This past summer, after a more drama-filled year in our apartment than we would have liked, we were considering moving on. We had had a few issues with noisy neighbors, too many false-alarm fire alarms in the middle of the night, our Christmas wreath was stolen, the gym machines were often broken for weeks on end, and once we were charged late fees for a rent processing error that wasn't our fault. All this, in a "luxury apartment community" for which we were paying quite a bit of money to live there! I mean, it was a nice place, and considering the building was brand-new, it was a little bit worth the premium, but not as much when you considered all the other issues we had there.
Additionally, while our 2 BR 2 BA apartment had a nice layout for us and the size was okay, we hoped we could find someplace with a little more room.
Then we got notice of the upcoming rent increase if we chose to stay. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE PER MONTH?! Are you KIDDING me?! It was time to move.
We knew at this point we wanted to look for a townhouse, and a three bedroom place would allow Jason and I to each have our own "offices" -- he'll need the space when he starts up with grad school, and I'd like the room for my crafting and sewing. We wanted something that was well taken care of, in a nice neighborhood, and would be close to work. A bigger kitchen would be nice, too.
Jason and I poked at online rental listings by ourselves and looked at a lot of places in the area on our own. We even talked with a wonderful Realtor who helped us look at a handful of places. In the end, we finally settled on this one:
It's located in a really great, quiet neighborhood only about 4 miles south of where we used to live, so we're still close to work and all the places we usually go to in this area. It has three bedrooms and three and a half baths.
The main level has a layout that's great for all the get-togethers we have with friends, which is great!
The kitchen has relatively new appliances, and has more room for two people to cook than our last kitchen.
We look forward to enjoying the pretty, shaded deck this spring and summer.
Upstairs, there are two large bedrooms with their own bathrooms. (It is called a "double master" since either could be the master bedroom.) Since they're small — compared to the huge bathrooms we had in our modern apartment complex —Jason and I just have our own bathrooms! ;)
The front bedroom upstairs (with the dormer windows) is large enough to be both a guest room and a place for my stuff. I want to make cushions for those deep windowsills!
The room in the back is our bedroom.
The basement is fully finished, walks out to the backyard, and includes a large common room (with wood fireplace), a full bath, and a small bedroom/den/office, which will become Jason's office and study area. This will be great for times when he works from home or goes back to grad school.
The laundry room has newish appliances, too!
The current owner was the original buyer when the townhouse was built in 1984 — about 6 months before I was born! — and he and his family (wife, and two kids age 12 and 9) lived there until a few years ago when they bought a single-family home a few miles away so they could have more room. The house is very well taken care of, and they were hoping to find some nice, responsible folks (like us!) who would continue to take care of it until they are ready to sell it off.
The owner is retired, kind of a stay-at-home-Dad, and is incredibly handy. In fact, he and his buddies finished the basement themselves! For Jason and I, this means that whenever we have a house question, he's always available to come by, take a look, or even fix the problem.
Jason and I are getting settled in and trying to figure out how we'd like to decorate the place. It's a slow process, but I'm sure as we start to make major changes I'll post some more photos!
You can see more photos of the house over here on Flickr.
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