The Engagement House is Finished AND Sold!
Wahooooooo! Mike and I finished The Engagement House in late April, put it on the market on April 25th, and received a full price offer the next day! However, in the world of real estate, things aren’t always so easy. A week later, the buyers got cold feet and wanted out of the deal. They wanted to add an addition onto the house for a new master suite, and decided it was going to be too expensive. After some not-so-fun back and forth, we settled amicably and went our separate ways.
Mike and I were terrified that our beautiful remodel was tainted now. Sometimes when a deal falls through, it’s due to an inspection that’s shown some massive flaw. It could be a million other reasons too, but we were worried potential buyers would think the worst. We also feared that we had lost our fire. Usually when a house hits the market, the first week or two brings the most showings. We put it back on the market on May 3rd. On May 4th, we received a full price offer. Hallelujah!
Get this though - they bought it sight unseen. These buyers were a young couple living in Chicago who wanted to move back home to Indy. They were just about to jump on a plane for a wedding when our house went back on the market. Their realtor (who’s been in the business for decades) saw the house, took videos on his cell phone of each room, sent them the videos, they reviewed them when they landed, and they decided to make an offer. We were under contract the first time they saw the house.
It did scare us a little. Accepting an offer from a couple who had never seen the house might’ve been a little risky, but their realtor did his due diligence. He asked us what cabinet brand we used, where we sourced our tile, who did our landscaping, etc. and then reported back to his clients. So they felt good about it, which made us feel more confident that they weren’t going to back out.
We feel really good about these buyers. Their parents actually saw the house before they did, so we got to meet them and chat with them for awhile. Turns out this couple just had a baby and are moving back home to be closer to family. I love knowing a young couple is going to raise their family in this house. Truly it makes my heart feel happy….so sappy, I know! If all goes to plan, we close right after we get back from our honeymoon in mid-June.
I’ll post updates of each room, but until then, here are the final before/after pictures.
Exterior
Rear exterior before. We closed in the patio door and a window, installed new french doors, new patio, new firepit, new pergola, new landscaping, repaved the driveway, painted the house, etc.!
We buried the power lines and it made a huge difference in the aesthetic of the backyard.
Family Room, Kitchen, and Mudroom
We opened up the wall and the staircase in the foyer to make the family room more open to the rest of the house.
We removed the closet and the bookshelf to the right of the fireplace and also knocked down the wall on the right.
Dining Room & Living Room
Dining room before. We made the opening to the kitchen on the right larger and moved it to the center of the wall.
Master Suite & Upstairs Hallway
Both of the master closets were very small. We removed the one on the left totally. We made the one on the right a huge walk-in closet by stealing space from the bedroom behind it.
Another view of the master bathroom before. We removed the wall separating the spaces and the bulkhead.
Bedrooms
We stole space from this room for the new upstairs laundry by bringing out the wall left of the entry door.
Bedroom #4 after we cut it in half. The entry door and window are in the same original location.
Bedroom #4 before. We kept the closet and entry door in the same location for this bedroom.
Bedroom #4 after we cut the room in half. The nook to the left of the closet was one of the closets for the master bedroom that we removed and gave to this room.
Guest Bathroom
Basement
Basement before. We moved all of the utilities on the left of this picture to the side of the basement we left unfinished.
Basement after. We installed a new wall with a door because we couldn't move the hot water heater. The door on the right goes to the unfinished side of the basement now.
