House hunt: Day 4

Slowly but surely, I'm getting around to posting this...these are from last week:

I didn't get pictures at the first few because there were people there and I feel awkward taking pictures while they're home:

House #11:


This one was cute. Nice layout, cute fireplace, pristine yard. Apparently it was a little old man who had lived there. I don't know if he'd passed away or if he was moved to a nursing home or what.

Drawbacks:
-the kitchen layout was a little weird. It was like they tried to cram as many cabinets as they could into one tiny area...and you couldn't open all of them. Pointless.

-"close to shopping!!" Umm...yeah. The backyard overlooked the back of Kmart and a strip mall. Noooo thank you. Don't care how many trees you plant back there, it's still backing a Kmart.

House #12:


This one was a big fat no. Let's go over why:
-shingles missing. At one spot in the roof, there were shingles mounded up around a pipe. Innnnnteresting.

-smelled like dog. Wet, stinky dog. Especially in the master. Gross.

-super dusty/dirty.

-there were cracks running up the wall and across the ceiling.

-there was not only ugly brain carpet in this house, but some weird plaid indoor/outdoor stuff in the kitchen and bathrooms.

-wall border on some of the cabinets? It would take so much more work to fix that than to just take it off of a wall...

-the back porch was n BAD shape and there was dog poo EVERYWHERE.



I took more pictures after this, so I'm going to split my posts.

You've got to be kidding me.

I now interrupt my house hunting posts to bring you....SNOW. Yes, you read that right. On Wednesday (I'm late with posting), it SNOWED. Only about 1/2", but still...

Did someone forget to tell the weatherman that it's APRIL???


Bleh.


Bleh.


Bleh.


Thankfully...it has warmed up since then. It supposed to be in the 70s this weekend. Wheeee!!! We haven't seen 70s since...um....early fall?

Top house picks: House B

Here's the second house (I split the post since it was picture heavy). Bonus: both houses are within 2 minutes of our close friends here, so Jeff would be able to commute with her since she works in the courthouse too!

House B:

-home is already finished, so we could potentially negotiate a lower price, plus it's ready to move in quickly
-we really like the layout
-more private (small) backyard, with no neighbors behind us
-HOA fees are a little higher, and public space is much smaller than the first neighborhood (no playground, pool, basketball court or park)....but with the privacy of the back yard....hmmm...

Top house picks:

On Saturday, we walked around the neighborhoods of the two houses we like the most right now.

House A (this is an unfinished house):


Here's what it looks like painted (not that I'm in love with these colors, but it gives a better idea)







I like how this house looks...and wouldn't it be PERFECT for my Halloween decorations??
Bonuses:
-nice and sunny
-bigger sq footage
-flow from garage to utility room to kitchen would make carrying in groceries easier
-neighborhood is AMAZING. There are also bigger, more expensive houses in this neighborhood and is a very nice little family neighborhood
-although the yard is smaller and less private, there's a HUGE park in the center of the subdivision with a basketball court, playground and they're supposed to be putting in a pool too
-since this one is unfinished, we could choose flooring, counters, finishes, etc
-HOA fees are lower, from what I've found

House hunting: day 4!

We went out again on Wednesday. Of course, Jeff didn't get out of court on time (isn't that how it always goes when you have some place to be?), so we were a little late and I was still feeling scattered and brainless after being in a couple of houses that made my allergies less than happy...so I apparently forgot to take pictures after the first house. Oops!

Onward....

House #6: This was a simple row house style, relatively close to where we are now. It's about 3-3.5 miles from downtown and it would be less than a mile to work for me, once the family I nanny for builds their new house.

Here's the front:


I like the style, it just doesn't have much storage, which is a big problem for me.

The lower level was nice enough:


It had 2 master bedrooms upstairs (or they were the exact same size at least, but one had a bathroom attached and there was another bath in the hallway between the two). The view from the back bedroom was actually pretty decent, considering the area of town this was in:


Problems though: No garage (nor a place to really put one), only 2 bedrooms, not a lot of storage.

Entertaining point: It was quite the bachelor pad! I have never seen so many pictures of one person before. It was weird. Big collage frames...all pictures of him. There was ONE picture downstairs and ONE picture upstairs that had other people in them.

Even better, he actually had this poster framed and hanging instead of actual art:


House 7: This one was overwhelming with the airfresheners. When you walked into the master (which was the only room she was staying in), it was obvious why. *cough, hack, sneeze* She was a big time smoker. That's a deal breaker. I can't live with the smoke. It's a shame too, because it was a nice enough size and all. It needed some remodeling, but nothing too major.

"House" 8: I didn't notice that this one was a townhouse in the listing. It was small and cramped and overpriced. It also didn't have any showerheads? Weird.

Definite dealbreakers:
~While we were waiting to get in, 2 fighter jets flew over and I felt my eardrums vibrate! LOL...

~Also, a neighbor came home....in a low-rider truck with a neon-airbrushed paint job and the stereo thumping. He just seemed like the type of neighbor who comes home with that blaring at 2 am, and especially when you're talking townhouses...I'm not interested, thanks. I'm old and cranky these days.

Houses 9 &10: These 2 are still our favorites by far. They're new construction near our friends, Kim and Jesse. There are some minor drawbacks, but both of those are on the top of our list at this point. I've walked through #9 twice now and #10 3 times....and yet I never think to take pictures! Oops!


So...that's this week. We've got 3 more houses to see on Monday. I'm glad to have a little break!

House hunting: day 3!

Yesterday, not as entertaining..but that's a good thing, right?

We saw 3 houses, all of which I had picked to see from the listings because they looked like they at least had some potential. All 3 were simple little ranch styles from the 90s, in varying prices and conditions.

House 1: The first one had clearly been rented out...it wasn't awful, but it desperately needed a paint job and some little fixes here and there..and carpet, although a carpet cleaning probably would've made it at least liveable. It was listed at 155. Overall, it had potential and easy fixes for the most part. Ooo, but we noticed a potential roof problem before we left. It was better than the first 3 houses we'd seen, but still not quite what I was looking for.

House 2: The second house was another delirious owner house. Listed at $159900 (sadly, had been lowered from $166,500), it needed the most work of the 3 we saw...so much work, that I wouldn't even consider it. That, and it belonged to smokers. My eyes were bloodshot and itchy by the time we left and I had a pounding headache and stuffy nose. Ick. (Note to self: bring allergy spray today)

Let's admire some pictures, shall we?

~The windows needed to be replaced. EVERY window. I don't know if you can tell here, but there was condensation in between the 2 panes in every window in the living room and dining room and it took all 3 of us to finally get that sliding back door open:


~This house was FILLED with ugly flooring. Crappy linoleum in the kitchen dining area and remember the brown "brain" carpet from Saturday's house? Yup. This house had it in blue..except it was so filthy and worn it was disgusting. No way would I walk on that barefoot. As our realtor said, I felt dirty walking on it with shoes!


~There was some mystery stain in the master....gross gross.


House 3: Actually, this one was really nice. Beautiful, updated carpet and flooring. They had fixed things up so that you barely even noticed what *was* outdated. The house was nice, the yard was nice, but not private by any means...and the house was situated in a weird spot. It looked like you were pulling into a driveway (*slightly* wider), but it was a small cul de sac with 4 houses on it...it was also kind of a busy part of town. But, it was priced at 153,00 , the lowest of the prices and nicest house by far. It was in good condition, with a 32' deep 2 car garage. They also were already including the fridge and a 1 year home warranty.

So...all in all, these were better than the first day...but I'm still leaning toward new construction. I know I'm going to have to give up some things I'd ideally like..but that's ok.

What I've learned while house hunting...

Although we've only seen a handful of houses so far (we're going out again tonight and tomorrow after work), we've already learned quite a bit...

Things I have learned so far while house hunting: people get creative with their listings. I'm sure that they think that they'll entice you in and maybe you'll just fall in love with their house, but I seriously wonder if some of these are just plain delusional.

For instance:
1)What they said: "Newly updated!!
What they meant: "newly updated" = they painted. Period. The tub and toilet were a lovely harvest gold color and I believe the countertops were bright orange in the master.


Check out these groovy counters!


2)What they said: "New carpet in master!"
What they meant:
The new carpet? Well, it was a rental and I'm assuming that the carpet in the master was destroyed for one reason or another, but I swear to you, the carpet was older than me.


The carpet looks so much nicer in pictures. It was that weird bumpy stuff and it looked like marbled chocolate milk, except more of a dated grayish brown. The master was a slightly different color, but the same icky style...and there was a 3rd kind of carpet in the teeny tiny closets. Goooo figure.

3) What they said: "No backyard neighbors!"
What they meant: "Unless you count cars...but cars can't be neighbors, right?" Yeah...the last one we looked at backed up to the highway. Granted, there was a church parking lot between you and the highway, so the noise wasn't quite as bad, but you could see cars flying over the overpass! Hello, no privacy! :P

I'm sure there will be other insights...but we've only seen a few houses. I'm beginning to think that only crazy people are selling here.

Big news!!

I know I've been quiet lately, but I didn't want to jinx things.

We applied for a home loan last week and we found out today that we are approved!!! Wheeee! We are so very excited to start looking for our first home! :D

What I've been up to...

Sorry I haven't been around lately. I'm grumpy and ready for spring and I'm trying not to spread my bad attitude. ;)

Instead of actual productive things, I've been dinking around mostly.

I made another grocery bag:



Note to self: Jeans with stretch in them are a pain in the butt to stitch down as a straight accent piece:



Here's a blurry shot of the actual bag:



And I've been working on beaded ornaments. All. The. Time. It's mindless, and that's what I need right now.



Here's an idea of my progress. LOL. I'm too lazy to dip the ornaments, so I'm just throwing them in a vase for now:

Crafty Weekend: Project #2

Ok, so this is more like a finally finished project...but whatever. I'd had it cut out and some of it stitched together, but now it's ready to be used. This is the tote version of my grocery bags. I don't like it as much as the other style, but I already had it cut out so...

I decided it was too plain, so I added a flower out of ribbon, scrap of an old pair of jeans and some buttons:


Here's the bag. Fruit punch colored broadcloth, reinforced with iron on interfacing, gussets are a seersucker print and handles are from an old pair of jeans.



Oh, and here's the lining. It's a lime-y green floral on a white background. The flowers have the same pink center as the outside fabric.



Sorry the pictures aren't too great. It's really overcast and starting to get dark.