Could we have a keeper?

Dear Reader,

I'm back again...with another installment...gasp! How could this be? Well, Bryan and I have been pretty busy driving back and forth to Lake Elsinore to look at homes. What we have found, is that while there are a lot of homes for sale in Lake Elsinore, most of them are short sales (at least in our price range). So, what that means for us is that there could potentially be a lot of waiting. Waiting to hear from the real estate agent, waiting to hear from the bank, waiting to hear if we've been approved, and so on...you get the point. A shorts sale could go through quickly or it could take 6 months...unfortunately, we can't really know.

So, on this trip, we saw some more homes...a lot of the same, but one house did catch our eye. It is a 4bed/3bath and was in a nice housing community where all of the homes looked really different. For a cookie cutter community, they used a lot of different cookie cutters! We weren't the biggest fan of house white the house was on the outside, but I guess that's where paint comes in huh? Inside the home, there was a formal dining room area off to the left when you first walked in with a fireplace, then there was the kitchen with a huge island in the middle. I liked the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen as the living room area with another fireplace and a slider to the backyard. Not a big backyard, but hey, it's manageable....right? To the right of the living room was a hallway with a full bath at the end that was also connected to a large bedroom w/ a walk in closet. Kinda like a second master downstairs. the laundry room was downstairs and then upstairs, there were the other 3 bedrooms and bathrooms. There wasn't a landing space, but the rooms were all nice sized and the master bathroom had the separate shower/tub combo that I've been dreaming of. ;)

This is the room that is to the left when you walk in the front door. Could be turned into a formal dining room or living room.

Here's the kitchen area- there is lighting under the cabinets too and a pantry.

Another view of the kitchen.

This is the living room that is to the right of the kitchen.

This is the backyard. Although, the grass isn't that green anymore. I think the owners have let it go the wayside.

Bryan and I thought this home had a lot to offer and it has the space to grow with us. It of course needs new carpet and paint...but I think all of the homes do. We liked the kitchen and the master bedroom and bathroom- both of which are towards the top of our list. So, what did we do about it.... well, dear reader, stay tuned until the next blog to find out!

...............

...Hahaha... just kidding. Did I have you going there for a minute? I did, didn't I? Sorry about that, I couldn't help myself.

Ok, back to the story. So, Bryan and I thought it over and decided to put an offer on the house. We did find out that we would be the second couple to put an offer in on the same day, but the agent said that he would take both offers and take them to bank. So....we put an offer in on the house! Now, we are doing the waiting game to hear from the bank and in the meantime, we are going to keep looking at homes.

So dear reader, keep your fingers crossed for us and keep our home choice and this process in your prayers. So until next time dear reader...

On the hunt! ...again

Ahhh, Dear Reader,

Sorry to leave you hanging for 5 month or so, but Bryan and I took a house hunting hiatus while we were waiting for tax season to get here. (Really, who actually is looking forward to tax season?) Well, tax time has come and gone and we have been able to find out how much the wise ol' lending system will let us borrow. After we found out how much those penny-pinching misers would let us lend, we hit the ground running!

Just to make sure that all of the dear readers are on the same page, I will give a quick update as to our current moving/house hunting plans. We have decided to head out south-east. We have decided to leave Corona and even Riverside in the dust and move on to greener and hillier landscapes. Lake Elsinore is now our current house hunting field. Some of you may ask, where is Lake Elsinore? Or, what is Lake Elsinore? Or even, why Lake Elsinore? All excellent questions. As to the where, it is 25 minutes south of where we are currently living and near Temecula. Here is a link to Google maps (handy little tool) that shows the proposed area that we plan to put down some roots in. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lake+Elsinore&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.716829,54.140625&ie=UTF8&ll=33.680068,-117.308922&spn=0.175988,0.211487&t=h&z=12 Specifically, we are looking for homes off of Railroad Canyon.

This leads me to the why. For starters, we can actually afford a home in Lake Elsinore and a newer home at that. Most of the homes that we are looking into have been built between 2000-2006. Also, I don't know if growing up in Prunedale had anything to do with it, but I like that it is a more remote area, it is less crowded, and a little more rural. There are plenty of nice, new parks, community centers, new schools and even some new stores popping up. Now, there is one point of contention for me...there aren't too many stores nearby. Actually, there isn't a mall within oh, 25 minutes or so! Ack! What's a girl to do? My hope is that the mall will come to me... and you better believe I've got my fingers crossed in hopes that they build a mall within the next 5 years. But, hey, there is an outlet mall and a Target and grocery stores and the necessities. Also, on the positive side, we already have a church to go to and some connections with friends there. Paul Aung and his wife Tracy (the pastor who married us) live there with their 2 children and have helped to plant the church that we would be going to. So, there are lots of pros for us in moving to the area. Don't worry dear readers, Bryan and I will still make the valiant effort to come and visit you all!

Now on to the fun part...the house hunting! Here are some pictures from one of our first times looking around the area for a potential home sweet home.

House #1

This house was on a cul de sac and was a 3bed/2.5bath that we really liked, but someone put an offer on it the same day we saw it, so it was off the market. But there are other similar homes in the area for sale.

Not a huge kitchen, but it was new and it did have a pantry! I always keep an eye out for one of those for all of my Grocery Gaming stockpile! Let's just say, I'll need all the space I can get in a kitchen.
There are 2 living rooms and the bedrooms were all a good size, plus there is a loft space upstairs. I don't really understand the functionality/logic for 2 living rooms right next to each other with a semi-wall in between them. I guess it's supposed to be the formal and informal living room/dining area. Also, another bummer for me was that the master bath didn't have a separate shower and tub like I am hoping for. I have champagne dreams of a jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom!

House #2

A little simple on the front, but hey, it does have a 3 car garage and it is a 5bed/3bath home. Gotta admit though, some of those bedrooms were mighty small- it would make for some good computer room space though.

Here is the kitchen. I am standing in the informal living room, looking through the kitchen towards the formal dining room. The kitchen needs some love- the cabinets could use some staining and there isn't much counter space.

This is the informal dining room. The entire downstairs has tile. There is a guest room/computer room downstairs with a full bathroom.

This is the entrance area and stairs. I am standing in the formal dining area. Upstairs, there is the master bedroom, which was just about long enough to be a bowling alley! I guess it is so you can have a sitting area/tv area plus your bed. The bathroom had a separate shower and tub (yay!), but no walk-in closet (boo!). Picky, I know. Then, there is also a HUGE living room upstairs that is connected to 2 of the 3 kids bedrooms upstairs. It is a cool idea- good for a play room, but they sacrificed so much space in the kids rooms that they were almost painfully small.

House #3

This was a cute single story home, with all the upgrades. It is a 4bed/2bath. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the freeway and that is really the older side of town with a few new homes sprinkled throughout. Now the neighbors to the left have 2 very large and very unfriendly dogs who were plotting their escape so they could make a snack of our legs. Not good for the future baby Hulls wanting to play in the backyard.

Here is the kitchen- nicely upgraded with granite counter tops and a tile back splash. The carpeting and tile throughout the home were also nicely done. To the left of the kitchen was the formal living room and dining room area. I am standing in the informal living room. Behind me is the hallway to a full bathroom, the 3 smallish kids bedrooms and the master bedroom/bath which was a good size.

House #4

This is in the same community as house #3 and is a 3bed/2.5bath and also has a loft area. It was a cute home and there were a lot of things about it that we liked, but the neighborhood was a little iffy. for example, looking out of the window of one of the upstairs bedrooms, you could see a lot with abandoned trailers. Classy? I think not.

The kitchen is nice....it even has an island and a pantry! The tile work was nicely done on the back splash and floor. They of course had the odd duel living room and the upstairs bedrooms were of average size. The loft is a nice bonus though.

I found it! Then there was the master bathroom....sigh. It has the jacuzzi tub like I am looking for! Darn me and my long legs! I barely fit in a standard tub...but it was nice and deep. :) I was sold on the house until we drove through the neighborhood, saw the abandoned trailer lot through one of the windows and then on our way out of the community driving back to the freeway, we drove past a dairy farm, where they not only sell milk, but fresh manure! Imagine that! If I have learned one thing from growing up in Prunedale, it's this: do not live near a dairy, the aroma that wafts upwards from the ground at night is just about unbearable. So sadly, this home and #3 are crossed off of our list for location reasons.

So, that was one of many house hunting expeditions to be had! (I am sure there is more house hunting in our future.) Also, our offer still stands- we would love your input on what you think, what you like, what you don't like and more. Hopefully all the dear readers can come take a look and visit us in whatever house it is that we chose to make our home. So, until next time dear reader...

Round Two of the House Hunt

Welcome back dear reader to round two of the great house-hunting caper. Things have changed since I last left you waiting to see where in Corona we would live. On the 19th of September, we made a completely new and different decision that wasn’t even mentioned previously (weren’t expecting a curve ball were ya?) and to quickly get all interested parties up to speed, I will try to keep it short and sweet.

Bryan and I have decided to cancel our tentative apartment move-in and instead we have decided to become roommates. Bryan's high school friend, Woody recently bought a house in Riverside and we took him up on his offer to move in with him. It was an offer that we couldn’t refuse. (said in my best Godfather accent) So, we are helping him out with his mortgage, we are getting a great monthly rental rate and we get to learn how to fix up a true fixer-upper. So, as of Friday the 26th, Bryan and I will have a new address in Riverside and will continue our house hunt from there. *If anyone is interested in having our new mailing address, feel free to email me for the info.*

Well, that was our first big decision of the day. Then, we went on to house hunting and since our last update, we have expanded our house search to include both Corona and Riverside. The houses that we looked at today were all in Riverside (and, thank you realtor, were all a little over our price range).

House #1: A charming home with the kitchen being an immediate draw- it was nice and big and open. There was a "formal dining room" that had been added onto the other side of the kitchen. Although it had never been finished with its cement floor and redneck, brown, hunting scene, deer and fowl imaged wallpaper...it had potential. (I think a blind eye is often a must when looking at other people’s decor ideas) This house was in a pretty nice neighborhood, although the home did need some TLC and some new windows, it was a 3 bedrooms/1.5 bathroom home with a pretty good sized lot. Overall, this home was in pretty good shape, and seemed to be a good starter home in a nice neighborhood.

*Front of the home and part of the living room that leads to the dining room and kitchen*

*The kitchen (notice the redneck wallpaper!) and one of the very small bathroooms*

*The !PURPLE! master bedroom w/a sliding door into the back yard and another very small bathroom* (I am not quite sure why almost every house so far has had purple walls...kind of comical actually)

*One of two smaller bedrooms in a vivid shade of pink and the other bedroom was the same in blue*

House #2: a cute little home in a gated community that was arranged in very tiny, grouped little cul-de-sacs. But, hey it was new (built in 2006) and was practically a blank slate with its white walls and new cabinets, nice Berber carpeting and new flooring. It is a two story 3bedroom/2.5 bathroom, with nice and new fixtures, a fireplace, and seemed like a barely lived in, two story home. The downside is that there is no dining room area and it also doesn't have a yard and there are Association Dues (which does mean a community pool, community lawn upkeep, play areas and some beautiful views).

*Kitchen missing all of the appliances, not huge, but lots of cupboards and recess lighting under cabinets. Living room ok sizes with fireplace and great spot on either side of the fireplace for built in bookshelves. Both rooms have nice tile.*

*Guest half-bath downstairs with funny little closet in it that Bryan claimed as his game room getaway*

*One of the upstairs bedrooms and master bathroom*

*Part of the living room and the stairs. Doorway to the left is the half-bath*

House #3: Now, this home has my almost perfect/dream bathroom...jacuzzi tub...sigh! It has a big kitchen, a dining room, a moderate to manageable (ok, small...wait...miniscule to Prunedale standards) yard, it was in a safe, gated community and had pretty good square footage. On the other hand, it is a two story house (I guess that means built in exercise when I go up and down stairs), it does come with Association Dues and there isn't a lot of parking for people wanting to visit. Oh, and it is going for more "clams" than we were intending on shelling out. (Hahaha...sorry) Now, one thing that may or may not be good is that there were a lot of homes in this community that are for sale (why you may ask…I don’t know, but I am curious as to why so many seemingly nice homes all went up for sale). So, we may be lucky and find that in a couple of months, one or two of these homes are still for sale and they may have reduced their asking price or be willing to accept more flexible on offers.

*Front of the house and when you walk in the front door, you see one of two living rooms and the stairs*

*Kitchen (also missing all of the appliances) with an island, lots of cupboard space, very open feel and a dining room on the other side of the island*

*Second living room w/a fireplace and an upstairs Laundry ROOM...not a closet...a ROOM!*

*Master bedroom and bathroom...with a walk in closet, seperate shower and a jacuzzi tub...be still my beating heart!*

*I think we know what my favorite room was. Then there was one of the kiddie rooms, painted in green and pink stripes. Bryan kept humming circus songs in that room*

*Back, back! Back you yellow walls! The upstairs kiddie bathroom in an unnervingly bright shade of yellow*

House #4: This single story cul-de-sac home, while also going for more “clams” than we wanted to shell out, was a good mix of already having some improvements while still needing those personal touched on the fixer-upper side. This house has 4 bedrooms (or 3 bedrooms and an office) and 2 bathrooms, it had nice tile floors, crown molding, had a good sized kitchen and dining room, a fireplace, a BBQ grill island, and a pool/hot tub (which we are not sure that we want that financial upkeep/responsibility yet). While the house wasn’t huge, it did have plenty of living space and a lot of potential for a starter home.

*Curb view of the house and the living rooma and office view when you walk in the front door and turn around*

*Kitchen with new countertops, new cabinets (that were oddly too red in some light) and the dining room on the other side of the counter*

*The office space and a bathroom at the end of the hallway*

*The two kiddie rooms (of course there had to be a purple one!) They weren't big rooms and they needed new carpet, but they did have nice windows*

*Master bathroom was rather small and part of the master bedroom with the small closet and french doors that opened to the pool/hot tub*

*note: We did look at more homes, but these 4 were the ones that stood out to us more than the others.*

Thank you for tuning in again and as always we wolcome your thoughts, advice and input. Until next time dear readers…