Both the title and survey looked fine. I was a bit surprised to see we'll actually have 1.82 acres (instead of the 1.58 listed on the real estate info). Part of this might be explained by the fact that it's measured to the middle of the road on this survey, but that doesn't account for the whole difference. I don't know who had to give up 0.24 acres, but I won't complain.
I think the survey map is interesting:
A few details on the map: The "stream" on the east side of the property is really more of a seasonal trickle - we definitely won't be fishing or kayaking right from our yard.
All the fences are kind of interesting, and we'll almost certainly remove at least some of them. The one surrounding the barn is a two-rail wood fence that was used for horses, and is starting to fall down in a couple spots. We might try to repair that and add some wire fence that would be effective at keeping Leo in (or other critters out, if we put a garden there).
The "wire fence" on the east side is in very rough shape - this will almost certainly be removed and scrapped. I've never sold metal to a scrap yard before, but between this fence and other random car parts that were left in the barn, I think I'll have at least a trailer-full. I don't expect to get rich, but I'm kind of curious to see/experience the process of selling scrap.
Moving on to more general updates: We're very excited to get in to the property, spend some time measuring and looking around, then start cleaning and working on improvements!
The very first step (after walking around enjoying our new place, and replacing the locks) will be to clean up one section of the barn a little bit, so we can start moving some stuff out of our current apartment. We're quite crowded in here, and are looking forward to the storage space offered by a barn. We don't want to move very much stuff into the house itself yet, since we'll undoubtedly be creating a lot of dust, and we'll be re-doing most of the floors anyway, so we'd have to repeatedly move anything we put down inside.
After a little bit of barn cleanout and some pre-moving, we'll dig in on the house itself. Removing old shag carpet, removing wallpaper, pulling down a few ceiling tiles and some paneling to confirm which walls are load-bearing, and planning our renovations in more detail.
I'm planning to do the 1st-floor bathroom remodeling, which will include removing a portion of a wall (which was clearly added after the house was built, so it's not load-bearing), and installing new tile flooring and a vent fan.
I'm also planning to do most of the kitchen work, which includes removing a few cabinets, adding a dishwasher, adding a garbage disposal, adding a over-the-range microwave with a vent that will exhaust to the outside, and installing new (cork?) flooring. The biggest change to the kitchen, though, will be removing (most of) the wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room, and replacing that with an island. The island will bump out toward the dining room a little bit, which will buy us some floor space, and significantly open up those two rooms. The only question is whether the wall we want to remove is structural. We might be able to just add a big thick header across the whole opening, or we might have to leave a column on one side of the island. We'll find out after we remove some paneling and check out the existing framing. For the island itself, I'm hoping to find a nice chunk of countertop, and maybe base cabinets, at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
Then there are a whole bunch of other smaller projects, which I'll try to explain here as I work on them. And finally a complete remodel of the upstairs, but that may wait a few months.
Soon after closing we'll be seeking a few estimates from remodeling contractors, so I can decide which projects to tackle myself, and which we will hire. The roof is definitely going to be a job we hire out, and will definitely happen soon. I also definitely plan to hire someone to do the rough plumbing for the new bathroom upstairs, to connect the propane line for our gas stove, and to connect us to public water (already available at the street). But other than that, I'm (naively? ambitiously?) willing to tackle just about anything that would be cost-effective to do myself. We'll take some "Before" pictures as soon as we get in to the property!
Can't wait to get started!
