Day 204, part 2: Our dream home

Since I missed a day, I’ll do a double post for Day 204. 

When we got into town we took a couple of days to relax, then we got right to house hunting.  We originally narrowed our list from 150 houses to about 75, and then added another 15 or so over the following few days.  We saw nearly 90 houses, but found several amazing houses.

We liked 5 houses.  One was at the high end of our price range and I didn’t like that it was a brand new build.  Another felt really great when you walked in, was super close to the light rail, and tons of upgrades, but just didn’t meet all of our needs for space and layout.  Another one was really fantastic, but ended up being a short sale and given that we are on a time constraint weren’t interested in any short sales. 

It came down to 2 houses.  We loved both of them and could imagine living in both.  One was further away from everything and had a small yard, but had basically everything else we wanted.  I  was going to have to compromise on a space for myself, the lack of a front porch, and that it was in a less established neighborhood (baby trees).  We were also going to have to do a couple of upgrades.  My husband LOVED the finished basement though.  We went back a couple of times to look at that house and each time could really imagine living there.

The house we chose I loved from the moment I saw the front porch.  It’s a corner lot with a huge backyard.  I loved the established neighborhood and it’s 5 min away from several of our friends.  It’s about a 55 min commute to work, but that’s mostly because I’m taking the light rail instead of driving, which is like having about 35 min of free time each way.  We didn’t have to compromise on anything and it really is our dream house.  It already has most of the upgrades we want, and a blank slate for my husband to do his dream ‘man cave’.  The kids also have an awesome built in play area out back. 

Here are some photos.  My photos weren’t really to show off the house, but to take photos during the inspection.  I’ll have to get some more to really show of the house.

Front of the house (not my photo).  I love the front porch and front landscaping.  All the windows on the front of the house upstairs are the bedrooms, with the master above the garage. 

Back yard play set.  The corner of the yard slopes up so this is built into the hill.  The rest of the yard is flat.

I was taking a photo of the basketball hoop (which we got included with the house),  but you can see the edge of the left side of the yard.  This  is maybe 1/6 of the total yard.  Seriously it’s huge!

This doesn’t show how high the ceilings are in the living room.  They are about 30 feet high and the windows and fireplace extend up the high.  The eating area and kitchen are completely open to the living room.

This is the seller’s photo

When you first walk in the door the formal dining room is on the left.  We plan to use this room as either a play room or a library, or both!  The carpet in the photo has already been replaced with a nice textured cream/beige colored carpet.

To the right when you walk in is my husband’s office.  It has built in cherry wood bookshelves and a desk.  We plan to change the floor to hardwood and change out the desk to make it deeper. (seller’s photo)

Another seller’s photo.  This is the master bedroom.  The left of the photo is the front of the house with 2 large windows and to the right is the master bath and walk in closet. We plan to change the paint color and possibly add a window on the left to balance the window on the right.

I was taking a photo of the light fixture, but it shows you a bit of the size of the kitchen and eating area.

Another view of the kitchen (was taking photos of the appliances) but you can see the double oven, large island and granite countertops.  

The other things I didn’t take photos of:

My office space, the cool cubbies to put our belongings when we come home, the upstairs laundry room, the other 3 bedrooms upstairs, the one bedroom in the basement, the 4 bathrooms, and probably a few other things.  We love all the space and the layout is perfect!  Plus I love how much light the entire house gets…it’s great for taking photos!