I have been saying for a while that there are things about this house I am getting sick of (lack of closet space) and we both agreed that it was not logistically wise to kick renters out and take over the whole downstairs, but we knew we wanted a better layout. Matt started to do some looking at prices & what was available and in the beginning of July Matt contacted our realtor (also our cousin-by-marriage and my ex-boss) saying we were interested in looking at some houses. Things moved really fast from there!
We knew we wanted to stay in the Greenwood neighborhood. We really love how much we can walk to, we like how convenient it is to bus lines, it is simple to get on the freeway, etc. We wanted sidewalks but we did not want to go too far from our current house because it would negatively affect the walk-ability. So we had a fairly narrow quadrant we were looking in. We knew that if a house came up that met our criteria we might need to be ready to act fast, but then again since our location was so specific we knew it could be 6 months or more before anything just right came up. We viewed some houses to get a feel for what we were ready to compromise on. Would we be ok in Ballard in a cute neighborhood but a house that needs serious updates? Would we be ok North of where we currently are (still no sidewalks)? How important is it to have all the bedrooms on one level?
Pretty early in our looking, we found a house that Matt was ready right away to make an offer on, but I needed time to think it over. The bed/bath layout is exactly what we wanted: 3 beds, 2 baths upstairs (one of which is a master bath) plus a half bath on the main (truly rare in Seattle!). We gave it time and I decided I was ok making an offer on it.
The house is not perfect. The kitchen is small with no dishwasher so the plan is to remodel it in a year or two. There is no dining room and there is no great spot for the table. The yard is significantly smaller than our current one and is basically just dirt so will need some serious TLC. The plan is that we will be in this house for 5-7 years. So there are downsides to it, but they are easier to reconcile when I know it will not be our "forever" house.
We are past inspection. We are set to close on the 15th, but will do our big move on the 24th.
A big part of the reason we were willing to be picky on a lot of things when looking for a new house, even if it took a while, is that we will not be selling our current house. The market is not great for selling and our renters were willing to sign a new 1 year lease even knowing that we will not be upstairs. So we have started advertising for renting the upstairs and already have two groups who have filled out applications and look like good options.
Things are moving faster than I expected. I am collecting boxes and getting a gentle start on packing. I am also, of course, starting to get sentimental about this house. The yard was always so much work with the huge lawn that is truly up-and-down bumpy. But the weather is nice and the girls are loving running and chasing each other in the yard, and they will not be able to do that nearly so freely at the new house. Ironically Matt never wanted to hire someone to help with the yard so it always consumed his summer weekends But now we have decided it makes the most sense to hire someone to maintain the yard after we move out and I think "why couldn't we have done that years ago?"
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