Pin Worthy Home Renovations
Okay ya’ll. Continuing on with our “pin worthy” series over here, but taking the focus to something a little more relevant in our lives: home renovations. If you saw our announcement, then you know that we’re moving! Read all about it here but we’re definitely going to be in an older home that needs a bit of work. Magnolia/Fixer Upper has been a huge source of inspiration for both Brandon and I; we’re rewatching past seasons and taking notes! Additionally, there is so much on Pinterest and the before/after photos are seriously giving us life! We’ve got some plans set now for our future home but can’t wait to really document and share the process with you guys. This will be our first home renovation and we’re nervous but excited. Although we don’t have tons to do like ripping out walls and having a “demolition day”, there are still some challenges that come with an older home. If you’ve renovated before, be sure and leave a comment at the end with any tips you can share!
Our Wish List
While I love all of the home photos here, the ones that stand out the most are the brick homes painted white. Brandon and I are DYING to do this. In fact, I’ve always wanted a white house, ever since I was a little girl. We’d love to do some new landscaping and add curb appeal.
We are under contract with a 1950s ranch style home and actually went out to see it this past weekend. Ranch style isn’t my personal favorite so we’ll be changing some things here and there to give it a more elegant feel. We also have a huge project with the detached garage in transforming that to Brandon’s “man cave” haha. Keep reading to hear our house saga story!
The Midland House Saga
I promised to tell our story on house hunting, and boy is it crazy! The Midland market is very inflated right now due to the oil boom. Homes are double to what we currently have in San Antonio, and even then, they still need work. That being said, we knew we were going to have to find something a little smaller and something that needs a little more work or “TLC” as I like to call it.
When we went house hunting for the weekend, we made offers on two different homes, both offers above asking price. We got neither. Homes fly off the market in less than 24 hours if it’s in a desirable location. We knew we wanted to be in a certain location, for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it’s a better area with a lot of charm, good schools, and the resale value is excellent.
We were extremely discouraged by our weekend. We’d emotionally invested in these two homes and pictured ourself in each. Leaving Midland without being under contract was not what we expected. We thought for sure we’d have a house. Our process needs to move quickly, simply due to Brandon’s job. We were dejected and feeling a little sorry for ourselves because it meant returning again for another weekend of house hunting.
That week, I checked Zillow, Realtor, Trulia, and all the real estate sites almost every hour. I knew that if something popped up, we had to beat out other offers. By the grace of God, a home popped up and I saw it within twenty minutes. I quickly texted our relator and she confirmed it’s in the area we wanted. Within two hours, we put in an offer.
Nerves continued when we discovered that there were five other offers in less than 24 hours. I wrote a heartfelt note to the owners, telling our story and why we wanted the house. In the end, we found out that the owners picked our offer because of the note. We are so grateful to be under contract and just hope for the rest of the process to run smoothly. We’ll definitely update you guys along the way!
