What's Up?

We are doing great here! The spring time is so perfect, I just wish we had our own outdoor space to enjoy it in. The weather is cool, the sun is warm, and it's sprinkled by the occasional thunderstorm (but NO tornadoes!!). I don't think I showed it yet, but I put in a window bird feeder so the boys--and kitty--could watch them.

I figured since I started a new great job, I deserved a new great stethoscope! I finally got my first Littmann and it works great. Jacob got to play with my old one.

So we have this tree in our backyard with these beautiful purple flowers that smell SO good. I had Nick cut some to put inside and after some googling, I learned they are lilacs!! I must have some of these trees when we get our own house.

Last night we got a sitter so we could head up to Niagara Falls and try out a Mexican restaurant. We've been on the hunt for a good one to eat at, and unsuccessful so far. This one was actually good! I started off with a tequila sunrise.

Yes, we are still looking diligently for houses. I look every day but none have popped up that have potential. We are beyond ready to find one, but really do not want to settle for one that isn't right. So we wait! And keep saving money. Before long, we'll be able to buy it in cash if the price is low enough, haha!

The Gasport House

This is the house we went to see the other day in the city of Gasport, NY. It was about a 45min drive and this was one we had very high hopes for. From the listing pictures, it appeared to be in very nice shape and didn't need much. That was a big plus since the asking price and the yearly taxes ($4,400) are both above what our limits are.

As you can see, there are two double front doors.....We actually entered from a side door but they are only using the front door on the right.

5bd 2bath
2876sqft
0.78 acres
$160,000

The setting was very nice. One side was a large apple orchard (a separate property) and behind it was farmland. However the road it is off of was pretty busy, and the actual land is smaller than I want.

This kitchen was its downfall. The countertop you see above is the ONLY counter space in the entire kitchen. And that "window" over the sink? It looks into a bedroom.....

The front door in use opens to this small foyer with a beautiful staircase. However the second front door opens to a closet. Very odd.

The house is very large and has many interconnected rooms. The front upper rooms have 12ft ceilings, but the back rooms have 8ft ceilings and can also be accessed by a second staircase in the rear of the house.

The front porch was very weathered and didn't seem to be used much. As we walked around the outside we saw many structural issues and obvious add-ons that were not pictured in the listing....

In summary, we were underwhelmed by the house. Like I said before, the kitchen was its major downside simply because it would have to be gutted and the layout completely changed. With the high price they are already asking that would be a major expense. Then you factor in the high taxes every year and that makes for a much higher payment than we are wanting. Maybe if it was an awesome true Victorian then we would consider it, but we just didn't feel that this was it. We are not taking it off the table, but the price would have to come way down to be a serious contender.

The search continues......

The Albion House

Yesterday we went out to the town of Albion to see this cute house. I've been watching it for a bit, and after we fired our realtor on Sunday, we made arrangements with a better one to see it, haha!

3bd 1.5bath
1756sqft
0.96 acres
Built 1852
$109,000

 It was cute outside but once we were inside it was obvious there were structural issues that would need to be addressed. The stairs were super steep, and had this weird metal contraption at the top.

The basement was a mess, filthy, wet, musty, and the "updated" electrical panel was very likely not done to code.

It had a nice long driveway, but no garage so that was a negative as well. The drive was a little over an hour away, so needless to say we're very disappointed at the potential!

The local realtor that showed it to us was very kind, and actually booked another showing on a different house the next day on one we had been trying to see! I'll post on that one next.

The search continues...