Friday afternoon we toured a house about a mile and a half up the road from us in Anderson, the area we currently live in and absolutely love. We pass by this house daily on our way to work and ever since we noticed it, it has peaked our interest. For several months in the winter it was undergoing promising-looking renovations and updates; it was neat to see its daily evolution as we drove past. The house is a charming two-story white house with slate gray shutters and a red door comfortably nestled in a little cutout grove of trees along a wooded, scenic road. A “For Sale” sign went up a few months ago – and has stayed up. We always thought it was a sweet house in a superior location and we were curios to see the inside, but the house looked small from the outside, didn’t appear to have a basement, and we weren’t looking to buy even though the price was surprisingly reasonable. So we settled for stalking it on the local realtor’s website once or twice and then let it go.
Recently we noticed a “rent to buy” sign had made its way into the front yard. Upon closer inspection of the website materials we realized that the house did have a basement. That was about all it took for our curiosity to get the better of us. On our way home one evening we stopped by the house to peer into her vacant windows. Impressed with what we saw we tempted fate, called the realtor, and set up an appointment, hopeful that renting would be an option.
No such luck folks and I wish we hadn’t seen that house because it is perfect for us. In the fall the house was purchased by a contractor (read: someone who likely knows what he’s doing) who flipped the house and added a whole slew of appealing updates. Because he’s a contractor, he’s not interested in being a landlord and would much prefer to sell the place, which would be less expensive than “renting to buy” in the long run.
In addition to the massive, clean, and freshly renovated unfinished basement that could safely and dryly store everything we own (cue Ted drool), there’s a brand spanking new concrete driveway, roof, a/c unit, furnace, carpeting, double-pane windows, electrical panel, water heater, and outdoor drainage system. It has a small yard (read: less lawn to mow and less leaves to rake!) but all the landscaping was redone, beautiful plants were planted and awesome new tile and stone walkways were installed. The house features a large gourmet kitchen with all new completely stainless steel appliances with tags still attached (cue Lara drool), an abundance of new cabinets stained a lovely deep hue (drool drool) and gorgeous finished concrete counters (drool drool drool!). The 2.5 bathrooms were all refinished with those same cabinets (again, drool), marble counters (swoon), and new fixtures. The 3 bedrooms are softly carpeted and beyond spacious (read: um, huge) and the closets are not only large but also have shelving already installed in them (faint!). The house is gas heated (which greatly cuts down on electrical bills during the winter!), has a cozy gas fireplace, a beautiful living room with hardwood floors, and this totally awesome extra room with a brick chimney for a touch of texture and nearly wall-to-wall windows that not only provides a stellar view, but could be used for anything from a dining room to an entertainment lounge. It even has an extended window seat that would make an incredible reading nook for me. Even more importantly, it appears that the poured concrete foundation is rock solid (a.k.a. it won’t fall down like our current house is threatening to do) and is likely insulated as well. The house is 52 years old so it’s got enough of that historical vintage charm to draw us in, but with all the updates it “doesn’t look its age” structurally. The realtor said the house wasn’t going because the first listed price was too high (it has since by reduced) and because it doesn’t have a garage, a high priority for people in this area, especially with the winter snow.
In other words, were we looking to buy, we would have brought in an inspector today and, if all went well, made an offer tonight. After seeing something we’re both so smitten with, it’s hard to walk away or view anything else with unbiased eyes. The kicker is the price is actually reasonable. If we knew we were settled in our jobs and knew we’d be staying in Cincinnati for a length of time (we’re already sold on the city – we love it here!), we could probably afford it if we really tried, though it might be stretch. With our future so uncertain we weren’t really looking to buy, but now the seed is planted in my head: When will a house this nice and with this many updates be available for a reasonable price again? I don’t know. And that makes it even harder to pass it by, though that’s exactly what we should and will do.
The lesson to me is let sleeping dogs lie. If it calls to you, but you probably can’t have it should you end up loving it, don’t even look at it.
But, damn, is that a great little house!
And we can dream, can’t we?
