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daniwithteaour first official day of house hunting is done. out of the ones we wanted to see, and the ones our realtor pulled from our "maybe" list, a few were already under contract, so we ended up looking at 7 total, 4 in norristown and 3 in pottstown. out of those 7, 3 are definite possibilities. All 3 are currently vacant, which bodes well for our time frame.
House #1: The Yellow Kitchen
3 bedroom, 1 bath row in norristown. 1170 sft. street parking, but there's an alley behind the fenced yard, so we could swing off-street parking for 1 car as long as the weather is good. new beige carpet on the first floor; original hardwood on stairs and 2nd floor, so there may be hardwood under the carpet on the main level too. cute front porch; screened back porch off kitchen leading to yard. living room and dining room are separated by large archway; smaller archway connects dining room to kitchen. very large kitchen with breakfast bar and lots of windows; electric stove. walls and appliances are yellow. possible water damage in back bedroom - definitely not recent, so i need to remember to check the seller's disclosure when we get it to see if the roof was replaced/repaired recently. no other visible water damage. decent sized bathroom with built-in linen closet. all upstairs rooms have original (not painted!) wood doors almost identical to the ones at my dad's house, glass knobs and all. the light fixture in the kitchen needs to be replaced. big master bedroom; very small closet. had to use flashlight in basement because lights were not working - is fuse out? need to see basement with light to see if walls are ok. very old and dusty linoleum floor in basement. very cute neighborhood, reminiscient of the mid-range end of allentown's west end (20-25th street, above highland). waiting for seller's disclosure. room in kitchen to add dishwasher.
House #2: The River View
3 bedroom, 1 bath row in norristown. 1263 sft. street parking only, but it's the end of a street, where the only thing around the corner is somewthing industrial, so parking shouldn't be a problem. neighborhood is the unknown factor here - most of the houses on the block have been recently rehabbed, are clean, have flower boxes, etc.; but two houses on the block are in pretty crappy condition; probably rentals. breathtaking view of the schuylkill river. gorgeous open living room/dining room combination with wide-plank dark hardwood floors. kitchen is small and doesn't have much storage space, but has new appliances (including dishwasher) and there is room to add shelving. door out of kitchen to back yard. small bathroom. big bedrooms. lowest taxes of any we looked at. basement is slightly damp. probably a flip - kitchen, bath, plumbing, drywall, roof, hot water heater, doors, windows, siding all new. food market within walking distance. have seller's disclosure - everything looks OK. biggest uncertainty: neighborhood.
House #3: The Big House
4 bedroom, 1.5 bath twin in pottstown. 1816 sft. there's so much to say about this house, i'm not sure where to start. small patch of rotting wood on front porch. open living room/dining room area with bay window in dining room. kitchen is a good size, with room enough for a book shelf so that all my cook books can be in the kitchen and not the living room (yay!). th half bath is in a small room off the kitchen, where a toilet and sink share precious space with the washer and dryer. you have to lift the toilet seat in order to open the dryer door. there are cabinets above the w/d for storage. door from kitchen leads to back yard with off-street parking for 2, possibly 3 cars. on the second floor, there is a master suite-type-thing - the master bedroom leads to a full bath and also a rather large L-shaped dressing room/walk-in closet. the other bedroom on the 2nd floor is not a bad size and has a very small closet. i just realized that i don't recall seeing any doors on the bedrooms, which is odd, but not too big of an issue for people who are fine being naked around others. for resale, though, we'd need doors, because i've heard there are people in this world with modesty. the stairs that go up to the third floor have a neat little twist off to the left before landing in bedroom #3, which you walk through to get to (you guessed it) bedroom #4. there are small, almost non-existent closets in all the bedrooms. the basement has a very, very low ceiling, which really doesn't lend itself to anything other than storage. the people that lived here loved stickers and decals. they're *everywhere* in this house. cabinets, closet doors, walls, you name it. i even saw one on the *inside* of a closet door.
In retrospect, I think we both liked #3 from the get-go. As we walked through, we talked about what we would put where. (random ideas follow.) the cherry pedestal table would come out of storage and be put to use in the dining room, where it would look lovely next to that bay window. i'd install a closet system in the "dressing room", and make a nice padded bench to be used for sitting while dressing. the other bedroom on the main floor would probably be the office; it's big enough that both of us could be in there with desks and chairs and not be bumping into each other (which is not true of our current office, which is why my desk is in the dining room.) the first bedroom on the 3rd floor (at the top of the stairs) would be a guest/craft room, where my sewing machine and quilting supplies would live, along with our current dining room table as my craft table and a daybed or futon for guests. the back bedroom on the third floor would be the library. we have both always wanted a library, a room with nothing but walls of books and some comfy chairs, and this would be perfect for that. overall, this house appears to be exactly what we were hoping to find - a house in great structural condition that is hideously ugly (oh, the wallpaper and paint are awful) and needs the exact kind of cosmetic TLC that my background and some elbow grease can provide. this would be a house we'd need to stay in for a good couple of years to make it a worthwhile purchase, and it'd be a longer commute than norristown, so those are considerations. we also haven't seen the disclosure yet. this is a very strong contender, though. there will be wallpaper-stripping parties if we buy this house, i promise that. come down for a weekend, i'll cook, i'll bring out a couple of paper tigers and some spray bottles of vinegar, and we'll get that god-awful ivy and blue starburst shit off the bedroom walls.
ok, no more house stuff. i have a headache. time to sit and relax and maybe watch some buffy.
House #1: The Yellow Kitchen
3 bedroom, 1 bath row in norristown. 1170 sft. street parking, but there's an alley behind the fenced yard, so we could swing off-street parking for 1 car as long as the weather is good. new beige carpet on the first floor; original hardwood on stairs and 2nd floor, so there may be hardwood under the carpet on the main level too. cute front porch; screened back porch off kitchen leading to yard. living room and dining room are separated by large archway; smaller archway connects dining room to kitchen. very large kitchen with breakfast bar and lots of windows; electric stove. walls and appliances are yellow. possible water damage in back bedroom - definitely not recent, so i need to remember to check the seller's disclosure when we get it to see if the roof was replaced/repaired recently. no other visible water damage. decent sized bathroom with built-in linen closet. all upstairs rooms have original (not painted!) wood doors almost identical to the ones at my dad's house, glass knobs and all. the light fixture in the kitchen needs to be replaced. big master bedroom; very small closet. had to use flashlight in basement because lights were not working - is fuse out? need to see basement with light to see if walls are ok. very old and dusty linoleum floor in basement. very cute neighborhood, reminiscient of the mid-range end of allentown's west end (20-25th street, above highland). waiting for seller's disclosure. room in kitchen to add dishwasher.
House #2: The River View
3 bedroom, 1 bath row in norristown. 1263 sft. street parking only, but it's the end of a street, where the only thing around the corner is somewthing industrial, so parking shouldn't be a problem. neighborhood is the unknown factor here - most of the houses on the block have been recently rehabbed, are clean, have flower boxes, etc.; but two houses on the block are in pretty crappy condition; probably rentals. breathtaking view of the schuylkill river. gorgeous open living room/dining room combination with wide-plank dark hardwood floors. kitchen is small and doesn't have much storage space, but has new appliances (including dishwasher) and there is room to add shelving. door out of kitchen to back yard. small bathroom. big bedrooms. lowest taxes of any we looked at. basement is slightly damp. probably a flip - kitchen, bath, plumbing, drywall, roof, hot water heater, doors, windows, siding all new. food market within walking distance. have seller's disclosure - everything looks OK. biggest uncertainty: neighborhood.
House #3: The Big House
4 bedroom, 1.5 bath twin in pottstown. 1816 sft. there's so much to say about this house, i'm not sure where to start. small patch of rotting wood on front porch. open living room/dining room area with bay window in dining room. kitchen is a good size, with room enough for a book shelf so that all my cook books can be in the kitchen and not the living room (yay!). th half bath is in a small room off the kitchen, where a toilet and sink share precious space with the washer and dryer. you have to lift the toilet seat in order to open the dryer door. there are cabinets above the w/d for storage. door from kitchen leads to back yard with off-street parking for 2, possibly 3 cars. on the second floor, there is a master suite-type-thing - the master bedroom leads to a full bath and also a rather large L-shaped dressing room/walk-in closet. the other bedroom on the 2nd floor is not a bad size and has a very small closet. i just realized that i don't recall seeing any doors on the bedrooms, which is odd, but not too big of an issue for people who are fine being naked around others. for resale, though, we'd need doors, because i've heard there are people in this world with modesty. the stairs that go up to the third floor have a neat little twist off to the left before landing in bedroom #3, which you walk through to get to (you guessed it) bedroom #4. there are small, almost non-existent closets in all the bedrooms. the basement has a very, very low ceiling, which really doesn't lend itself to anything other than storage. the people that lived here loved stickers and decals. they're *everywhere* in this house. cabinets, closet doors, walls, you name it. i even saw one on the *inside* of a closet door.
In retrospect, I think we both liked #3 from the get-go. As we walked through, we talked about what we would put where. (random ideas follow.) the cherry pedestal table would come out of storage and be put to use in the dining room, where it would look lovely next to that bay window. i'd install a closet system in the "dressing room", and make a nice padded bench to be used for sitting while dressing. the other bedroom on the main floor would probably be the office; it's big enough that both of us could be in there with desks and chairs and not be bumping into each other (which is not true of our current office, which is why my desk is in the dining room.) the first bedroom on the 3rd floor (at the top of the stairs) would be a guest/craft room, where my sewing machine and quilting supplies would live, along with our current dining room table as my craft table and a daybed or futon for guests. the back bedroom on the third floor would be the library. we have both always wanted a library, a room with nothing but walls of books and some comfy chairs, and this would be perfect for that. overall, this house appears to be exactly what we were hoping to find - a house in great structural condition that is hideously ugly (oh, the wallpaper and paint are awful) and needs the exact kind of cosmetic TLC that my background and some elbow grease can provide. this would be a house we'd need to stay in for a good couple of years to make it a worthwhile purchase, and it'd be a longer commute than norristown, so those are considerations. we also haven't seen the disclosure yet. this is a very strong contender, though. there will be wallpaper-stripping parties if we buy this house, i promise that. come down for a weekend, i'll cook, i'll bring out a couple of paper tigers and some spray bottles of vinegar, and we'll get that god-awful ivy and blue starburst shit off the bedroom walls.
ok, no more house stuff. i have a headache. time to sit and relax and maybe watch some buffy.
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Date: 2006-03-04 10:15 pm (UTC)I'm on the opposite end now, preparing my house to list it on Tuesday.
Tanya