Houses #19, 20, 21, 22, and 23

It's been a while since we went to see any houses, but today we went to quite a few. There were a few that we might keep our eyes on, but nothing that jumped out at us.

House #19 was a 3 bedroom, almost 2 bathroom home in Centerville, just a few streets north of the house we have an offer in on. We liked a lot of things about it: the layout was exactly what we are looking for, it has an unfinished room in the basement that could potentially be a 4th bedroom, and it has a huge backyard. But it doesn't have a master bathroom and besides, it's at least $15,000 more than we can afford. If it drops $20,000 we would probably be really interested! In the meantime, I think I'm going to send my brother-in-law and his wife over there to see it.

House #20 is a new construction short sale (feel sorry for the builder!) in Centerville, with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. It was ok. It had no backyard, and not really any potential for a backyard, and I thought some of the materials used looked a little cheap, like the kitchen counters. They were made to look like they were marble, but they very obviously weren't. I didn't like that at all. The master bathroom and walk-in closet was too big--a waste of space.

House #21 was in the same development as #20, and had almost the same floorplan. However, this one had a much bigger lot and although it was unfenced, it has the potential for a decent backyard. We liked the layout a little bit better. The master bedroom still had a nice big walk-in closet and a nice master bathroom, but it wasn't oversized. And in the master bedroom, there was a sort of nook off to the side that was just the right size for a crib someday! We really liked that. I guess this could be an option to fall back on.

Doesn't this house look like two houses that collided and got stuck together? House #22 is a short sale in West Bountiful, with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It was a mess inside, with half finished tile in the entryway, stained and worn carpet throughout, a half finished shower in the master bathroom, and soft spots on the floor. The layout was really nice and it's in a nice neighborhood, but at $10,000 over our budget and needing another $10,000 put into it, it's a no-go for us.

House #23 is another new construction in Foxboro. We've already seen a house in Foxboro (house #16) and we really didn't like it, but we want to look at all of our options. I liked the layout of this house a lot, but it had no backyard at all yet--meaning dirt and rocks behind the house, that's it. The builder came to it with us, and he said it would be about $3,000 to put in the sod and fence. Besides that, it's in Foxboro, which is just so out of the way. So we will probably scratch this one off our list.

Still holding out for #18... we should find out next week if they accept our offer. If they do, the bank wants to close soon after. Who knows, we may even be in our own house by Christmas!