Our former house recently came on the market so I took the opportunity to take Alexa to see the “old house” during the public open house. It was very interesting to see what’s changed in 8 years and the reality is, not much.
The owners did a nice job of upgrading the front elevation by painting the exterior gray (it used to be red, which was the color when we bought it), added the stacked stone on either side of the garage door, stained the concrete driveway and added the artificial lawn. They added a new concrete patio in the backyard and cleaned up the landscaping and installed more faux grass. It up-leveled the curb appeal, but the interior is exactly the same as when we sold it…just in worse condition.
It was disappointing to see custom cabinetry dinged up, expensive features not well maintained and no real effort to fix any of it prior to putting it on the market. Regardless, there was a lot of interest, as I fully anticipated there would be, and they sold for $225,000 above asking. Not surprised at all!
During the 6 years we owned the house, we did a lot of work including stripping away lots of wallpaper, repainting, upgrading carpet, installing closet organizers throughout and we remodeled the master bathroom and hall bathroom prior to Alexa being born. The kitchen was completely gutted and opened up to the dining room just before Alexa’s 1st birthday. It was and is the nicest house in the neighborhood (if we’re being totally honest!) Unfortunately, when there’s a divorce, no timing is ever good and it was right smack in the middle of the biggest real estate downturn. Prior to short selling the house, I sold all the appliances which included a built-in KitchenAid refrigerator, Viking range, built-in microwave, built-in Miele espresso machine, warming drawer and dishwasher. Hey, if someone was getting my house at below market price, I wasn’t going to give away my high end appliances too! As you’ll see, the owners replaced the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher but never filled in the other gaps.
Enjoy the tour. It was good closure for Alexa to see the house 8 years later. She was only 4.5 years old when we moved out so her memories are a little foggy. It’s crazy to see her in the house at her age now because she was so little when we lived there. Bittersweet, but not sad at all…just interesting.
