House-hunters

As much fun as it is to shop for a new house, I'm relieved to be nearly done with this whole process. We saw three houses Sunday afternoon, including the Victorian I posted about previously.

As I expected, the house was charming. It even had a garden bed in the back! The porch creaked and the front door was this huge heavy thing, and the house had that wonderful Old House Smell.

And then I found this upstairs. This little half-door in one of the bedrooms opened up into the coolest little hideaway! It's actually supposed to be a closet because the room's closet is about half the depth of your average clothes hanger. This bonus room has three hanging rods at different heights. I know a certain little boy who would love it.

But then we started looking closely and discovered quite a few expensive, necessary improvements. The house has wood siding, which needs to be sanded and repainted. It's a two-storey house. Not a fun job, sanding the second-storey level! Part of the roof is slate, and very few people repair or replace slate any more. All the windows in the oldest part of the house (we counted at least 20) are single-paned and highly inefficient. And worst of all, the ground-floor bathroom is just too small for Elli's wheelchair or bath chair to fit into. So I had to bid good-bye to my dream house and move on.

But before I do, I just had to share one last photo. This is the entrance to the basement. It's the steepest set of stairs down I've seen in awhile, and the basement is really more of a cellar or a cave. No refinishing it. Absolutely. Positively. Not.

The other two houses were complete duds. One was a cape cod with an impossible layout and too many stairs. The other was a wreck. We literally stepped over piles of clothes, drywall, and construction equipment. Parts were redone nicely, but the rest of it was horrible. Not Happening.

So this pair of house hunters are headed back to our first love. The house on Willow Lane. The first one we looked at, almost two months ago. Tonight. To write an offer.

Which means I've been on the phone with mortgage officers all day. I'm lost in a sea of good faith estimates, loan origination fees, interest rates, prepaid expenses, and loan-to-value ratios. It's overwhelming and I will be glad when we've made all the decisions and can move on to less confusing things. Like packing.