The New House

So, this morning as I was talking to my sister, I realized that I never shared any updates about our new home since we've purchased it. A lot has happened since the last home-related blog post.

Here's what happened. The last house I blogged about, we didn't get. The bank wouldn't come down off the price which was ridiculous for its condition and its location.

Reinstating our search, we found a home in a neighborhood that we've had our eye on since we've been here. The neighborhood is called Highland Knolls, it's an established neighborhood (homes built in the late 90s), each home is unique and varies in price starting at 200K going up to over a million. Here's what we love about the house:

- 2240 square feet
- 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths (As Hayley moves closer to teen years, she will certainly want her own bathroom.)
- fenced-in backyard for Polski
- playscape already in the backyard (for Hayley and future kids)
- both the backyard and the front yard have beautiful trees.
- house came with an older model of Bose surround sound (we're hoping it still works)
- all bedrooms are attached to a bathroom (Two of the bedrooms share a Jack and Jill bathroom. And Hayley will get her own bathroom separate from those.)
- nice-sized kitchen with good counter space, countertop for barstools plus space for a kitchen table, and attached small gathering room with fireplace
- designated dining room with wood floor
- large family room with built-ins
- deck that exits off the family room and master bedroom
- all brick home
- repairs that showed up in the inspection were pretty minor
- excellent neighborhood with varying homes and lots of kids
- excellent elementary school right in the neighborhood
- the home comes with a membership to Shadow Valley Country Club, a private club that offers a restaurant, gym, challenging golf course, pro shop, tennis, basketball, swimming pool and kids play-scape

What we'd like to change:
The house hasn't been updated since 1997. Cosmetic changes can be made like kitchen counters, appliances, flooring, paint and light fixtures over time to make this home glow. Right now, everything in the house is in working order and we don't need to spend money right away to get the house updated which is great. We can make changes at our leisure.

We're scheduled to close on it on November 13th. We hope that everything stays on schedule so that can actually happen. Movers are supposed to come November 15th at 9am to help us move out of the apartment. I wish I had more photos of the home, but the real estate agent has taken most of them down from the website. He's reposted some on Zillow.com which I've posted here.

We're praying for a happy transfer:)

Note: Thank you to all of our parents and friends who have offered advice and an ear for us to vent our house-hunting experiences. We can't wait to have you all come visit so you can see the home in person.