the roof need replaced, gutters need replaced, the exterior needs painted and some of the siding needs to be replaced. There are some trees that need to be removed as they are too close to the house.

Stage 2 - all of the trees and shrubs are coming out in Stage 1, but I'll be adding new trees and shrubs in Stage 2. Rock will also be replacing all of the brick.

Stage 1 - nothing needs replaced here.

Stage 2 - the entire main floor will be hard wood. The front door will also be wood to match the new garage door. The interior will be painted. Mostly everything will be gutted inside and donated to Habitat For Humanity.

Stage 1 - rotting in floors and walls needs to be replaced.

Stage 2 - this entry is being moved to the other side of the wall to make the kitchen more cohesive.

Stage 2 - a new kitchen! (Without wallpaper!)

Stage 1 - both decks are unsafe - they need flashing, posts and new wood.

Stage 2 - rock to replace brick on both fireplaces inside the house.


My new office space.

Stage 2 - a new powder room! (Without wallpaper!)

Stage 1 - the floor in the laundry room is rotted due to standing water. Replace.

Stage 2 - sink moved against wall with new washer/drying and cabinets.

Stage 2 - a car lift in the garage and new garage door.

Stage 2 - all of the upstairs will be new carpet, paint, fixtures, etc.

At the top of the stairs is my new craft room.

Makena's bathroom

Makena's bedroom

Stage 1 - roof is leaking so the ceiling and wall need to be repaired.

Stage 2 - Makena has so many ideas for her space. Something along the lines of a projector screen, a couch, fridge and a hanging chair.

Down the hall are two more bedrooms (a guest room and a gym) and the master bedroom.

Stage 2 - the two windows on the wall will be closed in so that french doors can be added and a new deck built out of the master bedroom.

Stage 2 - the crazy, mirror doors and a wall the block the window in the closet will be removed so that there is more space inside.

Stage 2 - a new bathroom! (Without wallpaper and carpet!!)

Downstairs we have three more bedrooms, a bonus room (which will be a game room), a utility room and a bathroom. The entire basement will be hardwood flooring.

Stage 2 - adding a steam shower and redesigning the room to create a smaller bathroom and more space in the game room.

Stage 2 - toys for the game room.

Stage 1 - the deck is dangerous. It also needs flashing, posts, new boards and stairs.

Stage 2 - a door will replace the slider.

Stage 2 - this wall will come out to make more space for the game room. This will still leave us with two bedrooms downstairs - one of which will become Jamie's office.

Stage 2 - we will replace the new, safe decks with larger composite decks that we like. We may remove the deck below to create a staircase and patio instead.

Stage 1 - most of the trees and shrubs are being removed and most importantly, the blackberries.

Stage 2 - new grass, plants and a fence for the dogs. We've already had a disagreement with the HOA (more on that later) about the fence, so we are back to the drawing board with that.

Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do on Nighthawk Dr. *We* aren't actually doing most of the work this time, which I can say that I'm happy about, but stressed just as much. Decisions, decisions, decisions... We can't wait to see the changes tho!