Before and After

So we are trying to buy a house. It's been a tedious process the last few months--we are on our second realtor and this is the third house on which we have made an offer. Its a beautiful 1924 bungalow one mile from Mt. Tabor. I know what you are thinking--we can't afford it...and you're right, except for:
-It's close to the freeway (As Evan E. says, close to easy directions to our house)
-It's close to the Juvenile Detention Center ("kids, if you don't shut up you're goin' over the wall!")
-It has no heat
-The electrical panel is defective
-The Sewer line is trash (and runs through the neighbor's yard)
-The foundation needs help
That's just the big stuff. Picture mauve carpeting, windows that haven't been open in decades, enough wood panel to sink a battleship and...wait for it...the bedrooms have brown shag carpet over linoleum over linoleum over fir. You heard me. Two layers of linoleum under shag. The point of my story is that we love it--its like finding Tomatillo at the humane society, sniffling, skinny and matted. They were going to put him down. With a little time (and a few weeks of antibiotics and syringe feeding) he became the most fluffy, handsome, orange love-muffin around. And if they fix the big stuff, nothing will hold us back. Get ready for the before and after shots as I put painting on the small burner (not the back, that one has plastic melted to it) and attempt to turn our new house into a big, fluffy orange tabby.