In addition to Riley turning one

(see previous entry for numerous photos)

We bought a house last weekend.

Kinda.

The Saturday before her party we went for a 2nd look at a place I was in loooooove with and when the Realtor as if we wanted to put an off in we said YES. Sunday we got a call they had a counter offer (up 2K from what we put in) and we agreed. Honestly, the house was priced very fair, I kind of felt bad offering less than asking price to begin with. We rewrote the contract and they signed it last week! Home inspection is Wednesday and right now closing is scheduled for June 23rd.

It’s a 4 bedroom ranch, all one level, over 1800 sq ft. The current owners have only been there 2 years. They bought it, totally renovated the place (the Realtor showed up before pictures when we were doing the paperwork, they did a LOT) and now they’re being relocated. I feel kind of bad for them! There’s all new flooring, electrical, plumbing, furnace, interior doors, windows, new bathroom and kitchen.The kitchen is amazing. The cabinet drawers close themselves with a push and there’s a pantry cabinet next to the fridge with internal doors that swing out….I mean so much storage. Most of the bedrooms are carpeted in addition to the living room – I know most people prefer hardwood, I hate it, and there are ceiling fans in almost every room. The hall and kitchen are nice wood floors. The master suite is in an addition and has a small sitting area, the bedroom (and walk in closet), and master bath with a double sink. They agreed to leave the fridge (it wasn’t in the original listing) and offered an awesome wood play set with rock wall, climbing rope, etc. We’ve been looking at baby swing sets at Toys R Us and the sets I’ve seen comparable to it are over $500. The basement isn’t finished, but it is heated and one section has paneled walls and a laminate floor so it wouldn’t be a bad place to hang out.

Ohplusalso it’s in my most favorite part of the city. I was reading some old entries from when Riley was first born and I had written that there were houses for sale over there, but we could probably never afford them. It’s definitely a newer area and the only real suburban neighborhoods in the city. It’s off the same road my old apartment building was off of, I CAN’T WAIT TO BE THERE AGAIN. It’s right on my old running route, too. After we moved I still used to drive over there to run.

The funny thing is, I got discouraged about house hunting right from the start. It quickly became apparent that what I had in my head wasn’t going to jive with our price range. Our first two outings there was only one house that I would even consider and it had quite a few cons. When the one we’re in the process of buying came on the market I had a dream the day before we went to look at it that it was this brand new beautiful mansion and love at first sight. Then we went to look at it and even though it’s no mansion it totally met and exceeded my expectations! Then Easter weekend we were visiting my parents and I had a dream we were having an egg hunt there at some point in the future with our kids….it just totally felt like home. Everyone said we would know when we found the right one, but I’m always skeptical about that. I’m a person ruled more by head than heart (it’s the scientist in me) but this house seems to satisfy both 🙂

So fingers crossed things go smoothly between now and the end of June!