House Hunting Saturday

Yesterday, E & I went out to look at three homes in the South Hills, two in Bethel Park and one in South Park. After a few wrong turns and the GPS leading us to a closed road, we made it to South Park for the first house in a foul mood. Here's the summary:

House 1

Location: South Park
Stats: 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, First Floor Family Room

Pros: Room sizes were great, the layout of the house was very nice, closets were large, the yard was beautiful (about 1/3 acre), the deck was huge, huge 2-car garage, master bathroom, great neighborhood, some new windows.
Cons: Needs cosmetic updates: some new carpets, lots of dated wallpaper, kitchen cabinets (not real wood) and counter tops, closet doors. Furnace and AC are original with the house (30 years old). Kitchen appliances are dated. The commute is 28 minutes without traffic. This is 10 minutes more (6 extra miles) than if we moved to Bethel.

Verdict: Loved the house, loved the space. Hated the commute.

This house is priced for a quick sale and will be snatched up within the month. It is being sold by a recent divorcee for only $1K above market value.

Major Conclusion: Although I could handle the commute, it would make for a very cranky E. It is something for us to think about.

House 2

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: 4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, First Floor FR, In-ground Pool

Pros: The street and neighborhood is fantastic! A cul-de-sac with kids playing on the street, hardly any traffic and loads of trees. The house is spacious with the family room and four bedrooms. It has a nice deck and a large yard. The finished basement is nice.
Cons: Closet space is practically non-existent. The stairs to the second level are enclosed. There are no kitchen appliances. No bathroom on the second floor. The garage is unusable unless the driveway is paved. The driveway is too narrow to shuffle the cars. The yard is tiered and has a lot of overgrown trees, vines and bushes. The pool is extra insurance ($200 a year), extra electric and extra maintenance, plus the fence around the top of the pool is not up to code. The front porch needs to be torn down and re-done and there are some cosmetic updates needed on the house. The furnace is old.

Verdict: Nice house, but we couldn't live with no closets and no driveway. The yard is difficult to maintain. The pool is both a plus and a con. Needs lots of updates.

I think this is a good house, but there are lots of updates needed, and the layout is not ideal for us.

Major conclusion: More bedrooms do not translate to a better house.

House 3

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Over 1/2 Acre Yard

Pros: This is our second time viewing this house. We really like it. It is turn-key with fab new appliances, new wood windows, HW floors, new furnace, new AC and new hot water tank. The room sizes are nice, the closets are huge, the layout is great (traditional and efficient) and the yard is a dream-come-true. There is a deep integral garage, a finished GR in the basement, a huge covered brick porch and nice landscaping.
Cons: The house sits on a busier road. The second full bathroom (brand new) is in the basement. We would have to extend the driveway by about 4 ft in order to be able to shuffle the two cars in and out of the garage.

Verdict: This is a great house, and it has a lot of potential for improvements and additions.

The price of this house was just significantly reduced. It was certainly worth a second look.

Major conclusion: We still love this house, especially for the new price.

Is this our Dream House?

There is a house we both really like. I happen to love it, E likes it very much, but is it THE house?

We want to wait at least another month before putting in an offer, but what if this house is gone? Will we have missed out on our dream house? If we do buy this house, what if something better comes along after February?

I don't think I am the type of person that just "knows" when something is the one. I had to try on my wedding dress three times before deciding on it, and even to this day I wonder if that was the right move.
This is the house causing all the doubts. Here's how it compares with what we described as our dream house.

YES - At least three nice-sized bedrooms.
YES - A spacious living room.
YES - A separate dining room.
YES - Nice large windows in common areas.
YES+++ - A relatively medium to large yard. A good yard to us is at least 1/4 of an acre.
YES+ Bonus - A driveway and garage, bonus points if the driveway can fit two cars side by side.
YES - A nice street and neighborhood.

These are the things we would love to have, but are not deal-breakers:
YES - At least 1.5 bathrooms, preferably 2 full baths.
YES - Integral garage.
YES - Finished basement.
YES! - Nice size closets.
YES - Room for a home office, either in the basement or an extra bedroom or den.

Additional Plus's:

New A/C, furnace and Hot Water Heater

Renovated kitchen with Stainless Appliances

Pantry

Brand New Wood Windows

Hardwood floors in impeccable condition

No Wallpaper!

Built-in grill in back yard (connected to gas line)

Huge back porch that can easily become a FR or Den

New landscaping in front

1/2 Acre flat yard

1/4 mile from elementary school

Close to South Park

So what are the cons?

- The second full bathroom, although fully renovated, is in the basement (finished).

- The main bathroom might need to be renovated soon, but it's not really necessary.

- The street is a bit busier than we would like, although the house sits far back from the street.

- We need to work on the curb appeal (shutters and a portico should do the trick).

- We found it too early!

Maybe it will take us looking at this house a few times before deciding it is THE one, or maybe it just isn't it.

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.

House Hunting Sunday

This weekend, we decided to brave the market and make appointments to go look at 5 different houses. E & I headed to the South Hills of Pittsburgh with our REA Matt. The schedule consisted of three houses in Bethel Park and two houses in Mount Lebanon. We ended up dropping the second house in Mt. Lebanon after finding out that we would have to fix the garage, estimated at $5K out of pocket, before the sale would be approved.

House #1

Location: Bethel Park
Stats: Split Level, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, FR in Basement

Pros: Even sized bedrooms, nice floorplan, clean carpets, nice yard, master bathroom!, 2-car integral garage
Cons: Needs a few cosmetic updates, small Living Room and Family Room, bedrooms are a bit on top of each other

Verdict: Definitely still on list of possibilities.

This house had a good amount of space and flowed well. The neighborhood is nice. The house, at 40 years old, is newer than a lot in this area.

Major Conclusion: Split Level homes can be very nice.

Note to sellers: Please try to have your children vacate the house before potential buyers come in. When E & I visited, there were 5 teenagers and a newborn in the house, all in their PJs. Also, please try to leash your dogs when people come see the house. We didn't go out into the backyard because there were two Boxers unleashed.

House #2

Location: Bethel Park

Stats: 2-Story Colonial, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, FR in Basement

Pros: Amazing 3/4 acre level yard!, renovated kitchen with stainless steel appliances, nice FR or office in basement, large porch off living room, gas grill, nice landscaping, relatively large LR, huge closets in each room including a walk-in in the MBR, nice hardwood floors, new wood windows (love these), good storage space in basement.
Cons: On a road that is a bit busier than others, the bedroom area/hallway is a bit cramped, the second full bathroom is in the basement, only one-car garage (but driveway is large enough for 3 cars).

Verdict: We really really like this house. However, we just started looking and need to explore other areas and a few more homes.

This house is only 1/4 mile from the Elementary School and we fell in love with the yard. We can easily expand this home by closing off the porch and making it into a FR, then adding a deck in the backyard. We can also add a pool or playground to the yard once we have little ones.

Major Conclusion: E & I care about the yard/outdoor space more than we care about the (current) finished living area. We definitely want to make a nice yard a priority.

House #3

Location: Bethel Park

Stats: Split Level, 3 Bedrooms, 1F 2H Bathrooms

Pros: Nice open floorplan, 2 car integral garage, nice hardwood floors, beautiful quiet street.
Cons: Needs lots of updates, old appliances, really small yard, small living spaces.

Verdict: This house is very overpriced. It is a definite no.

Major Conclusion: The lack-of yard is a deal-breaker.

House #4Location: Mt. Lebanon

Stats: Multi-Level, 3 Bedrooms, 1.5 Bathrooms, FR in Basement

Pros: Lots of living space, definitely move-in ready, decent-sized bedrooms, great FR in basement, large laundry/storage room, extra room in mid-level can be made into a playroom, great large LR & DR, newer appliances.
Cons: Needs a kitchen or bathroom remodel soon, but both have big potential, the backyard is a little small, only one-car garage.

Verdict: Keeping this one on the list.

This was our second-favorite house of the day. The bones are good and is move-in ready, with great potential that can be achieved with a few renovations in a few years. The yard was a drawback. It wasn't very small, but we definitely would like a bigger yard.

Major conclusion: Other than the yard being a big deal? We realized we are willing to go for a house that is not 100% perfect if it has the potential to become that house in a few years.

Score for the day: three possibilities out of four, one excellent house.