Battered Home Becomes a Beauty Using the FHA 203k Renovation Loan, Part III The Kitchen

This Part III of the journey of how one battered home became a beauty using the FHA 203k Renovation Loan.  This post addresses the "sexy" part of the renovation - the kitchen!

To discover where this journey started, read Part I

To view the exterior renovation on this home, read Part II

While the FHA 203k Renovation program is time and paperwork intensive, it is an amazing opportunity to give new life to a home and create your dream home in the process.  The amazing part is that my buyer's down payment was 3.5% of the entire project (cost to purchase + cost to renovate)!

This home was built in 1950 and the kitchen reflected the standards of the day: 

• a small kitchen with an equally small doorway from the dining area 

• one outlet for appliances

• one very insufficient ceiling light fixture

• the exhaust fan above the stove was a hole in the ceiling with a slowly rotating fan

• chipped, yellow, old-school formica counters

• you get the idea....

• The first - and most dramatic - part of the kitchen renovation was to remove the wall and doorway between the dining area and the kitchen, creating a "great room" with the dining/living area.

• Upgrading the electrical panel to the entire home was required to upgrade the kitchen to the standards needed for current use

• The chipped yellow formica counters were removed and measured for new, beautiful Silestone counters

• The single ceiling light fixture was replaced with 5 recessed lights. Pendant lights above the counter were installed after the photo

• Dedicated electrical outlets were installed for all of the major appliances as required by current code plus a lot more for appliances

• The hole-in-the-ceiling exhaust fan was removed and replaced with an above-the-stove microwave with built-in exhaust fan.

• An unexpected benefit was that the piping for a gas stove was already in place behind the wall!

• In addition to the new microwave, the renovation included a new refrigerator and gas stove

• Pantry style cupboards were added on both sides of the refrigerator to compensate for the cupboards removed with the wall.

• The ceilings and walls were re-textured and are ready for paint

Ta da! The outdated (ugly), claustrophic kitchen is transformed to an open, updated modern kitchen!

If you want to create your dream home using the FHA 203k Renovation loan in Contra Costa county, California, I can guide you through the process.