Our home inspection was today. Of course I have been nervously waiting for today to come and go all week long. Not that I worried about our home caving in on us, but you never know what unforseen thing may show up and how the prospective buyers will react. If they want the house badly enough, then they will overlook the small faults -- the creek on the 7th step, the older windows, things like that. If they want a reason to back out these minor nuisances can be their perfect out. After speaking with our realtor this evening, who spoke with their realtor this evening, it seems that they are still interested in our Crazy Crowded House. So much so, in fact, that they are already trying to see which medicine cabinets and mirror cabinets we will leave for them. It seems that we can breathe a sigh of relief on this end. Problem is we still need some place to go!
There are two homes in contention at this point. Each one has lovely aspects, and each does have her faults. House A sits majestically a top of a large hill. Her presence is magnificent. To say that she has curb appeal is putting it too mildly. She sits on a cul-de-sac with 7 other houses, most of which have play sets and some have pools. She seems your perfect, quintessential Connecticut Colonial home. Inside she is lovely and polished. Not much needs to be done. But not much can be done, should we, one day down the road want to do something. Most of her 1 acre property sits in front of the house, leaving very little behind her -- not enough for a swing set and certainly no possibility of ever installing a swimming pool. She boasts a lovely, fully finished basement complete with new paint, carpeting and chair rail molding. Not much at all needs to be done to this turn key.
House B is much larger (4,500 sq. ft!) and needs quite a bit of work. The property is larger with a lovely front yard and plenty of room for boys to toss around a football, kick a soccer ball, or play whiffle ball out back. Her bones are lovelier and more regal, yet she'll need some sculpting. From the exterior she doesn't command the same presence that House A does -- yet she is still a beauty. House B has space, space and more space. She has a 2 story entry way, a huge living room, dining room and gourmet kitchen (in need of updating). She has a large family room, a first-floor office, 2 half bathrooms downstairs, laundry room and massive bonus room. The upstairs boasts 4 nicely sized bedrooms and 2 nicely sized bathrooms. Upstairs nothing is spectacular, whereas in House A everything about the upstairs is spectacular.
So, do we move in to a nicely sized home and unpack and worry about nothing, or do we gamble on the larger home, fix it (over the course of the next few years) and really make it our own? And perhaps even enjoy a nice return on our investment?
By the end of the week we will come to our decision -- unless one has been made for us...
There are two homes in contention at this point. Each one has lovely aspects, and each does have her faults. House A sits majestically a top of a large hill. Her presence is magnificent. To say that she has curb appeal is putting it too mildly. She sits on a cul-de-sac with 7 other houses, most of which have play sets and some have pools. She seems your perfect, quintessential Connecticut Colonial home. Inside she is lovely and polished. Not much needs to be done. But not much can be done, should we, one day down the road want to do something. Most of her 1 acre property sits in front of the house, leaving very little behind her -- not enough for a swing set and certainly no possibility of ever installing a swimming pool. She boasts a lovely, fully finished basement complete with new paint, carpeting and chair rail molding. Not much at all needs to be done to this turn key.
House B is much larger (4,500 sq. ft!) and needs quite a bit of work. The property is larger with a lovely front yard and plenty of room for boys to toss around a football, kick a soccer ball, or play whiffle ball out back. Her bones are lovelier and more regal, yet she'll need some sculpting. From the exterior she doesn't command the same presence that House A does -- yet she is still a beauty. House B has space, space and more space. She has a 2 story entry way, a huge living room, dining room and gourmet kitchen (in need of updating). She has a large family room, a first-floor office, 2 half bathrooms downstairs, laundry room and massive bonus room. The upstairs boasts 4 nicely sized bedrooms and 2 nicely sized bathrooms. Upstairs nothing is spectacular, whereas in House A everything about the upstairs is spectacular.
So, do we move in to a nicely sized home and unpack and worry about nothing, or do we gamble on the larger home, fix it (over the course of the next few years) and really make it our own? And perhaps even enjoy a nice return on our investment?
By the end of the week we will come to our decision -- unless one has been made for us...