House Hunters Salem

Here's the house-related post that I promised so long ago. I feel like I have a million things on my mind these days; with baby, work, and all the decisions related to moving, I've been a bit overwhelmed.

Our condo has been on the market now for going on 3 weeks. We've had a bit of traffic through but no offers yet (other than a ridiculous lowball offer from some investors). I know that things are slow right now in the market but I was (and still am) hoping for a quick sale. It is really a big pain selling a house when you work from home with a baby. Each time a Realtor calls, I have to run through the house shoving toys into closets. And today we even had to wake Emma up from a nap because a Realtor called yesterday and said she'd be here today between 1-2pm. Well, she never showed up. AHHH! Very frustrating.

Well, the exciting part is that we've decided on a house in Salem. It is an old house - 1920 - and is in pretty good shape but we plan to do tons to it, which both excites me and scares me. It is in an awesome, awesome, awesome location, which is the main draw for us. Right off the main street and within a very short walk to most anything that we want. Houses in this area of town rarely come up for sale. In fact, since 2005, only three have sold.

We are finalizing the contract right now and mailing in a deposit tomorrow. If all goes well, and it seems like there are still a ton of hurdles to cross until the finish line, we will close right before Christmas!

Here are a few pictures I took the last time through the house. First , we will redo the floors, paint, take down a few of the gigantic trees in front that really block the house (I know, I feel bad taking down trees but it really has to be done) and try to fix as many of the things found during the home inspection as possible (and we anticipate quite a list). In the long-run, we will also redo the kitchen, redo one of the bathrooms, put in some built-in bookcases, and finish the basement.

The front of the house...yes, some of the trees have to go!

In the dining room, looking down through the foyer into a formal sitting room and a bricked in side porch.

Cool window that I really like in the master bath

View of the backyard patio - a little overgrown but great space. We'll have to get a swingset for Emma!

Porch off the 2nd floor master bedroom. Red indoor/outdoor carpet definitely needs to go!