Day 1

Friday, 1/11, we looked at two places in the middle of the day. I've taken to giving the houses names, so keep up.

House 1, Screened in porch: Dennis originally didn't like how this one looked from the outside when we drove by to scout it out earlier. We decided to look regardless.

Here are photos. We didn't get any of the exterior or porch, because our memory card filled up. Apparently I've been neglectful toward the camera - some of the photos are from July '07.

Living room, view from slightly to the right of the front door.

The open door in the back is bedroom #2, to its left is the full bath, to its right is bedroom #1. The kitchen is to the immediate left when you enter the front door. You can't see it in this picture. Behind that short wall are the stairs leading up to bedroom #3.

Living room, view from hall near bedrooms toward front window. Front door and kitchen to the right

Bedroom #1, medium size, sliding glass door to back deck, light blue cushy carpet, medium closet




Bedroom #2, medium size, wood floor, medium closet

Bathroom, pretty small. We're used to it, though. medicine chest, ugly counter, ugly floor

Bathroom again, window in shower is new

Kitchen, view from dining area that is attached. Door to side yard. Ugly floor and counter.

Kitchen, range, fridge, more cabinets. Not tons of cabinet space in this kitchen. We'd install a hanging or wall mount pot rack to help.

Dining area, view from kitchen. Enough room for a table and chairs. (Look at the kitty seat on the windowsill!)

Bedroom #3, sitting area at the top of the stairs. on the right is a large closet.

Bedroom #3, view from sitting area into bed area. I'm standing on the right side, the ceiling is taller than it appears here.

Bedroom #3, from bed area towards sitting area - another closet!



Basement, with stairs up to main level. The carpeting isn't that new, and no water spots, so we can deduce that the basement is dry.
This give us extra living space for future needs.

Basement, when you come down the stairs

Basement, utility room. that hinged thing is the drain. you can barely see the extra toilet, and there's a standup shower to the right.

Basement, from utility room into storage area

Basement, storage past the laundry room



Back deck, view from Bedroom #1. Two-car garage!

Summary: we like this property. We've created a list of updates/changes we would need and want to make. It's a good bang for our buck, as they say. The square footage is definitely more than the county auditor says it is - and it feels pretty big inside, especially with the extra space in the basement!
Grade: B+ (kate), A- (dennis)

House 2, Yellow condo: From the photos on the MLS site, this was my favorite entering into the whole process. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos due to the memory card debacle. Trust me - it's awesome inside! The kitchen updates are to die for, almost literally.

Summary: While I still love how this one looks, it feels small inside. The basement is unusable for living. The upstairs doesn't have a substantial landing - the three of us kept getting in each other's way - and we were moving leisurely about. Also, Milt, our realtor, informed us that condos in small associations (this one is only two properties) are harder to sell because of how much relies on the neighbors getting along to accomplish anything.
Grade: C (kate), C (dennis)