House Hunting Saturday

This past Saturday we headed back to the South Hills to take a look at the rest of the houses in our "top list". We saw one house in Mount Lebanon, one in Bethel Park and one in Pleasant Hills. All three houses were nice, but only one of them seemed to be a good fit for us. Here's the run-down:

House 1

Location: Mount Lebanon

Stats: Cape Cod, 3 Bedrooms, 1.5 Baths, First Floor FR, Finished GR in Basement

Pros: The street and neighborhood were fantastic. Cute, clean and quiet with lots of trees. The house had a nice FR space off the kitchen perfect for a TV/Playroom, and the basement space was ideal for a home office. The kitchen was very nice and in great shape. The yard was an OK size compared to others we have seen in the area.

Cons: One of the bedrooms and the only full bathroom were on the First Floor. There was no bathroom on the second floor. The "half bath" was really just a Pittsburgh toilet in the basement.

Verdict: Nice house, not what we want.

This house has come down almost $50K in price. It has been on the market for over a year.

Major Conclusion: We are not big fans of the Cape Cod-style houses. The space is never used in the best way.

House 2

Location: Bethel Park

Stats: Renovated Farmhouse, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, Den & Sunroom

Pros: Great living spaces with a lot of country charm. The renovation work that was done was amazing. The kitchen was enormous and there was plenty of room for everything. The bedrooms were a good size, the bathrooms were in good shape and the closets were a great size. The garage was huge with a loft storage space.

Cons: The house is located on a corner lot of a busy street. It is an odd location because the house seems somewhat exposed to the street. It would scare me to have my kids playing in the front yard or the street. The basement is downright scary. It is an old unfinished basement with lots of doors to storage spaces, uneven damp floors, spiderwebs and all kinds of icky stuff. The biggest problem is that the house has practically no yard. Other than the patch of yard on the side and front of the house, the huge garage that the previous owners built took up most of the land. If this house had a big yard, even in the same location, it could be a winner.

Verdict: Very nice house, not for us.

This house started in the market about $25K higher than what it is listed for now.

Major Conclusion: We need a yard or more land space.

House 3

Location: Pleasant Hills

Stats: Colonial, 4 Bedrooms, 1.5 Bathrooms, First Floor Den

Pros: Good amount of space, gorgeous street, great neighborhood. Decent yard.

Cons: Near a busy (loud) road, needs new carpet in first floor, needs a lot of new appliances. The furnace and water heater are fairly old.

Verdict: Very Nice House. This is our #2 Favorite.

Major conclusion: A complaint about this house, other than the proximity to a busy road, is that there is not a lot of room for improvement. What it is now is what it will always be. We like the idea of having a house that can grow with us if we ever choose it to.