It all happened very quickly--we viewed the house yesterday morning, made an offer in the early afternoon, and it was accepted late in the afternoon. However, we have been looking for houses since October, so we recognized that it was a great house for the price and that if we didn't jump on it, someone else likely would. It is a 3-bedroom, 1800 sq. ft. raised split level that was newly built this past summer.
Things we liked about it:
- beautiful kitchen with new, stainless steel appliances (we can't wait to have a dishwasher!!!) and a walk-in pantry
- open floor plan
- living room upstairs and a rec room downstairs
- two full baths with a very high showerheads (a must for us)
- three bedrooms with two of the bedrooms on the upper level (master bedroom and a smaller bedroom that will be perfect for a nursery)
- large, 3rd bedroom in basement that will make a great guestroom (hint, hint--come visit us soon! We are reserving first-rights for John's parents and sisters to come up and visit after the baby is born)
- extra room in the basement (currently used for a laundry room but that we might convert to an office for me, and move the laundry to the utility room)
- new utilities (high efficiency furnace, etc.)
- move-in ready except for some crazy paint colors in the bedrooms and living room (but paint is cheap)
- huge deck off the dining room/kitchen
- close to the Baxter bike trail system
- close to John's job (he can probably even bike in the summer)
- quiet street
- 2-car garage (the luxury of not having to scrape our cars after each snowstorm...what a thought!)
In any case, we think it is a good starter home and a great investment. We don't close until March 6, so keep your fingers crossed that: 1) the house passes inspection and 2) mortgage rates either stay the same or fall in the interim. Below are some real estate photos from the house. In the meantime, I'm starting to think about paint colors.
View of house from the front
Aerial photo showing location (click on photo for a close-up)
The kitchen
Dining room off the kitchen with patio door to large deck
The upstairs living room
Upstairs bathroom
Downstairs rec room
Downstairs guest room
10 comments:
We are SO excited for you--and for baby. Looks like a great place for baby and Nora to grow up!
Sweet! Congrats!
Great house, Beth! Can't you go ahead and lock into your mortgage rates. Well, maybe it has to be 30 days before closing.....I cannot remember.
House looks great though! What city is it in?
Wow, exciting! How big is the lot? Will you be able to have a garden or put in a swingset or anything like that?
To answer your questions:
-We are applying for a first-time home buyer that has a very strict income guideline, so the bank won't be able to officially process our application until we are a family of three, at which point we'll be able to lock in a mortgage rate
-The lot is 0.3 acres--we'll have to see how sunny the backyard is for a veggie garden, but otherwise, there will be room for flowerbeds in the front yard. I'm planning to put some herbs in planters on the deck (easy access to the kitchen). John is also planning to plant like 50 trees around the lot so we won't have such a direct view to the neighbors. There is a "future park" planned by the city of Baxter less than a block away, but otherwise, yes, I think we can fit in a swingset or a sand box.
wow, looks great! How far from your parents house is it?
Great looking house and looks like it is in a good, family neighborhood. And it will be really nice to have a two car garage in the cold, north woods. What fun!
Only drawback is you'll have to move with a new baby but perhaps someone will step forward and offer to babysit - wonder who that might be????
That is exciting news - tall shower heads! Congratulations! It looks great! I'm sure you are daydreaming of paint colors and what flowers to plant already - I'll see if I have any orange cosmo seeds left from our old garden. You look awesome by the way - hope you are feeling great too!
-Alesa & Nate & Halene
Congrats.... As long as you can fit a few plastic slides in your backyard, it's big enough!
Beth and John, this looks like a great house, especially since it is brand new and you wouldn't have to fix things up. Congratulations on becoming home owners!
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