Our new home

When we were looking for a new house, here was our wish list (and how we did):

1. A ranch-style house with a basement.  We were leaning towards something with an unfinished basement so that maybe we could finish it and turn it in to a master suite.  How’d we do?  We nailed it.  Except we actually found a ranch in our price range with a finished basement.  So probably no immediate plans for a master suite down there any time soon…
2. Three bedrooms, 2 baths. Well…. we ended up with 5 bedrooms, 2 baths.  Due to the aforementioned finished basement.  Everyone now keeps asking, “How many kids do you plan on having???”  The main floor is 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, dining area, and one bath; and the basement is two bedrooms, a rec room, a laundry/utility room, and one bathroom. 
3. A bit of a fixer-upper.  We wanted something we could make our own.  Something where we could get excited about new projects… but within reason.  We wanted solid bones – no structural issues or crumbling sewer lines.  We definitely got solid bones, but during the inspection we found 3 major problems: it needed a new roof (despite boasting a “new roof installed in 2010,” it needed a new sewer line (ouch), and it needed radon mitigation.  Luckily we were able to negotiate having the seller take care of the roof and the sewer, so we will deal with the radon.  The rest of the house definitely DOES qualify as a fixer-uper… but it’s mostly cosmetic.  More to come on that!
4. Hard wood floors.  The “fix-n-flips” we looked at nearly always had new carpets, and the smell just slapped you in the face when you walked in the front door.  We’ll pass on the toxic fumes, thanks.  Did I read somewhere that carpets off-gas for as long as you own them?  Is that for real?  Someone please correct me.  We got our hardwoods!  Yay!  The basement, however, is carpeted… but we’ll deal with it, for now.
5. Brick exterior preferred.  Red brick, in great condition!
6. A park within walking distance.  We do have a small park within walking distance, but are lacking in any real trails or larger parks nearby.
7. In the southwest part of the Denver metro area.  Check.
8. An older house.  We just like their character.  1956. 
9. An open floor plan.  We don’t really like walls between the living room, kitchen, dining room, etc.  The downer is that during the 1950s, they used materials in the walls that contains asbestos.  Boo.  We don’t like THAT kind of character.  So we won’t be knocking down walls like we originally planned.
10. A decent-sized fenced backyard for our pooch, Luci.  This backyard is a bit smaller than our last house, but has shade trees, which is a huge improvement!
11. Newer windows, cuz they’re just so expensive to replace!  The main floor has newer windows, but the basement windows are ancient. 
12. A garage.  We did get a one-stall garage that we’re not sure our car will comfortably fit in.  =)

So, here is a preview of our new home… more info and updates coming soon!  We’ve been working our tails off since we moved in.