Looking at houses...............

So on Sunday we went to look around five houses.  Of those five we had already been inside three of them before.

House number 1 is a semi and has TOP of the line appliances and a lovely kitchen.  The house has barely been lived in and still has a new paint smell.  The couple split up and it has a VERY unloved feel to it, but the potential in this house is good.  However we have discovered it has more or less sold as there is a conditional offer on it which although expires next week looks like a done deal.

House number 2 is also a semi and again has a dream kitchen and is very well kept.  It is above our price range but is doable.  There is nothing to do to this house as it's gorgeous.  On the negative side though there is a squeak in the floor in the kitchen that CANNOT be fixed and the bottom of the basement stairs squeaks, which can be fixed.  Also the dining area in this house is tiny; but we would make do.  The only other sort of negative is the master bedroom is at the front of the house on the main floor.  Otherwise very little to do and on a quiet part of the subdivision.

House number 3 is a detached house and backs onto the golf course.  It also has a walk out basement which is also a great plus.  BUT and it is a big but, all the windows on the back of the house, which is North facing needs to be replaced.  They were all covered in plastic.  Also the master bedroom only had a shower and no bath.  The basement bathroom only had a tub/bath and no shower.  Both bathrooms would need major work.  So we can see spending $25,000 in that house and it is at the top of our price range.

On a side note, it was sort of sad as we thought one of the owners may have had a memory problem as on the door to the garage was a list of things to remember to take with you; followed by Love You and finally KISS.

House number 4 is detached and one we had seen before when we went for an open house, only to discover that it was the owner that was showing people around.  So although we went around with him you tend to feel sort of in the way and don't get a good look around.  This time though the owners weren't there so we got a good look and I loved it as much as I did last time. Its the perfect size for us with two bedrooms and a loft area which will be great as a sewing room. The only down side is that there is a conditional offer on it until March 17th.  Our real estate agent is going to see what the scoop is behind that.

House number 5 was also detached.  It had a gorgeous kitchen with lots of upgrades and terracotta tiles on the floor.  The living room/dining room was lovely as well and felt nice and cozy.  The master bedroom was a good size, but the ensuite bathroom only had a bath in it; we need a walk in shower.  All the stairs to the loft and the loft itself had navy blue carpet on it.  The stairs going down to the basement also had navy blue carpet on it.  To replace all that carpet would probably cost in the excess of $5,000.  They had put linoleum in the basement family room......not a good look.  All the basement needs redoing and is a lot of work which we don't really want to do.

So what this means is house number one, we may as well forget about and class that as sold .  House number four is my favourite and I would move in there tomorrow if I could.  House number two if they drop the price that is my second favourite.

House number four is for us and I can see us living there no problem and it feels like home and is on a quiet street.  Also would be as comfortable living in house number two and that too is on a quiet street.  Would prefer the detached over the semi, but both have negatives and positives.

Sarah, our real estate agent has advised us not to put a conditional offer on a house as that would just put extra pressure on us to sell our house, which makes perfect sense.  It's already stressful selling the house without that extra pressure.

So if you prayer, pray that house number four will be ours, and that we sell our own home pretty fast when we put it up for sale.  Will say though the weather is terrible where we are with very, very high winds which is blowing the snow all over the place.  So not a good time to put the house on the market.  So we are praying and hoping the weather settles down so we can put the house up for sale soon.

Should also add that a couple more houses have hit the market, so more and more will come up as and when the weather improves.

So there you go.  I would envision us going to look at more houses before this is all done and dusted.  I go by my gut feeling and whether or not it feels like home to me.  I did go into a home the other week and loved it; including all the blinds and paintings, even the ornaments and furniture.  She even had a Moorcroft vase on her fireplace that I loved!!! Turned out she was British; we must all have good taste...LOL  That house sold as it was immaculate.