Diamond in the Rough Could Be Your Valentine Fixer Upper

Warning: what you are about to see may not be pretty. You may find these photos disturbing. Maybe send the children off to bed, maybe keep a box of Tums nearby, because this is a house that has not been loved. This is a house that you would call Child Protective Services on if it were a person. These pictures may even depress you, remind you of distant times when life was not so rosy, oil prices were even lower than they are now, and interest rates were 18%. You drank a lot more then, had a cigarette or two, and wondered how you would make it to the next month.

Forget the Tums, we need a heap of Prozac in order to look inside this house.

But I’m telling you, if ever there was a house with potential, this one is it.

First of all, location DING DING DING! 7012 Wakefield Street, Merriman Park, on an interior street just west of Abrams, south of Northwest Highway. Square footage: 2052. Can you imagine? For a starter home? (We had 1500.) Almost a quarter of an acre, two-car attached rear entry garage, four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and pier and beam foundation. Built in 1964, the kitchen is plumbed for gas and has, in fact, a gas cooktop.

But it needs work, Come on folks, let’s use our imaginations here before we start losing it and start drinking.

The exterior — a mess. Landscaping, new roof, paint the shutters and dormers, say adios to that striped awning deal.This is not Fifth Avenue. Maybe build a little something over the front stoop?

The interiors — off comes that grasscloth wallpaper, though I hear it is making a comeback. Smooth walls painted creamy white. Floors, bye bye brick. Let’s bring in manufactured hardwoods throughout, I’m thinking dark, carpet in the bedrooms. Get rid of that bannister, bring in wood (or platinum?) and I am going to say a Novena even though I’m not Catholic that there is wood on those stairs under that God-awful commercial carpet runner.

(The Realtor should just dump it, right?)

Once you scrape off that wallpaper yes, in the powder room, too, and change out the flooring, things will be looking up. Then the kitchen: it’s long and galley style, but that ship has sailed. Then there is some sort of a bar thing in the family room, I suppose they thought clever in 1964 — oh look ! A serving bar in the family room. Crazy! Take this out and open it all up to make one big huge kitchen with center island. Take in the breakfast room, too, though I would built cubbys on the right side of the garage door. See how the stove location can remain — not this unit, get stainless — but you’ve got the gas line.

Come to think of it, if you painted the brick on the fireplace, and pitch that brass screen, is that brick floor all that bad? No wait, it is, brain toot. There is also some level thing going on here, step up, step down. Bye bye brick.

New windows on the pretty bay, something tells me all windows probably have to go (maybe we’ll have another earthquake!). Obviously the bathrooms need to be redone, but they are not small. And look at that storage in the master closet. Is that not cool? I also generally love dormers and this house has them everywhere!

Great bones, just needs what, $100,000 of work? Could we do it for $75,000?

This is a great starter home, DISD of course but Hotchkiss elementary school. What do you think? Who wants to play flip a house? Asking $300,000 with Tori Bass at the Nicole Andrews Group, just listed February 11.

Let’s kiss a frog and turn him into a prince!