And then our realtor found a whole bunch of interesting listings. So last Sunday we got in the car at 10 am and spent the next ten hours driving to and from various properties. I do not endorse this method. We were tired and grumpy when we got home. However, it may have worked out well for us. Here's the rundown:
- House #23, Hamilton: A brick-and-siding rambler foreclosure in a very cute little town east of Purcellville (look it up). Nice quiet neighborhood with simple, well-kept homes in a variety of sizes. Front of the house in need of curb appeal but the next-door-neighbor's home was an excellent example of how stair railings and flowerbeds could spruce the place up. Nice big fenced backyard, detached two-car garage. Small-ish but doable eat-in kitchen. Decent hardwood floors, brick fireplace. Three small bedrooms all clustered in one corner of the house (a layout I am picky about if it feels like they are all on top of each other). Giant partially finished basement with a home-built bar that ate Cincinnati. I'm thinking these people may have had the entire town population over for Redskins games. No joke. One teensy bathroom upstairs (with all the bedrooms) and one really nice bathroom downstairs with the TV room and bar. Meh. If we were going to move all the way to Hamilton, it wouldn't be for this house.
- House #24, Purcellville: A 111-year old farmhouse that we were kind of excited to see. Cute little neighborhood. The house was about what you would expect from an old farmhouse, in ways both good and bad. Nice front porch. Beautiful wide-planked pine flooring; a room with fireplace at the back (was probably the kitchen back in the day but is now a living room) with high ceiling and wood beams. Nice, spacious bathrooms. A large and sunny backyard. But this sort of house also comes with quirks: no central air (not a deal-breaker because as former New Englanders we're used to that); low ceilings upstairs and seriously uneven floors to the degree that I started feeling a trifle queasy. Small eat-in dining room with a kitchen lacking in countertop/cabinet space. The large bathrooms were outdated and there was no master bath. In short, full of character but perhaps too big a project for us at our current level of time and finances.
- House #25, Purcellville: We knew this house was going to be too small (2 bed/1ba cottage) but it looked so cute in photographs that we wanted to see it anyway. It's adorable, but it's a one-person house. Hardwood floors (again), a kitchen that is small but very efficient in its usage of space. A mud room with good extra kitchen storage. Bathroom cute and crammed full of cabinets. But we realized that our hutch/buffet would not actually fit in the combined living/dining room if we wanted to also have a dining table, so that was out.
- House #26, Warrenton:Foreclosure in a subdivision. Not far from the Warrenton house mentioned in this post. Probably built by the same people, as the layout was similar but scaled down (to 4 bed/2.5 bath) Good space, small backyard but nice deck. Kitchen small with laminate countertops and not-very-well-hung cabinets. Carpeted sitting room/dining room, which always make me twitch. Why would you carpet a dining room floor? It's not just me who spills things. Plus, this one was beige. Give me one glass of red wine and that carpet is toast! Family room with a hideous braided carpet and a weird built-in that I think was maybe for DVD storage but was way too deep and looked odd. Nice half bath on the first floor. Four good-sized bedrooms upstairs with two bathrooms. Giant unfinished basement that had already been framed out. Needs paint and floor replacement. Also needs some work on curb appeal. Location is OK - bit more of a walk to Old Town Warrenton but still doable. A definite maybe.
- House #27, Warrenton: Brick rambler 3 bed /2 ba northeast of town that our realtor was all excited about. The photos did not impress with regards to the exterior, but the kitchen looked quite nice online so we figured we'd take a look since we were going to be there anyway. Quiet cul-de-sac in a pretty nice neighborhood. Exterior has these ugly dark brown window shutters that make the place look dated as all get-out, and the front walkway and landscaping need love. Large backyard but about half of it is woods leading to a small creek running through the back of the property. Soil doesn't look very garden-friendly at the moment (red clay - felt like tennis!) The inside was another story altogether. Nice hardwood floors everywhere except the family room. Medium-sized open room at the front of the house that needs to be assigned as something because it's kind of just open space. Gorgeous kitchen. Let me say that again. GORGEOUS. KITCHEN. Redone within the past two years. All new stainless steel appliances (although I am not stuck on stainless steel). Recessed fridge. Beautiful white well-made cabinetry (gliding drawers) and butcher block countertops. Giant sink. Space for two barstools. Separate pantry and laundry behind kitchen doors. Plus, these people have the kitchen set up to show so it looked amazing. Kitchen opens into a family room with brick fireplace and two skylights (which look like something out of Star Trek - it's hilarious); this room opens into a walled in sunporch (sunporch!). The sunporch and kitchen have the same flooring, a large black-and-white tile that I did not like in photographs but actually like quite a lot in person. Small but adequate dining room with a large window opening on the backyard. Recently redone large hall bath with small black-and-white tile and a nice, crisp look to it. Three medium-sized bedrooms at one end (but not crowded). Master is a little bigger, with a slightly larger closet and a small (but lovely) master bath that has a very deep tub. Has a pedestal sink, though. This strikes me as odd because there is no storage space in this bathroom as-is, so why wouldn't you want a vanity with cabinets? If this were my house I'd replace that ASAP. In comparison to the previous house, this one is move-in ready and needs work almost exclusively on its exterior (barring some paint and the aforementioned vanity). We would rather spend our time outside than inside...
- House #28, The Plains: Historic farmhouse on 3 acres. On a mildly busy road caddy-corner from a cattle auction place. The big grassy lot next door is for sale and zoned commercial. This house has lots of promise but suffice it to say that it needs lots of work. If we had an extra $100-150K lying around we could make it gorgeous.
- House #29, Manassas: It turns out that when you are a professional landscaper, your home's landscaping is amazing. This rambler had beautiful landscaping, a mix of ornamentals and fruits and veggies. Wooden floors that were nice but really, really creaky. Good living room. Eat-in-kitchen with room for a large table. Corian countertops and an overall decent kitchen. Three bedrooms and one bath (beautiful remodeled with tile) to share on the first floor. Large basement with a TV room, an office, another bedroom, and another very nice bathroom. Possibly doable, but having effectively all occupants and all guests stuck using the same bathroom (lovely though it is) is not desirable, and there is no room to add a half-bath without doing massive construction work. Enormous and beautiful backyard with a water feature. Interesting, but could be tough. However, if we ever have the money to hire a landscaper, I am hiring that lady.
- House #30, Manassas: A foreclosure in one of Manassas's more elegant neighborhoods. Large backyard and lovely roses in the front. Our realtor warned us that the real estate agent managing the place had a reputation for bringing wretched foreclosures to market, but even so, we were not prepared for the horrible smell that assaulted our nostrils. Either some sort of pipe had burst in the basement, everyone in the neighborhood has been relieving themselves in the house, or there's a dead body in the basement. I got two feet inside, turned around and left.
- House #31, Woodbridge: Cute little (crowded) subdivision of adorable houses. Decent kitchen. Nice (small) living room. Not enough bedroom space and absolutely no yard to speak of. Also too expensive for its size.
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