new old house

This has been a long time coming.  Over a year actually.  We found this house a long time ago in New Jersey but couldn't buy it because we weren't ready to move in.  FHA considers that mortgage fraud which was probably not worth the risk, and I couldn't afford the 25% down for the other option of an investment mortgage.  So about a year later we started looking again because I got approved to work from home for my job, and I can do that in New Jersey as easy as I can in DC.

So in our search with our awesome real estate agent, this same house came back up on the market, only through a new selling agent and much closer to the offer we had originally made.  We decided to pull the trigger and buy it but with one added complication - a HUD FHA 203(K) rehabilitation loan, which happens to be the most ridiculous time consuming annoying process on the planet.  It's like the DMV everyday of your life for three months.  Maybe not that bad, but definitely the most difficult trying experience of my life.  My patience was tested daily and Stephanie had to put up with a lot, but we held it together.  It might have been easier if the bank wasn't incompetent to begin with.  I really understand why the mortgage industry is so screwed up.  And since the mortgage industry is under such scrutiny, they are super cautious with every move to the point of bringing the loan process to a crawl.

So about the house.  It was built in 1907 and half of the downstairs was the town's original phone exchange, and the phone booth is still inside where I can just picture the little old lady plugging in the phone cable to connect a call.  After that, the space was used for the town's first drug store, and all of the original hardwood cabinetry is still there.  This is now an antique store so it fits perfectly with the historic character of the space.  The other half of the first floor is a one bedroom apartment where the sister of the previous owners still lives.  Those are my two tenants who are going to help pay for me to live in the 1800 square foot second and third floor apartment.

The apartment still has a lot of nice originals as well and a very unique mantel from I don't know when.  Let me know if you have any clues about the decade.  We are having the second floor interior refinished and with a new kitchen and bathroom.  The third floor will be gutted and left for me to finish out.  There is also a carriage house that will eventually become a granny flat, but may be the new business home to an historic window repair man if he is still interested come springtime.

Steph is super excited, and Elliott enjoyed seeing her "New Jersey house".  I can't wait to see Ellie and Zoey playing in the yard and enjoying their third floor kids' rooms.  Actually I'm not in any hurry for them to grow up, but definitely in a hurry to get the renovations done so that we can move the family in. Keep checking back to the blog to see updates on the house renovations.

Enjoy these "before" pictures of our new old house: