SOLD!

We drove by the house this weekend to see if there was any storm damage and look what we found! If the seller's realtor thinks it's ours, we're joining in.

Our thoughts ran to the large tree out front during the insane storms. Fortunately it and the rest of the house were fine, even though every other yard between here and there was covered with a large fallen branch. With threats like these, we are speedily beginning to understand what it means to have a serious investment.

So far so good.

Our next step is easy: waiting to hear back from the mortgage agent on estimates of the window painting required for the loan to close. We'll take those estimates (currently running $600) to the sellers and get them to do the work. Once that's done, we can begin to close. In the mean time, we're transferring our down payment out of stocks (A hubby and a home! Gee thanks, Starbucks!) and dreaming of tomato plants and bushels of basil.

The One.

Welcome to our new house on Fairview in Lansing! We are finally letting ourselves call it ours even though we haven't closed because it's unlikely we could back out even if we wanted to.

These are pics from the realtor so none of this stuff is ours and of course the snow is gone now. This house sat on the marked at $130k all winter and then came down to where we could bargain for $100k. And what a bargain it is! It's a 3-bed 1-bath with enclosed porch, a fenced, tree-lined back yard, and a 1-car garage.





This is the living room with nice windows onto a sizable tree-lined side yard maintained by our neighbors and more windows onto the enclosed front porch with new windows. The hardwood floors are pretty dark. We are thinking of changing that if we refinish.








The french doors onto the charcoal-grey library are another star of the house. We love love love it and are drooling all over its cozy library potential. We'll need lots of lighting to stake our place in its gloom, though. We are not too fond of all the colors in the house (there are many!) but the white trim lends a bright continuity that allows the colors to stay for a while. There is a ceiling fan in nearly every room and we especially like the one in here.



Dining room is done in a strange paper texture that looks gold at a distance. I'm not sure I like it, but don't think it's a priority to change it. We can work with it. I'm thinking mixed metals. Suggestions?









This bathroom is too cute! The checkers are tops as well as the modern fixtures. A whirlpool tub or claw-foot bath is sadly moving way down our list of priorities. Strangely, there is only 1 bathroom upstairs, so we get a free stairmaster!









We couldn't love our new kitchen more. It's the star of the house, which, despite all the needed repairs, makes it a winner. The apron sink, granite countertops, gas stove with microwave above (we haven't had a microwave in years!), and extra counter space are so great. We are most especially enamored of the dishwasher.







To the right of the sink is a new mud room extension (not pictured) with tile floors, new windows, and french doors to the back yard. We have pipe dreams of routing a stacked washer/dryer in there because the basement is so annoying to climb down into. The basement door is to the left of the fridge.

Annoyingly, the previous owners thought it clever, along with their strange paint, to mix up the cabinet colors. It looks like a clearance job, not clever, but I imagine we'll get over it!

Upstairs pics to come!