Open Houses, here we come

On Sunday, Aaron and I ventured out for our first open house experience. The road-side signs helped direct the way, but we had 2 specifically in mind. Our preference in houses visited were #3, #1, #2

#1 - the first house we visited was cute...had a recently finished kitchen, a "partially finished" basement that consisted of a laundry space and work bench area as well as a rather rough office/workout room - no carpet, but with potential. The living and dining rooms were nice and the backyard decent, though very small in comparison to our current abode. Upstairs, there were 3 bedrooms, only 1 had a closet, which we are used to, but ideally additional closets would be preferable. One of the smaller rooms had a walk out onto a deck over looking the backyard which appeared to be a nice touch. Overall, the house required a fair bit of cosmetic work, but seemed to be decent. No parking spaces, however, and the neighbours left something to be desired.

#2 - Just up the street from #1. This house had been "fully remodeled", but with the same floor plan of #1. There were a number of finishing touches that could have been a bit better (trim in bathroom had some gaps, as did the tiling), all the walls had been redone, painted (still smelled heavily of paint), the kitchen as well had been redone - in a much better configuration and with.... a DISHWASHER!! The basement was interesting...the washer and dryer were on complete opposite ends of the basement...there was a "rough in" for a 4-piece bathroom, but I don't remember seeing it...I think it was near the washer. They claim that the basement could be turned into a 1-bedroom apartment, but I wouldn't want to live down there with the configuration as is. The front yard wasn't as nice, and no upper-level patio. However, even only a few houses up, the neighbours seemed a bit more tolerable possibly?

#3 - The house I will base all other houses on. Located directly on Woodbine, this house was completely finished and was amazing! Gorgeous kitchen (with dishwasher), opens onto the back yard which was small, but cute. There were closets everywhere, except in the tiniest bedroom I have ever seen - destined to be a small office or possibly nursery (I think a crib could be squeezed in there). The laundry area was open and bright, next to it was a second bathroom and down the hall a finished recreation room all on the lower level. This house had parking for 2 cars, with room to spare for the new recycling & garbage bins in the city. As well, there was a direct entrance from the front of the house into the back yard. The view from the master bedroom was of a pleasant street covered with trees, even though it looked directly across Woodbine, it seemed to be removed from the busy feel you might expect. It will be interesting to see what this place ends up selling for. The list price was $349,000. Aaron and I feel it will go in the $380K - $400k range.

So we're off - the nervousness I felt going out yesterday went away fairly quickly. I'm still not exactly sure what to expect during this hunting stage, but I really hope we're able to find something nice in a decent area that we can enjoy without making us house-poor. Seems like it may be a challenge, but time will tell I guess.

We are currently waiting (not exactly patiently) to hear back about our mortgage pre-approval application that we submitted. Once we see what we're approved for, it will make a big difference for our search. Right now we have an imaginary budget in mind, and hopefully reality won't be far off. I am opening my eyes to the world of MLS E1 region (east of Coxwell) as it appears there are a few more places in our imaginary price range. in E2, we are looking at the lowest prices out there, so hopefully it's not going to be the garbage that no one else wants.

Wish us luck!
C.R.