Week 1 Wrapup

So as I mentioned yesterday, we went out with Kari to get a look at a wide variety of houses in several neighborhoods. It was the day after our big snowstorm and we definitely got a feel for what the neighborhood roads would be like unplowed!

We started in Park Hill and immediately loved the first house -- of course! It had everything we wanted, was nicely updated and even had a few things we didn't even know we wanted - like a master bath in the bedroom and his-and her closets!

The next few houses are sort of a blur, but they included a house with a super-creepy fish tank (sans fish) where they were also burning candles everywhere (wonder what smell they were trying to hide?) and a house with shelves on almost every wall. There was one fix-n-flip we loved but it only had one tiny bathroom, and one house we both liked with an amazing kitchen and huge garage, but a very small living room. However, almost all the Park Hill houses had qualities we loved - brick ranches on quiet streets with unique architectural detailing like coved ceilings and arched doorways.

After Park Hill we saw two houses in Skyland and Whittier. We had seen the Skyland house online and thought it would be cheap and easy to update, but that was not the case. It needs a LOT of work and I don't think we are ready to replace 50 year old windows, knock down walls, gut a kitchen, etc. I loved the Whittier house - it looked like it was from a Pottery Barn catalogue - but there was absolutely no parking -- not a garage or even a parking space. While that is a drawback for Max, it's still on my list!

Then we headed south to the University Hills area. I had never really considered that area and I think I would have to do some more perusing before I decide if I like it! It's not as central as we would like but the homes are cute and we did see one with an adorable Ikea-remodeled kitchen. The funniest house we saw all day was straight out of the 50s, complete with mustard-yellow appliances, shiny lime-green wallpaper in the bathroom and even wall-mounted hand-mixer.

After all was said and done we liked the first house enough to warrant a second look only to find out it went under contract that day! BUMMER! But we will keep our eye on it in case something falls through and can't wait to see what else is out there next weekend!