A Celebration and an Update

We had a little birthday party for my dear friend Christine last Saturday. We met Christine back in 2000, when Caitlin took violin lessons from her. We always lingered around after the lesson and chatted up a storm, and became fast friends. I have watched all of her children grow up right before my  eyes, and oh boy they are the sweetest, smartest kids you will ever meet, such a joy to be around! So we thought it would be fitting to have one more celebration before we move out of this house, and what better celebration to have than a dear friends birthday!  Since Caitlin didn't get a birthday cake on her actual birthday on the 25th, we kind of made it a shared cake, so they decided to blow the candle out together.

Moving up date.....well, it has been just as yucky and taxing as you can imagine. Nothing really to look at to make a choice on Craigslist, so we are counting right now on a house that is part of the portfolio of properties that belong to the property management company that we are under right now. We went to look at it today.  Lets just say that it wasn't ready to look at, and combined with the previous tenant leaving it in a bad state, and some dated issues, I was a bit deflated about it. Problem is, in our town the rental inventory is a tight one, so I think we will most likely have to take this house. I'm going to list both pros and cons of the place, just so if we do end up taking it, I can look back on this post and wonder why I was so worried about some of the negatives, so bare with me.

Cons: The garage was converted way back when, so you can't put cars in it, just storage and laundry. The cars will have to be on street parking.  The bathrooms are 1960's dated. Sure I know you can put little chotskies in it to spruce it up, but the bigger issues are the grimy shower stall and the odd main bathroom with a door by the shower, just in case you want to go out in the back yard I guess. It could have been part of an old mud room??? Lighting is an issue in both bathrooms with horrible light fixtures! If they don't update them, I will, because they are horrible. 1960's wood doors that make everything super dark. I asked if they could possibly be updated, and if not painted, lets hope!  There are two old AC units that were never yanked out of the wall when they put central air, one in the master bedroom and the other in another bedroom. I suppose I could cover them by putting a bookshelf in front of them. The yard is interesting. Some of it is pretty because of some old growth, but neglected structures make it look a bit run down. There is an in-law unit that isn't in too bad of shape, but that means that someone is living back there. They said they are putting up a privacy fence....I hope so! Oh, and in the dinning room there is a huge mural that was suppose to depict Versailles. I lived 10 min, away from Versailles, and that mural in no way depicts it! Hahahah. The owner is super reluctant to take it down because she grew up with it I guess. If they can't convince her to take it down, I'm putting temporary wallpaper over it. Front door needs some attention and better door knob so you don't get robbed. Lighting in the long hallway are weird spotlight type of track lighting, like you are in a movie set. Hopefully we can take them down or they can replace these.

Pros: The house is huge. It has over 2,500 sq. feet! Hardwood floors throughout except the family room where they are putting in a new carpet. To be fair, they are replacing the kitchen flooring, master bath flooring and the entryway as well, which helps me not freak out too much. The living room is very spacious and bigger than what we have now. One of the coolest features is the fireplace. It is a pass through one, where you can see into the family room from the livingroom. When I heard this house had that, I was imagining a super nightmare looking thing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the part that faced into the main living room was painted white, and the back was left in used brick look and both work well with each room. I guess you light a fire in the center and you can see it from both sides. I think it might be my favorite thing about the house.  The kitchen was remodeled not too long ago with granite counters and the cabinets are white. In the old photos they had of this property, the kitchen looked great, so I was really hopeful about the rest of the house. The previous tenants left it a complete shambles and even the handles of the nice fridge were destroyed! Who does that?!  It has four bedrooms! In this area,  a four bedroom house is expensive, but because this house has some funkiness  to it, it rents for less than what it could. The yard, even though it has some structures that should be taken down, has beautiful trees in the back and a ton of citrus bushes in the front yard. So many citrus bushes that you can smell the heady scent of all of them when you walk up to the house. Some beautiful rose bushes also. The other plus is that we would be paying less than this house. So question is....would you take it? I wish I had seen it finished and not in the state that it is in right now, I'm fussy that way with things looking just so. I think I would have then not been so freaked out. I mean I can see the potential, but I'm concerned how much of MY wish list they will want to do.  When I got home I jumped back on Craigslist, and there is still nothing :(  I really need some moral support here to move forward. I do remember when I moved into this house there were a lot of things I didn't like about it either, but I made it work and now those things kind of faded into the background and I don't notice them. Will I be able to get past funky bathrooms?? I hope so. ...........Stay tuned.