A note about our house search

My previous post made me realize that we should share a peculiar thing we like to do with the houses. At least the ones we like. We give each of them a nickname. Usually only E & I know about this nickname, a detail that our REA finds incredibly confusing.

Here are the nicknames so far:

1. The Colonial: For the house in Bethel Park we liked so much, but sold before we made up our minds. It is a colonial.
2. The Rock House: For the house in South Park we put an offer in. The owner had a rock collection and traveled to craft and hobby shows to sell his rocks.
3. The Twilight House: For the Cape Cod in Pleasant Hills. One of the rooms was home to a teenage girl who was in love with Edward Cullen. This house also is known as Night Vision Goggles, since there was a pair of them in the boys' room (a souvenir from the Modern Warfare Collector's Edition).
4. The Ranch: Our current interest. It is a ranch.

I always think it is a good sign when we start referring to a house with a nickname. It means we like it.

Second Look

We are doing a repeat visit to "The Ranch" house tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed that E is not cranky and we can have a long look at the house. "The Ranch" needs a bit of work, all cosmetic. It needs a new bathroom, not because it is not functional, but because it is mind-numbingly ugly; it needs a new kitchen counter and floor, also because they are ugly; it needs wallpaper removed from the powder room (it has flamingos on it, maybe it's a sign!); it needs to have the wood panelling mud-coated and painted in the basement; and it needs new carpet in the game room and stairs.

I guess that is a long list, but it is not a terrifying list.

Even better, "The Ranch" does not need new windows; it doesn't need new appliances (all brand-new); doesn't need a new roof; doesn't need a new furnace or AC or hot water heater; doesn't need new hardwood floors (they are fantastic!); doesn't need new doors; doesn't need a repaved driveway or walkway; and doesn't need a security system installed (comes with one!).

In fact, the house has nothing that it absolutely needs rightthisverysecond. They are all projects we could tackle little by little.

Maybe we'll like it a lot after the second showing.

Running Challenge

Ran another two miles. 196 to go!

House Hunting Sunday

It was a marathon! We saw six houses in the span of 3 hours, all while E was in a terrible mood. Apologies if the details are fuzzy, they all tend to blend together.

House #1

Location: Pleasant Hills

Stats: Colonial, 4 bed, 1.5 baths

Pros: Nice size, enclosed porch converted into FR, nice traditional layout

Cons: Small tiered yard, one car garage, needs a bit of cosmetic work

This was a repeat visit to the house. We had ranked it very high on our original list and could not remember what we didn't like about it. We realized the yard was a deal-breaker.

Verdict: No.

Major Conclusion: A nice yard is non-negotiable for us.

House #2

Location: Bethel Park

Stats: Ranch, 3 beds, 1.5 baths, 2 car garage, 1/3 acre

Pros: Large common areas, enclosed porch (easy remake into FR), large finished basement, nice woodwork throughout the house (doors, floors, cabinets), fireplaces, nice bedroom sizes, enormous garage with workshop, beautiful yard, nice landscaping, cul de sac street, located with easy access to main roads. This house also includes a security system, brand new kitchen appliances (white), new HWT, newer furnace and roof.

Cons: Needs a lot of cosmetic work including a main bathroom remodel, new kitchen counter (or kitchen remodel), new kitchen floor, new carpeting in basement and two bedrooms. The deck off the kitchen is tiny, so it would need a new larger deck.

We liked this house, but it was almost like it grew on us. We didn't realize how much we liked it until we left it.

Verdict: A repeat visit is needed to know for sure.

Major conclusion: A ranch that is well layed-out can work.

House #3

Location: Upper Saint Clair

Stats: Cape Cod, 4 beds, 2 baths

Pros: School District, spacious

Cons: Layout, Location

This house was on a busier street, which we didn't like. It was also layed out so poorly that, even though it had a lot of square footage (1st floor FR, finished GR), a lot of the space was "weird". The DR was unusable, the kitchen was tucked away, the bedrooms were odd in shape. It made no sense.

Verdict: No

Major Conclusion: Just no

House #4

Location: Upper Saint Clair

Stats: Cape Cod, 3 beds, 1.5 baths

Pros: Had a 1st floor FR and a beautiful deck. All bedrooms were upstairs.

Cons: No garage, the yard was unusable hills, needed cosmetic work

E hated this house before we even walked in. I thought it was cute, but small.

Verdict: Not for us

Major Conclusion: None

House #5

Location: Bethel Park

Stats: Colonial, 4 beds, 1.5 baths, double lot

Pros: Huge eat-in kitchen, formal DR, 1st-floor FR, nice patio, wide driveways, new furnace, roof, HTH and plumbing.

Cons: Lots of cosmetic updates needed, yard was on a hill and unusable. The disclosure listed some items that made us think the yard was sliding. Did not care for the street.

This house had a lot of space and is priced very low, but it is a fixer upper. Had the yard been flat and the street nicer, we could have considered it.

Verdict: Nah

Major Conclusion: Although a yard is non-negotiable, cosmetic updates are something we can deal with.

House #6

Location: Pleasant Hills

Stats: Multi-level, 3 beds, 2 baths, 2-car garage

Pros: Curb Appeal.

Cons: Everything else! The house must have been built as a 70's bachelor pad with 70's wallpaper, old old old carpet, brick back splash in the kitchen, old old old appliances, a man cave in the basement (complete with shag and billiards table), and a Swiss Family Robinson yard.

The Yard: OMFG! The yard was basically a tree-house built in decking wood. From the kitchen, a spiral staircase led you down to the (basement-level) patio with an in-ground pool and slide. Then, there were three more levels of decking (all going down lower) with different balconies, water features, step ladders, spiral staircases, all leading to a gazebo and built-in grill at the lowest level. There was not a single inch of grass or dirt, not a single corner that wasn't covered by wood structures.

Verdict: Hell no!

Major Conclusion: Do I even have to say it? The yard!

My Running Challenge

In 2008 I ran a Half-Marathon the weekend we got engaged. In 2009, I ran three 5K races and was regularly running three to five miles at least three times a week. I was in good shape, and my Honeymoon photos are a testament to that! Now, not so much.

The last time I ran was a really rough 5K on Halloween with my friend L (she cooks!). My time was a full 2 minutes from my best race time, and 3 minutes from my best training run. I was losing it! After the wedding, I got lazy. There was no dress to fit into, no beaches that required bikinis, and no motivation to stay in shape. Now I am about 10 lbs from my wedding weight and out of shape, although my work slacks would like me to think it's more like 25 (they are tight!).

I cringe at New Year's resolutions about losing weight. These just send out of shape people into the gym to trot in the elliptical for 10 minutes with no resistance: not gonna cut it! I don't want my resolution to be to lose these pesky 10 lbs. It won't work, plus I'd have to stop making fun of the people at the gym that do this. Instead, my mission is to get back to running shape. More specifically, I have a mileage goal for 2010:

In 2010, I will run 200 miles.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but I want to start slow. This breaks down to under 5 miles each week, but when you consider holidays, vacations, work functions and Pittsburgh weather, it really ends up being 6 miles per week. I hope I hit 300 this year, but I'll be happy with 200 miles. Then we can dream about all the places I could have run to that are 200 or 300 miles away!

I'll keep a countdown (or up) here on the blog. Hope to not let you down!

Day 1: Ran 2 miles, 198 to go.

Another Bust!

Yesterday's viewing was another bust. Figures. Maybe some day they'll do something to keep agents from lying in their listings. This house promised a brand new kitchen, new flooring and various updates, none of which were true. A new kitchen does not contain flooring that is coming up, a non-working dishwasher, a fridge that doesn't match, ugly caulk stains on the counter top and a stove that is grease-stained.

This was house #21. Maybe we'll find the one before we hit house #30? #40? #50?!

Working Faster

After Saturday's visits, we decided to make an offer on House #3, the fixer upper. Before we could even write it out, we found out the owner's had accepted an offer Saturday evening just hours after we left the property. This is the second house that we have wanted that has been sold before we could make a move. We need a new tactic: move faster.

From now on, if there is a house I like, I don't want to wait five days to see it, then two more to make an offer. If I want something, I will go for it, quickly.

There is a house I have been scoping out for about a month. It was slightly over our budget and, although we could have afforded it, since we are asking for closing costs we would have been asking the owners to take a $14K hit on the asking price. This morning, an alert came through that the asking price had been lowered by $10K, so the house is right in our price range. Immediately, I contacted our REA and we are taking a look tomorrow evening.

The house is unique, with large rooms, vaulted (and beamed) ceilings and a lot of interesting wood work. But regardless of whether we like the wood work or beams, the house is large with a beautiful yard and is located in a nice street that borders South Park township. When I saw the listing before Christmas, I was immediately intrigued by this weird house. Now, I am jumping at the chance to see it. I would go right now if I could!

Wish us luck tomorrow. Maybe we'll love it, or maybe we won't. Whatever happens, we are aiming to move a little faster from now on.

House Hunting Saturday, Month #4

E and I went out yesterday and looked at four properties. All of them surprised us for different reasons. Here's the breakdown:

House 1

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: Ranch, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (possible third), game room

Pros: Master Bathroom
Cons: Location was awful! The house was small with a cramped kitchen and a layout that felt everyone would be on top of each other.

This house was incredibly over-priced. It was small, on a super duper busy street with a hardly usable yard.

Verdict: A resounding NO!
Major conclusion: I still don't like ranches.

House 2

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: Multi-level, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths (with room to make it 2 full)

Pros: It is a nice street and a corner lot. The owners have done a fantastic job renovating with new floors, molding, etc. Nice room sizes and closet sizes.
Cons: The house is too small for us. It does not have a basement or a family room, so there is no room to put E's office unless we take one of the bedrooms. The yard is hilly.

Verdict: Very pretty, but doesn't fit our needs.
Major conclusion: It is amazing what good renovations can do!

House 3

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: Colonial, 4 bedrooms, 1 full and 2 half baths, 2-car garage.

Pros: The house is a great size with good bedroom sizes, decent closets, a PR off the MBR, a big living room and dining room, great hardwood floors, pretty tile in the kitchen and baths, a great garage, nice patio, beautiful large yard, and fantastic curb appeal.
Cons: The house needs work. The seller's are disclosing a leak from the first floor powder room, a basement backup (the pipes are open), and a leak during heavy rain in the second garage. We also observed an ivy problem, a few trees that need to be removed, a new fence is needed in the yard eventually, new windows eventually, and a few things that need to be repaired due to teenagers living in the house (doors with drawings, one wall with a fist-size hole). Also, the home-owners smoke, so the house needs a serious scrubbing!

The price is easily $40-50K under what it would sell for if it was in move-in condition. The neighborhood is fabulous with a playground and a walking-running trail accessible through neighbors' yards. The repairs are mostly ones that could be done throughout the years, since most of the house is in working condition. If we were to get the house back to move-in condition, it could easily sell for over $200K in five years, but it will require a lot of work.

Verdict: Although it needs work, it is a fantastic house in a gorgeous neighborhood.
Major conclusion: A little elbow grease can go a long way!

House 4

Location: Mount Lebanon
Stats: Row-house, 3 bedrooms (actually 2), 1.5 baths

Pros: This is a flipped house with new everything. The entryway is beautiful, the kitchen is gorgeous, the attic space is a plus.
Cons: The house is actually a two bedroom, since the third bedroom does not have a closet. The other two bedrooms have teeny closets where you probably can't fit even a shoe (depth). There is only parking for one car. The house sits on a hill up 30 steps. The basement has very obvious water damage, with no indication that it was fixed by the flippers. The attic, although a nice space, is not heated. The walls in most of the house could have used a skim coat before painting, as you can see old drips, glow in the dark stickers, etc. under the paint. The windows, aside from the first floor, are all old single-pane windows.

Verdict: Over-priced for a house that is actually a 2-bedroom.
Major conclusion: I'd rather do the repairs myself and be sure they are done to our standards.

This Warms My Heart

Aside from her weirdo fear of birds, this is an amazing story of two survivors of the Hudson River crash falling in love.

Sure beats my "we met at a bar" line. Although it will be five years in three weeks since E & I met. I'll blog the story, his cheesy line and all.

The TV Audit

E & I have a slight obsession with television. We watch a good amount of TV, even more since we got our DVR. Recently, my friend D completed a one-week no TV challenge and, although I don't think that's something I want to try, it inspired me to at least take a look at what we watch regularly on TV.

Since the financial audit season is in full swing at my office, I decided to do a TV-viewing audit for E & I. Hopefully this will help us cut some shows we no longer care about.

Daily:
N- KDKA News in the Morning/CBS Early Show

Monday:
N- The Bachelor
N & E- Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother
E- WWE Raw
On DVR- Secret Life of an American Teenager, House, Castle, Greek (coming soon)

Tuesday:
N- American Idol
N & E- Lost
On DVR- Scrubs

Wednesday:
N- American Idol, Glee
On DVR- Modern Family

Thursday:
N & E- Community, The Office
E- Jersey Shore
On DVR- Fringe, The Mentalist, Project Runway

Other shows on hiatus: Lie to Me (DVR), Top Chef (N)

It looks like other than Mondays, the TV schedule is fairly controlled. Why do all the good shows air on Mondays?
Perhaps a goal for this year is to trim the DVR'd shows down from 9 to 5. Or take one night a week to do something outside the house. And, perhaps, eat a few meals in our dining room (once we have a real one, that is). In the meantime, go read D's blog for her awesome no-TV experiment.

New kitchen trick!

I made my mom's amazing pollo guisado (chicken stew) last night to great raves from the hubster. I won't even attempt to post the recipe because it consists of a lot of this:

"A little bit of sauce. A bit of water. Taste it, add some more sauce. Maybe some salt. And taste again and adjust."

I couldn't reproduce it on paper if I tried.

However, I learned a really neat new trick for removing fat from liquids (stews, sauces, soups). There was no time for refrigeration and I do not own a gravy separator, and I had a bit of fat at the top of my stew from the chicken thighs. A quick search on google brought this invaluable nugget:

To remove fat from liquids, wait until the fat rises to the top, then take a paper towel, hold it at both ends, and lay on the fat.

Amazingly, the paper towel grabs/sucks up only the fat and leaves the nice flavorful broth behind. It took a few passes, about four paper towels, but 99% of the fat was gone. Hands down, a meal saver!

We interrupt this program...

I know it's been a while, but I have a good excuse: we've been traveling! We spent a lovely Christmas in Bel Air, Maryland with E's family where we ate too much yummy food, received practical (and somewhat strange) gifts, and were the hit of the family when we gifted E's parents with motion sensor stainless-steel trashcans (Costco FTW). A day after returning, we jetted off to Las Vegas to help our friends with an event they run every January. We spent almost a week in Vegas at the Flamingo enjoying great company, rowdy drunks, slinging stale beer and battling a case of food poisoning.
Note: Thanks to the food poisoning, I got a jump-start in losing my post-wedding weight.


We returned to the frozen tundra of Pittsburgh tired, jet-lagged and excited to be home for a long stretch. As for New Year's resolutions, I want to blog more. Even if no one reads it. E doesn't make resolutions, or he doesn't tell me.

Last night, we went to a friend's house-warming party. We were pleasantly surprised at how lovely his home was. A nice 3.5 or 4 bedroom (depends), 1.5 bath house with a semi-open layout and plenty of extra space for expansion. When we heard what he paid we almost fainted! Granted, his house is not in an area we would ever consider buying. I am just a teensy bit overly obsessed with school districts to buy in the city. But it was nice to see that our friend had gotten pretty much everything he wanted in a house, whereas E & I always seem to have at least one thing about each house we see that we don't like.


As we left the party, I asked E about our houses. Immediately he answered that he wanted to see more, so I went back to our listings this morning. That's when I found out "our" house had been sold. We were surprised it sold because we were "watching" the house, yet no call ever came asking us to put a competing offer in. After initial shock and sadness, it made me realize that the house selling meant we could take our time and look for the PERFECT house without feeling tied back to a lingering listing. There are five houses we are hoping to see next weekend, and hopefully none of them will be sold from under us.