We're actually hunting for a home and started our search last night. We met with the realtor and viewed 5 homes in Rohnert Park. It went well and we got a good scope of what's really out there. A few of the homes we had viewed from online listings, so it was interesting to see them in real life and compare how skewed or realistic the photos are.
**First was "Grandma's House". If we weren't expecting a child in the near future, it would have been a great starter home. The bedrooms were extremely small. So much so that the Mr. & I may have had to consider having separate bedrooms. :) And man was it HOT in there, at least 90. We even checked the thermostat to be sure that the heater wasn't on.
**Second is what we have dubbed, "No. 2". The rooms were a good size, the landscaping basically a blank slate, new carpet, remodeled kitchen, and a good size garage. There were some drawbacks, namely the price tag. Also, it seemed to be a home that someone was attempting to Flip before the market turned. The cabinets in the kitchen seemed nice, but upon closer inspection were assembled poorly. The floor in the kitchen was botched down the center and had a bubble near the pantry, and it seemed to have a very cushy feel to one side. Mr. & I suspected that they installed the laminate on top of the carpet pad. It was also on a shared driveway with 3 other homes, not so bad because this one was on the street side, but may become an issue with the Chevelle.
**Third was "The Rental, gone bad". It was listed as move in ready but needed so much more before it was going to be move in ready. They attempted to spruce it up with new carpet, but it was a failed attempt. Several of the windows appeared they were going to fall out of the tracks and the first one you see from the driveway was shattered. The kitchen seemed to be all original as well as the bathrooms. Again the rooms were small, as to be expected in our price range. The back yard was large and spacious and backed up to some railroad tracks. It was questionable if they were still in use. This was in the same neighborhood as No. 2, and was at the back of a shared driveway which again could be a noise issue with the car.
**Fourth was the "Hot Tub" house. Strangely enough, this house had an atrium at the center and housed a hot tub between the dining room and the master bedroom. I immediately got a bad vibe from this house and wasn't too keen on the Hot Tub taking center stage. The property line to one side was right on the neighbors home, and even with the vaulted ceilings in the living/dining/kitchen area, the house seemed really dark. The garage had some shevling and cabinetry installed, but would be more of a hindrance than a blessing.
**Number five, "The Last One" seemed to have the most promise. Basically a blank slate for us to eventually remodel how we wish. The kitchen is really small and needs some updating, and unfortunately you can see what the neighbor was cooking from the window above the sink. The living/dining area was nice open and airy feeling with a fireplace. Bedrooms were a little larger than those we had seen before, but both the hall bath and master bath needed a major overhaul. It also backs up to a major street, and when out in the backyard, can get a little noisy with road traffic. The back yard has a deck and again is basically a blank slate for landscaping. The garage was a little odd. The washer was along the same wall as the kitchen, and there didn't appear to be any place for a dryer except an outlet on the back wall, nor was there any place for a vent for the dryer. Hmm... a little strange, but again, fixable.
So far The Last One is top on our list, followed by No. 2. We're going hunting again Thursday night and may expand the search to Santa Rosa. There are tentative plans to scope the neighborhoods of our top pics over the weekend to get a better feel for the surroundings.
Meanwhile, baby Mason is happy and content. Nothing much on the baby front to report these last few days, but we'll keep you posted.
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