Well, we are officially under contract for a new house.
Eek! OMG! Wow! Yay!
When I mentioned two weeks ago that we had enlisted a realtor to help with our “casual” search for a new place, I had no idea that we would see our future house that same afternoon. It all happened really fast, but I suppose that’s kind of how it goes, right? You don’t get to ask a seller to “hold” their house for you for a few days or weeks while you decide. You just either go for it, or you don’t. So we went for it.
Jose and I saw the house on July 1, made the offer on July 2, and spent the next 24 hours panicking about whether we were making the right decision. After calming down and agreeing that yes, we wanted to do this, we accepted a counter offer from the seller. We spent 3+ hours over there on July 8 walking through it with a home inspector and everything looked really good. There were a few repairs recommended but they were all pretty minor, like a broken pane of glass, a drop-down attic stair door that doesn’t properly seal, squirrel-damaged roof jacks, etc. My “big three” — roof, foundation and air conditioning — were all in fantastic shape. We could move in tomorrow and not have to do a single thing.
Our closing is set for the second week of August, and I’ve decided not to post any photos of the house until we officially own it. But the photo above is looking down what will be our new street! What really sold us on this particular house is the location. It’s 5 minutes from work, and I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that. It’s in an older neighborhood with tall, mature trees. (“Older” for this area of Houston means the 1980s.) It feeds into fantastic schools. And the piece de resistance for me? It’s 500 feet from the neighborhood park and pool.
The house itself is about the same square footage we have now, but on two stories. The first floor has the family room, kitchen, dining room, living room/study, a half bath, and the master suite. The second floor has 3 bedrooms and two full bathrooms. We’re essentially swapping out the bonus room in our current house for a living room in the new house…and since the bonus room in our current house is the only thing upstairs, we’ll be going from what’s essentially a one-story floor plan to a more typical two-story layout. It’ll be an adjustment to have the girls upstairs, but it will also be nice to have the additional living room on the first floor since we don’t spend a lot of time in the girls’ bedrooms anyway.
Overall the house is in good shape cosmetically as well. There aren’t too many outdated fixtures or details or paint colors — we don’t really need to change a thing, at least not right away. The room that needs the most updating is the master bathroom where the flooring is mostly carpet (yuck) and the shower stall is small and kind of claustrophobic. I want to replace the flooring in there with tile and update the shower, but everything else is fine. Next on the list would probably be the kitchen and breakfast area, which has brown wood trim and paneling that matches the cabinets. The whole room is just really full of medium brown wood tones, so I’ll probably paint that area shortly after we move in. (The color is the only thing I don’t like about kitchen. And if color is my only complaint, I figure that means it’s a pretty darn good kitchen.)
What else? The front yard is lovely, and the back yard is fantastic with lots of shade and lush plants. The garage is detached, behind and to the side of the house, and is connected to the back door by a short covered walkway. I’m so happy to be moving where the garages are tucked behind the houses instead of an integral part of the front facade — that may not seem like a big deal, but to me it greatly increases the curb appeal of the neighborhood. This garage in particular even has an air conditioner, which seems part crazy and part genius! (I’m seriously considering putting the treadmill out there. Jose has wanted a weight bench for years, so it might make a great mini-gym.)
Whew. So yeah! We are buying a house! Fingers crossed everything continues to go smoothly!
Exciting! Congratulations! I don’t blame you for wanting to move closer to avoid the traffic of that area. It’s horrendous and I don’t even go down there often to deal with it. Happy moving!
It really is! I feel a little funny saying the traffic is “so horrible” when it takes me 30-40 minutes to get home, because I know a lot of people have it a lot worse. But when living 5 min away is a viable option, I will definitely take it.
Congratulations! I never experienced anything more stressful than buying a home. I’m glad everything fell into place for you!
The buying process has been relatively stress-free thus far, thankfully. But I am DREADING the process of moving itself.
Amazing! Congrats! Sounds like an amazing location.
Also, totally agree about the garage. My husband refused to buy a house we otherwise loved because the garage was too prominent. It makes the house feel less welcoming and the neighborhood less community focused. But that’s just us!
When you drive down our current street, you see garages — and also cars in the driveway, because the garages are on the small side. I’m happy to be gaining a detached garage that’s a little more hidden.
This is great news! The commute issue is a pretty major deal. By the park! And pool! A/c in the garage!!! Hurrah!
Congrats! I’m sure the new commute and fantastic neighborhood will be a great fit.
I also agree on disliking garages when they are front and prominent. Can’t wait to see pictures.
Yay. I’m very jealous. Glad you are getting the space where you need it! A short commute is really nice to have.
Yay! I’m so excited for you. I love those “older” neighborhoods around JSC. I cut my commute with my move from 45 minutes to an hour that was completely random from day to day to something that will be 30 minutes day in and day out and I’m excited. Can’t imagine going from 30 to 5. And pool!
Good luck with the move.
How easily do you think you’ll be able to sell your current place – what’s the market like there right now?
The market is great for sellers here right now so I’m optimistic. They are building new construction in our neighborhood which is definitely a negative, however, our house is on the smaller side for the subdivision and will be priced a lot lower than the new builds, so I’m hopeful someone will see it as an opportunity to get a still-pretty-new house at a lower price point.