WOMAN BUYS 'CHEAPEST HOUSE IN NICE NEIGHBORHOOD,' RENOVATES IT ON A BUDGET
A woman from Virginia bought a house at a discounted price in one of the nicest neighborhoods of Eastern Chesapeake, and with plenty of creativity and initiative, she's planning to make it look like a "million bucks" on a budget.
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In a viral video shared on TikTok in May by Jessica Maple (@jessmapes), the 33-year-old from Virginia Beach gave her followers a tour of the empty house, which her husband says is big enough for all of her personalities.
"I wish people wouldn't be so scared to buy a home that needs a bit of work. You'll usually get a killer deal…and updating a home on your own is rewarding and fun," Maple told Newsweek.
"The main living room with beautiful cathedral ceilings and lots of natural light [is the reason] why I bought the home. I envisioned Christmas here and how I could have any size Christmas tree I wanted!"
The home is a two-story, four-bedroom, three-bath brick house with a little over 3,000 square feet that was built in 2002. According to Maple, it has been severely neglected ever since.
"From what I understand, it was used as a rental for a while. The wood floors were extremely damaged, and the carpet upstairs was at the end of its life," she said.
The walls desperately needed paint, and nothing in the home looked like it had been updated since its construction. Maple said that the countertops were in poor condition, as well.
Windows, appliances, and more were all in need of replacement or repair, and as if that wasn't enough, the house also had pests.
"So far, I have been working on painting the house top to bottom with a fresh coat of paint. I've refinished the wood floors downstairs and am waiting on flooring to come in for the upstairs to take care of that as well. I plan on doing quite a lot," she said.
Having experience with DIY with her previous home, Maple plans to do the same for her new one, doing things like painting cabinets and counters, painting instead of replacing the stair railing, new light fixtures, wall molding, tile work, and more.
"The outside has been neglected and needs landscaping (it literally has nothing going on, not even a simple bush anywhere), and I'd like to do some exterior painting as well. Maybe one day add a pool!" she said.
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Maple bought the house for about $580,000, which she says was over her budget of $400,000-500,000. However, the house is located in a neighborhood where the average home is going for around $750,000, so she thinks the deal was well worth it.
"Essentially, I got a good deal because of the condition of the home, which was a huge influence in my decision to buy it," she said.
"It was literally the cheapest/ugliest home in the nicest neighborhood. I don't mind doing the work to make it nice, though. I don't have a budget at this moment for how much I plan to spend. I hope to stay in the home long enough to do multiple makeovers.
"For example, in the kitchen, I would start with a budget-friendly renovation to save money (somewhere around $500-$1,000), and later on, once I've saved up, I would do a full gut renovation, but that would probably be, like, 10 years down the road. The most expensive cost so far has been the floors, but they absolutely needed to go, and it's money well spent!"
Data by Statista reveals that the median sales price of existing homes stood at $387,000 in 2023 and was forecast to increase slightly until 2025. Moreover, the number of home sales in the United States declined in 2023 after soaring in 2021 during the pandemic.
"A total of four million transactions of existing homes, including single-family, condo, and co-ops, were completed in 2023, down from 6.12 million in 2021," Statista said.
Maple's video quickly went viral on TikTok and has so far received over 1.1 million views and 87,700 likes on the platform.
One user commented: "I'm crazy, for the price I don't see much work needed. Maybe just spice it up to suit your liking? Maybe I'm just poor."
Another TikToker said: "This house is insanely beautiful. You're going to have the best life here. Congratulations."
A third user wrote: "We bought the cheapest house in the best neighborhood too. Best decision ever. 300% increase in value in 13 years!"
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Correction 06/27/24, 8:09 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a correction to Jessica Maple's name.
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