We too bought a resale--a small Designer for barely more than the Patio Villas we as snowbirds had been looking at--with the bond already paid. Gave us flexibility to do more in the house.
We picked bright colors and I painted the entire interior of the house; what a difference from the all white including white cabinetry and the all white furniture that the previous owners had. Typical 'Florida' style, but just not our taste.
Bought the ten-year a/c warranty though will be able to take advantage of only 6-1/2 years of it, as the clock starts running on day 1. (I should add that friends of ours had an a/c problem, have this warranty, and discovered that Munn's will not cover their particular issue, something about a freon leak in the line connecting the inside and outside units. Be conscious that the warranty is thus not 100%....)
One of the first things we did was have a solar attic fan installed by the Solar Guys on 441. What a huge difference it makes! (Didn't think of it before, but maybe this fan has something to do with our electric bills being comparatively reasonable; see the thread on 'Electric.') Solar Guys did such a fine job that we had them back later to do three solar tubes, and what a huge difference they make!
We also replaced all our light bulbs with fluorescents that are now available in every shape needed, including the candelabra and the flood bulbs in the kitchen area. This cut down on heat considerably, especially noticeable in kitchen and washrooms (and I now realize may also contribute to our relatively low electric bills, both lowered lighting and a/c costs).
Much of whatever else we would have done was done by the previous owners: water treatment/softener system, pull-down stairs to the attic, knobs on all the cabinetry, the slide-outs in the kitchen cabinets, five ceiling fans (to which we added lights to all the indoor ones), extra storage units in laundry and garage, some really nice landscaping including two large citrus trees that are now loaded with fruit, solar lights along the walk, windows in the garage door, and so forth. The previous owners, only months before we bought the house, had the front porch screened and furnished, which allows us to keep the front door open and sit out there in cooler weather. Doubt we'll enclose the lanai as we really enjoy sitting and eating out there in comfortable weather.
HB has in mind to build an arbor out back above our patio to grow vining plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and we plan to plant two more citrus trees. We just bought laminate flooring on special at The Home Depot for the living and dining rooms; total cost of all the materials to do this about $600+, and our son, who's done it before, will install it for us. We want to keep carpeting in the bedrooms.
I'm sure in time we'll find more that we'd like to do....
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