Tuesday, March 1, 2011

photos & video!









pictures of the model! We explain a lot about it in the video too....

the outside! which i love- especially the orange door and all the metal.




entry way/mud room area- here is where the washer/dryer, a coat closet and our 1.5 garage are


the kitchen! don't look at the SS appliances (we'll have black) the nice tile or countertops.. but we'll make it awesome! it's the space i love, it's HUGE!


i guess this is the only picture i took of the family room and it's not even a good one... just watch the video!


door in our family room leading out the balcony

little 1/2 wall with one step up to the 1/2 bath.
i am going to LOVE having 2 baths again.

stairs to the upstairs! (3rd floor) we don't like the brown trim- ours will be all be white and then we're painting the walls a very light gray before we move in
Daph's room

daph's room (i love the big window!)
this is the view from the balcony and it also shows our lot. it's right in front of that pink house which is thankfully 2 stories and ours is 3 so we'll still get some view!

Daph's room





daph's room looking into the hallway and our bedroom (the full bath is that door right before our bedroom on the right)
little desk in the hallway for nic (perfect because he's normally working on the couch)


hall bath (full) on the 3rd floor

i love that there is a door to separate the sink and the tub/toilet

linen closet right across from the bath
our room!
door to our closet
i love that little window- and that we have 2 windows in our room it's so nice and sunny!


view from our bedroom- ours will be built right in front of where julie and sid are standing.
here is the video (it's about 10 min long of me being awkward/excited)


one thing i forgot to mention in the details post which i LOVE about the house is that is there are actually no shared walls- there is a layer of celuous (to prevent noise/fire) then some dead air (also helps with noise reduction) then the neighbor's celulous then their house) so it's not like we'll be living in an apartment which is something i was really worried about looking into a condo. YAY!

the details on the house!

well everyone! we're buying a house!
we under contract yesterday (we signed lots of papers and payed the earnest money) and ours will be done sometime in June/July/August. (they haven't broken ground yet.. so we're thinking more like August) there is a model though right behind where ours will be so we've been visiting it frequently over the weekend, falling more in love every time we see it! Let me tell you

THE GOOD
--------------------------------

-it's a neighborhood in denver called stapleton, it's an urban development (the site is the old airport which was replaced 15 years ago) so it's still in denver but has a real family/neighborhood feel. it's very safe and residential.
-within the neighborhood there are over 100 retail stores and 25 restaurants. that's in the town center. we will be right across the street from town center 2, which will have lots of the same great things as the OG town center. (yes, this will mean construction for us for a few years- but i'm only talking about the GOOD right now!)
-the house is the perfect size for us. we were planning on always living in under 800 SF and this is actually 1,166 so it's bigger then we planned on but we really love the layout.
-all those stairs will make my butt look great (RIGHT?!)
-there are beautiful views of the mountains and a little downtown view as well which we think will look awesome at night. That's the view from our balcony on the 2nd floor and our bedroom on the 3rd.
-we qualify for income restricted housing meaning we make under $56K a year (for a family of 3) and that means our house market value is $194,000 and we're getting it for $145 (with AC, it was $141 but we added that option)
-but, we're the only ones in our building that are income restricted which is nice.
-we're definitely in like the cheapest place in stapleton- all around us houses are between $300-$500K
-we're going to have a garage!!!!
-we are just a couple of blocks away from a pool (there are 3, almost 4 in stapleton) a rec center, an 80 acre park and a nature preserve that has 35 miles of bike trails and connects with all the cherry creek paths that go through downtown denver) doesn't that sound like a nice place for daphne to grow up?
-stapleton has really cute things like their own farmer's market, community garden, films on the green (they set up a huge projector in the park for movies i think once every few weeks or so in the summer)
-we're still close enough to go to all the stuff we love in denver, it won't be walking distance but if we're in the mood for a long bike ride, we can definitely do it.
-we're going to have carpet which i don't exactly love, but we're the first people in it! so i'm OK with it. (though we are planning on doing something like bamboo all on the 2nd floor- the kitchen/living and .5 bath floor)
-we get to pick paint colors and do home improvement projects together.
-
-it has GREAT schools (one that is very close to us) and all stapleton kids are guaranteed to have first pick (unlike most schools in denver where you're likely to not get into a school in your neighborhood)
-a dishwasher!
- we love the look of the outside, especially the metal balcony and orange door with frosted glass. and we have lot of ideas for the inside (which we love to!) which will make it perfect for us.
-we can own a house for about the same price as it would be to rent, if not less.
- it has solar panels which will save us 35-55% in our energy bills.
- all houses in stapleton are energy star qualified, ours is like 35% over those requirements or something.
-we'll still be living with my parents all summer which will give us lots of time to save MONEY!
- all the row houses in our 6-plex will have lot premiums attached to them (meaning you pay more (like $20 or $30K more) for your house because of where it's located- with mnt views and so close to great amenities) but since it's income restricted... we don't have to!



THE BAD
-------------------
(i'm not dwelling on the bad but i am being realistic!)
- with income restricted housing, you can not make a huge profit when selling your house- it can only increase up to 3.5% each year that we live there (so if we live there 10 years we can sell it for around $195,000 after paying $145,000 for it)
- that does it make it more difficult to resell because you have to resell it to someone who is also income restricted- but luckily ours is an FHA approved home which will really help because someone only has to come with 3.5% down not 10%
- we cannot qualify for the loan till nic gets a job (which is a whole other story, but he's in the job hunt again!) my business is doing great this year but it only counts the last 2 tax years and that was before i started JanuaryJones and when the economy took a serious hit. But, if we cannot get our financing in order by the time our house is nearing completion, they will just move our earnest money to the next building being built.
- because it's income restricted we have some pretty-not-awesome finishing choices like linoleum in the entry/kitchen and baths but we'll hopefully have the money to replace them either with bamboo or cork before we even move in.
-we're not in our ideal neighborhood in denver (which is baker/west wash park) which at first, we wouldn't even consider anything outside that area. but, when we really thought about what would be best for Daphne, this was right. we still LOVE that area and plan on going there all the time, good thing we're only 15 min away or so.
-nic was planning on getting a scooter to commute but now that we're further from downtown we're not sure...
- we were planning on moving out in april and now it won't be till august. thankfully, it's going really well living with my parents and so this will give us time to get even more money saved which will be great.

pictures and a video in the next post!