'If we had to place an offer this week, which house would you choose?'
This question stemmed from a conversation about how we (ok, I) was feeling frustrated with the house search. Everything we find has one deal breaker or another. . .if it's not the location it's the interior, a funky smell, the layout, the condition. . .
We viewed a house on Sunday that had tons of potential. . .in photos it shows beautifully.
I mean, in truth we actually liked the house. It had an intercom system, playground, beautiful views, yard. . .and a lot of gorgeous updates.
The deal breaker? It's impossible to enjoy the yard over the road noise! Dave and I are looking for a quiet retreat where we can safely raise children and entertain family and friends indoors and out. Not only that, for being 'desperate to sell', as we were told, the owners didn't do much in the way of cleaning it up for the open house or taking care of it in general. It had popcorn ceilings, holes in a few walls, scuff marks, and beat up floors.
GAH. But the road noise definitely put the kabosh on this one.
So I revisited the possibility offered in another home we have been keeping our eyes on. . .I keep coming back to it (there must be a reason for that, no?) and while I did get to tour it Dave had to work. I'm thinking he ought to take a look at it. . .if our townhouse sells as fast as we think it will, it's time to get serious about finding a house and really figure out what our deal breakers truly are.
This is not the *best* house I've seen, not the one I've fallen in love with, yet I keep thinking about it. It has potential to be that high-end finished home. . .inside it feels SO inviting and comfortable, and the lot is exactly what we are looking for. Why the hesitation? It's very, VERY dated. . .and also overpriced.
It is being offered at $385K on two acres in a neighborhood of million dollar homes (which no doubt drive the price up!). The selling agent acknowledges that it needs work, failing however to mention that not only is the hot tub in ill-repair, but the furnace and roof need replacing ASAP.
I love the neighborhood, and adore the exterior of this house. It has been on the market for several months, and our agent said she too thought it was overpriced for it's condition. This is a serious contender if we can get the price down quite a bit. . .which is possible if we negotiate the roof and furnace issue.
At some point I would want to build an arch around that front door. . .make it bigger and give it an inviting little front porch to fit in more with the custom mountain contemporary theme of the neighborhood.
This home has a tank less hot water heater, which itself is a huge selling point. Inside, the kitchen has oodles of potential - it is wide open - perfect for entertaining, bright, sunny. But the tiles are atrocious, as are the counters and the refrigerator would also needs replaced as it is in bad shape. The stove and dishwasher are both Bosch appliances. . .another great selling point. Some new cabinets and a designer paint color will go a long way to make this a really gorgeous kitchen. At some point I would look into installing double-wall convection ovens and a larger, deeper sink. We would want to replace the tile with slate, and at some point make the island bigger and taller to include a breakfast bar. But I love the skylights, cedar beams, and vaulted ceiling!
There are two family rooms. . .on formal living area and one more of a TV/lounge area. They are both. . .yes. . .dated. New carpet and paint are in order! The other issue is what I would use as a music studio. . .although, this far out of the city I would not likely have many students come here.
In this room we would update the track lighting and put a longer mantle on made of a large pine log cut into half. At some point we would put a gas fireplace insert in, and turn that viewing window into a solid piece of glass.
A creamy tan would look beautiful in here. . .I would LOVE the opportunity to take out that bookshelf and make that wall into a giant window, and then make the two windows on either side much larger. That's a common thing in mountain homes to have a wall of windows, and it's what this home is missing that makes me so sad.
The master bedroom is upstairs as a private loft, it's a large room with great views and a huge bathroom with a walk in closet. Again, very dated. Back on the main level are the other two bedrooms and a single bathroom in poor shape.
But outside. . .the lot. . .that is what sells this property for me! It is a treed, rocky, flat lot with views of the mountains and a gorgeous deck.
So. . .while I see so many reasons why this house could totally work for us, I see a few why it won't. They need to come down to $330K before we would even consider it because of the updating it requires. We'll see. . .I'm still holding onto hope that one of these homes is so right for us. . .!
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