Househunters!

Over the weekend, we went on our second official tour of houses with our agent, Liz. Two weekends ago, she lined up about six houses for us to preview, but we didn’t like any of them enough to submit an offer. Plus, they were not in the preferred location that we had in mind. So, this weekend, we went out again to see what was available.

After Liz picked us up, we toured four of the houses that she had for us (the other two were tenant occupied, therefore we could only drive by them). First, we looked at a house that had just come onto the market the previous day. It was a 4 bed, 2 ½ bath, with about 1900 square feet and surprisingly, was a traditional listing (not a bank owned or short sale). When we pulled up to the house, we were pleased with the curb appeal of the house, with its well manicured lawn and nicely painted exterior. But more impressive was the beautiful green park right across the street! Once inside, I immediately noticed the high ceilings of the formal living and dining room. We also noticed the huge 3-car tandem garage (oh the storage possibilities!). Then we walked into the clean, white kitchen with its brand new stainless steel appliances. A sliding glass door welcomed us out to the lovely backyard, complete with pool, fresh grass, a small basketball court, and generous side access. We then found our way upstairs, there was a master suite and three smaller bedrooms, all of which were nicely sized and had new carpeting. Eric and I decided that we really liked the house and took a few pictures of the place (so we wouldn’t forget later on) before we left.

Next up was a small 3 bed, 2 bath single story bank owned house in my preferred neighborhood of Deer Ridge. But, the house was tiny, with very small bedrooms and an even smaller overgrown yard of concrete. It was located on a court, but the highway was located just beyond that, and the road noise was less than pleasant. I won’t bother to elaborate, since this house failed to impress us, so we quickly decided that it wasn’t the one for us and went about our way.

The third house was my top pick (prior to seeing any of the homes in person), also located in the Deer Ridge neighborhood. The house was huge- over 2200 square feet with 4 beds and 3 full baths. It was bank owned, and showed- by the looks of the worn, stained carpeting and scrapes on the walls. Aside from the cosmetic repairs it obviously needed, we noticed that the house itself had a very nice layout with a generous family room. Most of the flooring downstairs was real hardwood and there were various custom built-in units. There was a guest suite downstairs while the master suite and two additional jack-and-jill bedrooms were upstairs. After touring the inside of the home, we made our way outside, where there was some grass, a covered cement patio, and a brick retaining wall with plants that stretched across the back of the yard. Once again, we agreed that we liked the home enough to submit an offer- but I felt more strongly about it than Eric (he was still hung up on the basketball court of the first house we toured).

Lastly, we briefly walked through another bank owned home that was in a decent location- this one had 3 beds, 3 baths, and an upstairs loft. The initial impression of the home was not terribly appealing, as other homes nearby were not maintained as well as the other neighborhoods we toured. The home itself needed quite a bit of work, since the walls, fixtures, floors, and many of the windows all needed replacing. We liked the floor plan, but the yard was tiny and came complete with an old spa and play set. Eric seemed to like the house (mostly for the low price), but I just wasn’t feeling it. So we passed on this one.

Over the rest of the weekend, Eric and I discussed the homes, reviewed the pictures we took, and revisited our budget. After some consideration, I quickly realized how much I liked the first home we toured- the home with the park view, 3-car tandem garage, and the basketball court. Eric agreed. That home became our first choice and we submitted a strong offer this morning (our agent tells us that they expect multiple offers, as most Brentwood homes sell for well over their original asking price, especially the good ones like this). We also agreed that the big bank owned home in Deer Ridge was in a fantastic location, so we decided to submit an offer on that one as well.

Now we wait!! We’re a little anxious, as you might have guessed. It’s hard to walk through homes that you can see yourself living in but at the same time, know that other interested families are probably thinking the exact same thing!

We have our fingers crossed that our offer on our first choice house is accepted!