We’re new homeowners who closed on our 2003 Cape Cod house in the Hudson Valley in February 2022 and are excited to begin our first home renovation project.
In the years prior we resided in a 380 sq. foot apartment on New York City’s Upper West Side. It always felt too small for us, but when Luke’s job went remote during the pandemic, it felt claustrophobic. Our short term solution was to move into Joanna’s parent’s home. Living in a much larger space gave us a taste of what we had been missing.
COVID and the housing market…
We started our house search while COVID was still raging, targeting the Hudson Valley because we wanted to be close to Luke’s aging mother, who resides by herself in the region. Luke has roots in the Hudson Valley, having spent many weekends at his family’s 1850s farm house.
The Hudson Valley housing market was red hot at the time. Bidding wars became the norm. Housing inspections were suddenly a thing of the past. New listings posted on Fridays. By Sunday the house we liked was already off the market, sometimes with all cash offers, sight unseen.
We refused to engage in the craziness, and we’re so glad we didn’t.
The house had been on the market for 100 days when a real estate agent showed it to us. The house hadn’t been updated since the initial build. The condenser unit for the HVAC system was never installed; the kitchen was outdated; the primary bathroom / closet layout didn’t meet our needs and the back deck had seen better days.
Seeing the potential…
The house boasts 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and cathedral ceiling upstairs, a walk in laundry/pantry space, spacious kitchen and two car garage
We immediately saw potential and knew how to renovate it and make our home happy. As an added bonus, the backyard creek and waterfall, which we could hear throughout the house, tied into our search for a peaceful and tranquil environment.
The creek behind the house was what ultimately sold us on the property.
We are excited to start this new chapter in our lives together as new homeowners and share the home renovation project with you.
