Allow me to introduce the Daly Digs! We have a lot to do, but believe it or not, she didn’t always look this good. 

The Backstory

It has been a long journey and the road was bumpy. Before this, we had been living in a home that we built in an HOA for several years. It lacked character, looked like every other house on the street, and had a postage stamp size yard. It was a nice home, our first grown-up home, but we knew we didn’t want to be there forever. Mike wanted some land and more privacy with room to spread out and ample space for the doggies. I was hoping for a home with unique architecture not too far out of town. So, we put our old house up for sale and probably had 100 showings over the course of a year. We took it off the market, hired a new realtor, relisted it, and finally got a contract. They agreed to our 90-day close so that we could have time to find a new house.  We could finally seriously shop for a new home, something we stopped doing because we didn’t know if ours would ever sell and I was sick of looking at homes that sold before we could make an offer. So we stepped up our search. We found one that we loved, put in an offer, and ended up losing in a bidding war. At the time I was discouraged and feared we’d never find “the one” and we’d have to settle. Then, one night Mike showed me a new listing that popped up. It had everything we were looking for, unique architecture, in a great area, and sat on a few acres. We emailed our agent at 10 pm that night and saw it the next day. We had to be quick – we were looking for something that was tough to find.

Ready for the before?

This is how it looked the first time we saw it. Worn down, in dire need of a pressure wash, and slightly creepy. The yard was completely overgrown. The home was a foreclosure and had been vacant for a couple of years. It needed LOTS of updating, but we fell in love with the farmhouse charm, dormer windows, and the land. I knew this was the one. We immediately began working up an offer but because we were a couple of months away from closing on our old house, we put in a contingency offer which the bank refused. Thank goodness the buyer of our old house agreed to push up the closing so we could put in a non-contingency offer on the Daly Digs. After a little back and forth, they finally accepted! But it would not be that easy. We feared our VA loan, which has more stringent requirements as far as the condition of the home, would be an issue. Well, let me tell you, it was. The VA appraiser had a laundry list of things that would need to be fixed by the bank in order for us to be able to close. By now, let me remind you, we had sold our old house, moved out, sent the doggies to grandmas, packed all of our stuff into pods, and were living like nomads. First, we stayed in a friend’s rental for a month, then we went to a cheap hotel which we left after one week because it was horrible. So we eventually went to the Hilton, where unbeknownst to us, we would spend the next 78 days!! Trying to purchase a bank-owned home with a VA loan is not for the weak at heart. While we were lucky the bank was agreeing to do the work that the VA required, they did it at a snail’s pace and did things that were not required – which sounds great but not so much. It delayed the process, forced us to pay more closing costs out of pocket, and we had zero say in any of the finishes, paint colors or floors they were updating. There were delays at every corner and our closing date was extended more times than I can even remember. But eventually, after a 4-month long rigmarole, they finished everything, the VA inspector cleared the home and we were able to close.

Here’s a glimpse of the inside from day 1. Lots of work to be done, yes, but she has great, high ceilings,  a huge fireplace focal point, french doors, and tons of orange wood and disgusting carpet. We celebrated closing day by ripping up all that gross carpet. 

Things are coming along but you’ll have to stay tuned!