Well since I last posted I have decided the area I want to buy in. I was initially looking in both Grapevine and the Valley Ranch/Las Colinas areas. I have decided to look in Valley Ranch only. I took a run along the canals in Valley Ranch and got a good feel for the neighborhoods. Most of the homes are garden/patio homes built in the 80s and 90s. Valley Ranch is basically an "area" in North Irving. It's where the Dallas Cowboys Practice/Training Facilities are. The area has held steady in growth and sales and the area is pretty strict on building. So I feel that the area should maintain it's "nice" area status and established neighborhoods.
So yesterday I went to look at homes again. I'm really having difficulty figuring out how I'm supposed to know if I've found "the" home. Everyone tells me you will just know when you walk in. The problem is that there are aspects to each home I like and aspects I don't. We saw 6 houses yesterday, 2 of them I can say FOR sure were no's. It was clear, that I just did NOT like the homes. That leaves 4 homes that had good potential...
This house actually has a cute porch area, the shrubs to the right just need to be trimmed down. The entire house has had upgrades done, and I like the layout. Nice larger kitchen with granite counters and slate floors. The master bathroom has been COMPLETELY redone and they did a Beautiful job! :) The backyard has a HUGE deck with a spa. The yard surrounding the deck needs some landscaping work, and the deck is nice, but I almost feel it is too big for the yard. The other negative is the back fence backs up to apartments. Otherwise I like the house and feel I could do some great stuff with it, with little changes. It is 2 story with 1600 sq ft. 3/2.5/2 and they've already dropped the price $8,000.
This house was pretty nice. Actually quite large. The house is empty and I had a little trouble figuring out what some rooms could be used for. The way the kitchen was set up was open to a den area, and kinda looked odd. My thought was to turn the counters in the kitchen and expand out the kitchen in the den with a dining area. Hard to explain. The idea is that it would take remodeling. There was a HUGE master bedroom with a seperate sitting area and just an average master bath. It was nice, just basic. My realtor said it had good bones with lots of potential. Upstairs was quite large with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom upstairs could almost be made into a master bath again. I didn't like the backyard at all. I guess it has potential, just needs work. Overall the house is in good condition with nice qualitites, but I can see where work would need to be done for it to be "ideal." They've come down $50,000 on the price!!!! It's 22oo sq ft. with 3/2.5/2
The next 2 houses I liked are actually on the same street and have the EXACT same floor plan. My first concern was that on this circular street just about EVERY house is for sale. Kinda puts up a red flag. The first house is on the canal. The backyard is nice with a pool overlooking the canal, and I have direct access to the jogging trail along the canal. Okay the inside...well it's just kinda average. The living room and master bedroom overlooks the pool and canal. The kitchen is a little small and the dining room had mirrored walls! YUCK! :( There were 2 nice sized bedrooms upstairs with HUGE closets. I go into the upstairs bathroom and think I have stumbled upon yet another closet, I'm excited! MUCH to my disappointment it is the Washer and Dryer! :( YUCK the W/D is UPstairs and IN the bathroom. :( So for this house the inside needs some work done and I don't like that there is not a utility room. But I Love the pool and backyard.
The second house is on the same street with same floorplan. They have redone the inside of the house which is nice. Upstairs they took the wall for the 3rd bedroom down and made a big loft area. Which is a nice idea, but now I'm down to 2 bedrooms, and I'm not sure on the resale with that. And the W/D is STILL Upstairs. The backyard does not have a canal view or a pool, just a regular backyard. The house with the pool and canal view is $10,000 more than the one without.
Everything is just give and take. I like aspects of each of them, but they don't have it ALL. So I'm not sure if I sacrifice and put work into a house or what. My realtor thinks I need to keep looking at houses. She thinks I just haven't found "it." I think part of my problem is I'd like something that I can move into and immediately be happy instead of having to do remodeling...because then I don't know how much EXTRA I wind up having to pay into the house and then when is it something that I'm "happy" with? And I still tend to think into the future of knowing I won't be in this house Forever, so I'm trying to estimate what would have good resale later.
Ugh it's just so confusing! :)
1 comment:
Keep looking. It will get frustrating and take some patience, but you will eventually find the one. When we bought in Pearland, it was the first house we looked at (though we looked at many others to make sure we were right). And, we probably looked at 50 houses in Houston and finally found the one. So, yes, as everyone says, you will know when you find it. Also, try measuring your furniture so that you can help visualize space in empty houses. Or, bring a tape measure to measure the rooms so that you can get a better idea on how your furniture would fit in the spaces.
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