Re the old photos and albums in the aquarium bookcase - do the owners have a contact for the previous owners (thinking not since the house was vacant for so long)? Perhaps a neighbor could put in on the area NextDoor to see if anyone knows who might want them.
@coralbrook how big is this house (sft)?
1217 sq ft per real estate listing. Lot is 9200, which is pretty decent.
I’m not posting the real estate link for privacy of the address. But it’s easy to find using CB’s clues!
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I think the backyard is very nice. Front has potential.
This transformation is going to be fun to watch!
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Oh, I see, a substantial chunk of the back yard beyond the fence is a weedy slope down to a drainage ditch or something. OK, not such a good size lot for building . And now we see where the rats come from.
You say you are removing the popcorn ceilings? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to replace that yucky ceiling drywall??
Can I get the link, please? Thanks!
Sounds like an exciting but very challenging project.
I think the house is cute and has a lot of potential. I’m eager to see what CB does with the place. But I’m really concerned about their budget – $65K won’t go very far, especially when there’s the drainage pipe issues, a kitchen and two bathroom gut jobs.
Maybe the Bank of Mom and Dad will open up at some point.
Can someone please pm me the link to the new house project? Thx.
Just did
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@Marilyn , would you send it to me, too? Thanks. I can’t even visualize this challenge but can’t wait to see the changes.
@coralbrook I’m actually really excited to see what you are able to do with this little house. This is the reality for many people here in San Diego buying their first home. I know that many of you live in areas where $635K would buy an amazing house, but that is not the case here in San Diego. I hope you are at least able to get this place livable for the couple. Their budget does not sound like much with all that you have to do, but if that’s all they have to work with right now then it is what it is.
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The couple hit the jackpot when they found @coralbrook. I’m sure you will do an amazing job for them.
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Shucks—link didn’t work. Can it be sent as a text?
I sent it to you.
Yay—thanks @mom60! Cute house but @coralbrook will definitely be busy!
@Marilyn you are an amazing sleuth:grinning:
Cannot believe you found a needle in a Haystack on the mls
Today we are struggling with a really huge issue. We were hoping to get an IKEA kitchen for budget and speed. Unfortunately most of the basic boxes we need are out of stock. IKEA has changed the way they are selling kitchens. You used to be able to go into the store, order everything, and then pick up all the flat boxes down the street at a warehouse. Now they are only stocking at their distribution centers and you have to schedule a delivery. So you cannot see if anything is in stock until you actually pull the trigger on the purchase.
The style of cabinet fronts was Tornham which is a natural Alder. I don’t really like it for timeless design, but none of my business. They wanted to mix it with Aquarella quartzite countertops which would definitely not work in my book.
Since they just closed escrow last Thursday, we didn’t find out that we could not order the kitchen until Friday. Cost was going to be $5800 before taxes and delivery charges.
Lowe’s on the shelf cabinets are out of stock. Home Depot quick ship does not have the sizes and shapes that we really want. Would have to sacrifice drawers and go back to shelf cabinets. Cost about $7,500.
So I called up my custom cabinet guy, who I highly recommend to anyone on the area, Elite Design Cabinets. Begged him for anything he could get quick. He said he could get our 15 boxes out in one week and fronts and panels in 4 weeks. This would save us because we can get countertops, plumbing and appliances installed while waiting. Worst case they move in without any drawers in their cabinets. But $9,000 and we have to drive up to their factory and haul twice and install ourselves
I will say this young couple, with two brothers who took a week off to come help, are trying to do a lot of work themselves to save money. They completely demoed out the house over the weekend. They are going to do the popcorn ceilings and wallpaper themselves. But they have full time jobs and their availability may not match our tight schedule
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Wow. If anyone can make this work within their budget, it’s you, coralbrook!
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Yes, if anyone can make it work it’s @coralbrook!
I looked at pics of Ikea Torhamn and aquarella. That’s going to be a dizzying clash of patterns. 
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Yes, busy natural wood in brown shades with a patterned quartzite in blues, whites and grey just do not work together. Once again I’m dealing with a spouse who wants everything ‘natural wood’. That’s fine but it needs to be tastefully done in moderation, balanced with the right materials.
And usually doesn’t work with the rest of the sentence which is ‘tight budget’
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