Most of our friends and family know we still own our Utah house and rent it out, and after much debating back and forth and a few weeks of looking with a realtor, we decided to put an offer in on a house here in Clearwater, FL. It was killing Brian and I that we were paying more for our crappy two bedroom apartment with no yard here than we pay on our mortgage for our 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in Utah with a garage and fenced in backyard at the back of a quiet neighborhood. When we found this house, I was certain it was what we were looking for and I made Brian go look at it with the realtor that same afternoon after I saw it. In the end, it was a bidding war but ultimately we got it and didn't go any higher than what we said we would bid overall.
I've probably ranted about it before but housing in Florida is the worst. The really nice places are $2100/mo. for a 2 bedroom place, or it's government subsidized and we make too much money to have a decent place for a decent price. We wound up renting in a crappy apartment complex that would shut our water off randomly because of "water main breaks" because it was the only place available for a decent price when we needed to move. People ask me all the time what it's like living in Florida and I tell them it's a great place to vacation, we're not in love with living here. But with Brian starting his MBA in August, that will keep us here at least until December 2019, so we decided to buy a small house, put some work into it, and hopefully get a return on our investment, instead of just throwing the money down the drain on rent.
We had a very small window on the map of where we wanted to buy. We wanted to be in the boundaries to go to the same church we go to now, we didn't want Brian to have a long commute to work in Tampa (it's currently 15 mins or less), we didn't want a HOA (ours in Utah is a TRAIN WRECK), Brian had to have a garage and decent backyard, and we didn't want to be off a main road. Between sink holes and flood zones, it was not easy but we started looking at the perfect time, put an offer in, and were able to close on the house between vacations at the beginning of June. We have our apartment lease until the middle of August so we've been able to do all the painting and cleaning we wanted to get done before moving our stuff (which we've already done now, I'm just behind on posting this).
We were looking for something specifically that we could renovate and update some and this was the perfect house. It's 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, with a huge fenced in backyard. It's pretty small but there's no wasted space. Each bedroom has a big closet and the rooms don't feel too tiny. It's also nice because we have wood or tile in all the rooms. After our Utah house and all the renovations we had to make with that, I'm very skeptical about houses with carpet now!! We're working on the permits and plans to expand the third bedroom, add a master bathroom and walk-in closet, and transform it into a real master suite. The outside is a gross yellow color and I can't wait to paint the exterior in September. I'm not a fan of "Florida house colors." Before we moved in we painted the living room, dining room, hallway, two bedrooms (excluding the one we're going to renovate), and the bathroom.
My awesome stepdad is a contractor at home in West Virginia so he's going to do most of the work for us when they come visit in September. We're going to extend the front porch, rework the landscaping out front (waiting for my talented mama to come down to help me with this), add a screened in back deck, and update some other things along with the renovation (new tile floor in kitchen, backsplash, reworking the garage a bit, etc.). Brian has already planted two trees: one grafted lemon and orange tree, and one grapefruit tree! We also have garden boxes that we'll be planting soon, and our backyard is up against a park so we don't have any neighbors behind us which is great!
I'm resisting posting more pictures until we have more before and after photos, but I'll put a few up of the changes we've already made! The people who lived here were renting it from an older couple and they were able to make changes to the home--- which was not a good thing. The people who lived here had a weird obsession with "distressing" things-- doors, cabinets, walls-- which to them was just brushing some paint places that it shouldn't have been. The bathroom cabinet and all the doors to the bedrooms, garage, and closets were all "distressed" and I'm so glad that's been fixed LOL.
It feels good to be back in a place that's all ours, with no neighbors on the other side of a wall, people to tell us how to keep our grass 1/18 inch tall, or steal our parking spots. I also enjoy not having to carry groceries up a flight of stairs or drive our trash down to the trash compactor. You take for granted walking down your driveway to the mailbox when you don't have to drive to the post office to mail a letter.
I was overwhelmed with all that we have to do with this house but now that we're settled in, we both feel good about it and Tatum is obsessed with the house. We painted her room purple and bought her a pool that's big enough for the three of us to all play in comfortably. I feel like I have so much freedom now! I can lay out and soak up some sunshine while she's outside, getting some sunshine, corralled and playing happily in the water. As much as I love the beach, it's really nice to be outside without leaving home and not be dying of heat stroke! Our neighborhood is pretty quiet and I love the location. I feel like we've learned so much from buying our first house and now we're that much wiser! There's definitely adjustments to buying in Florida, like prepping for the current hurricane season, buying window clamps and hurricane shutters just in case, etc. But we're excited for a new challenge and more renovations!
Bathroom BEFORE
Dining room/Living room BEFORE
Hallway BEFORE (more ugly yellow)
Bedrooms BEFORE (all three bedrooms and the bathroom were this neon blue)
Living room AFTER
We painted the living room, dining room, hallway, and one bedroom this neutral gray
Here's an example of the hideous "distressing" that I mentioned before. These doors are all white now!
Hallway AFTER
Tatum's lilac purple room. It actually looks kind of like the gray but you can see more of a difference with her toys and furniture in there (see photo #2).
Bathroom AFTER
We painted the walls a dark greenish blue and decided to turn the "distressed" cabinet black. The other walls are covered in white tile so to accent all the white we needed some darker colors. Also, bonus points for the double sink! Getting ready for church has never been so easy haha.
Being an adult for me is getting way too excited over a brand new washer and dryer! But I LOVE doing laundry now, so that's enough for Brian LOL.
Our backyard needs to be reseeded heavily and it's on our to do list for the weekend, but here's part of our backyard with a very happy baby in her pool.
I'll do more renovation posts as we get things done!
Xo- Jess
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