Our home away from home was pretty much move in ready. Nice floors, decent cabinets, enough bathrooms to accommodate our teenagers. We were sold and figured we’d just update as the mood struck us. So we put in an offer with multiple bidders just before Christmas and finally won the bid New Year’s Eve.

Of course the first freeze after we bought our mountain home, a pipe burst. So while the guy is there, let’s get some estimates. And while we were there, three of the appliances broke. Sitting empty for so long had made a place that looked move in ready, need a few more things. I’m a Realtor, so we weren’t terribly surprised after it had sat empty for a long time.

Still, we could have just fixed what was broken, put some of the extra furniture from our place in North Carolina in and had a place to explore the area. We love all the hiking, small towns and sites in winter around our area when most of the tourists are skiing just to the west of us.

The reality is that I just don’t know how to do something half way. Every week, I’m explaining to someone that even though they have just done all of these things to their home, they weren’t the things that bring value to someone wanting to buy or rent. While they want someone to just “see past that”, they don’t see past it when looking themselves. And when hearing it in feedback after it’s on the market, it’s already too late.

So just two months after putting an offer in, we found out where the local landfill was and ripped the kitchen completely out. Starting from scratch was road we decided to take. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we seem to enjoy doing it.