#16 The Colonial
Today we went to see this house, in the same nice neighborhood as numbers 3, 11, and 15. The street is next to an elementary school - you can see the back of the school through the across-the-street houses’ back yards.
It has 9 windows on the front - 5 across the top, 4 on the bottom, 2 to either side of the front door. Very symmetrical. Colonial is not really Jeff’s style. However, there are lots of other good things about it - which have led us to make an offer. (Exhaustion with the process may also be involved in the offer decision, but I don’t think it overruled any caution we should have had.)
Pros:
- 1.2 acre lot, at least half wooded (nice woods) with a stream at the back. Not a very active stream at the moment, but there’s water there. The back yard closest to the house is cleared and has garden potential. Room for a studio at the back of the cleared area or edge of the woods.
- 1,885 square feet, 3 bedrooms (plus a finished attic space that doesn’t count because the ceilings are low and it’s accessed via pulldown stairs, but it’s very attractive, I have called dibs for it to be “mine” if Jeff gets a whole studio building to be his!), 2.5 baths.
- 2 car garage with room around the edges for workshop. Also has stairs to access the unfinished attic area above - might be able to put a studio up there temporarily, if it was designed to carry weight (have to get a professional to check).
- Screened porch and two level deck at the back.
- Family room with fireplace, living room that’s a little odd because the only access is a door-sized door in the hallway right next to the front - might be a good office/study/quiet room away from the TV.
- Master bath only has one sink and is fairly small, but I like the way it’s laid out - door to room with closet and sink, then another door from there to the toilet and shower (no tub, but shower has a built in seat).
Cons:
- Kitchen is in OK shape but not to our tastes, and a little small, but space could be taken from the adjacent eat-in area.
- Family room is a bit dark due to panelled walls and screened porch outside its windows, but those could be painted or replaced.
- No windows at all on the ends of the house - might makes sense to add one or two at some point.
- Inside layout is somewhat chopped up - probably want to widen or add some doors to get larger spaces.
- Would need to improve access to the loft space - sacrifice some closet space to add a spiral staircase, perhaps.
- Looks like maintenance has been delayed in recent years, though the current owner is already having some repairs done to areas where the hardboard siding has been damaged and for some minor termite damage. Porch and deck would need repainting.
- It looks like a colonial. We’re assuming that the architect could help us with some simple changes (perhaps change the window style, get rid of the shutters, and add some sort of roof over the front stoop) that would mute that and update it a bit.
- Jeff doesn’t like any of the floor coverings. I could live with most of them for a while, though the floral burgundy carpet in the dining room might have to go.
- Not a lot of character overall (built 1980, so not really old, just older) - mostly the loft and the back yard. Presumably we can add some somehow…
OK, the con list looks longer than the pros, but I think that’s just how I grouped stuff.
So. There we are. Yet again waiting to hear back on an offer. Our initial offer was a little low (though within 10% of asking so hopefully not insulting) so we’re expecting a counteroffer, we’re not sure how high we want to go given the other costs we anticipate, but we can cross that bridge when/if we get there. Apparently the seller has a school-age son and would like to get this done and moved before school starts, so she has some incentive to come to a deal soon.
The agent has been telling other agents about our house, even though it isn’t really on the market yet. He’s getting a lot of interest. We really need to get on with the cleaning and tidying that will be required to show it - hopefully we won’t have to keep it that way long, but we do need to have it presentable for a few days at least! It will help with the eventual moving, too, whenever that might be. Too bad it’s also the craziest month for me at work! Moving simultaneously with that doesn’t sound like a ton of fun, but if I can quit having to skip out for a few hours to go look at houses, that will help!