Big News

We've taken a big step towards our adult lives - as I've alluded to on the facebook.... we have a contract on a house! Nothing is official but here's what we've potentially signed our lives away to:

The front of the house

The backyard for the dogs

One of three bedrooms - you can see the back bedroom from this one.

Our first project - the kitchen. We want to take this breakfast room and incorporate and extend the kitchen all the way down to add room, and open up to the den.

One of two full baths - they are in great condition.

The dining room, taken standing in the living room -the den is straight ahead, bedrooms to the left and kitchen to the right. *the den and living room have hardwood under the carpet so we'll be ripping that sucker up!

The living room, taken standing in the front door area.

I've always been a fan of houses. I find it extremely fun to look at the online Multiple Listing Service (MLS) just to see what is out there, how much it is, and what it looks like. I think part of it is a love of houses, part of it is a love of researching things I like, and part of it is being incredibly nosy. Over the years, I've been able to decide how much house you can get for what amount of money, what neighborhoods are desirable, and what I want in a house.

While Jake and I live in an absolutely wonderful side of my parents' duplex, the fiscally responsible thing became evident this year - we need to invest in a house. With interest rates down in the 5-5.25 range and the first time homebuyers tax credit, plus a nice little pot of money from my college fund (thanks Mom and Dad), things just kind of fell together to make the climate perfect for buying.

We began looking around, realizing that our little amount of money was not going to get us far. As we looked, we found several interesting things and actually put an offer on a foreclosure in the Evergreen area. Yet last week when a 1947 ranch style house sitting in the midst of cute bungalows came on the market, I somehow knew this was it. It wasn't our style, it needed some updating, and yet it spoke to me (yes - cheesy). We made an appointment to see it and within two days had decided we wanted it. We put in a low ball offer, just to see what they'd respond with. We were out for a bargain, after all.

So, just before my birthday, the sellars wrote a counter offer that we agreed on and today it was official - we signed their offer. It won't be legally official until a home inspection and closing of course (closing is Oct 15th) but I can't help but be excited none the less. We've got our own little piece of the 1950's thanks to a dear old woman who moved to the Parkview Residence (an elderly home) and with a little paint and decoration, it will be a wonderful home. It has hardwood, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a lot of closet space, and one thing we really wanted - both a living room and a den. Our first project is the kitchen, which is definitely dated and dark. We'll put that tax credit to work right away. The rest will have to come little by little - we have a whole list: columns on the front, shutters on the front window, crown molding, new doors, new bathroom counters, closing in some bedroom doors (the middle bedroom has 3 doors that lead to it), adding a deck and french doors - you get the point. But we'll have to do it all over time.

I've included some pictures so you can see the "Before". These are from the realtor's website. We'll move in late October. At that point, our side of my parents' duplex will be available (probably Nov 1st move in) so if anyone is looking for a 2br/1ba rental, let me know because it is very nice - granite and stainless in the kitchen, hardwood, closet organization systems, new Central Heat and Air, new light fixtures, new electrical, new washer/dryer, great deck. Seriously - it is pimped out. It is on South Holmes which is a really cute street where people are always out walking their dogs. My parents are good landlords and I really want someone good to move in after us because we've loved it so much.