the gathering place

I love clean and order. Office supplies. Label makers. Clorox wipes. Closets organized by color and season.  Towels all  folded the same way. When my surroundings are in disarray I feel like my mind is also in disarray. Some people call this anal retentive, neurotic, crazy.... I say tom-A-to, tom-ah-to.

White cabinets have been on my wishlist since day one for their ability to create an open, light, and airy feeling to a home as well as highlight any dirt and grime. Most people dislike anything that highlights dirt in their home but I say if you can't see it how can you know you got in clean?!?!

Needless to say all of our kitchen choices were based primarily around the white cabinets. We chose to stain the oak hardwood floors saddle. The home came standard with a yellow-ish granite and we were looking for a more gray toned counter which brown eyes (I swear its a good mixture of mostly gray and a little brown). The GE stainless steel appliances are the only option DR Horton offered.

kitchen finishes

Like all married couples Ryan and I have some differences, including our decorating tastes. I like more casual farmhouse/cottage chic while he likes more formal colonial. We try to compromise. We are basing our kitchen mood board around one of those compromises, our current kitchen table. Ryan picked it out based on two criteria set by me-- round and dark finished. (*Note- Ryan wants to make sure you know that he hates the two chair options I've included in the mood board). 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Do you and your significant other or roommate have different styles of decorating? How do you make it work?

let me upgrade ya', you may not be a model but I can front page ya'

from here

Upgrades. We love them and we hate them. S@#$ can get cray cray real fast unless you have someone there to reel you in. It is very easy to go over budget in minutes seconds. We managed to use some restraint and contained our upgrade costs to just under $80,000. My stomach just dropped typing that. Fortunately for us, DR Horton was running an AH-MAZING deal when we signed our contract and we were able to get all the upgrades for 50% off-  so technically we only paid $40,000. I pride myself in being a bargain shopper so although 40K still gives me butterflies it mostly just makes me proud.

So what did we upgrade...

Basement Level:

• Finished bathroom
• Finished rec room
• Espresso cabinets in bathroom
• Thicker carpet padding in rec room and on stairs
• 12x12 tiled foyer
• Walkout to exterior (already zoned for this... so not much of a choice but we were happy with it)
• Garage door opener, additional remote, and keypad
• Electrical outlet in unfinished den

Main Level:

• Gourmet kitchen layout
• Gourmet kitchen appliances (Gas cook top, double wall ovens, microwave, dishwasher, and french door refrigerator) 
• 42"white kitchen stepped height cabinets with brushed nickel knobs and crown molding
• A different color granite kitchen counter (granite comes standard but it was yellowish/tan)
• Undermount double bowl kitchen sink
• Fireplace with slate surround and mantle
• Extra electrical outlet and HDMI wiring for above fireplace to mount the TV
• Wooden stairs in entry and to second floor stained to match hardwoods with carpet runner
• Hardwood floors throughout (kitchen, breakfast area, dining room, living room, library, family room, hall, foyer, and powder room)
• Trim package (crown molding in formal living and dining room and chair rail molding in dining room)
• CAT5/telephone and cable outlet in library
• Overhead light rough in for family room

Second Level:

• Espresso cabinets in master bathroom and hall bathroom
• Thicker carpet padding throughout
• 12x12 tiled floors in master bathroom
• Level 2 tile for tube and shower surrounds
• Overhead light rough in for master bedroom
• Double vanity hall bath with linen closet access from the hall (not really an upgrade... they have made it a standard feature since printing the floorplans)

What we opted out of...

• Wet bar in basement
• Second fireplace in basement
• Tray ceiling in master bedroom
• Columns between hallway and family room
• Finishing the den

Although I am pleased with the value and volume of upgrades we got for the price I still think my ultimate bargain deal is a pair of vintage leather miss capezio boots that I bought for $5 in college. What is your best bargain deal find?

come and knock on our door

We chose to build the Wilmington model of home by DR Horton because....well frankly, because they had already submitted permits for that model to be built on the lot that we liked. Also it was affordable and allowed us to add a ton of customizations that we otherwise might not have been able to.

wilmington model by dr horton

Our final product will look a little different. The front will be completely brick. We won't have the round tops on the main floor windows or the triangle shaped awning over the door. We will have a two foot bump out where the right top floor windows are and an additional peak in the roof centered above those windows. Our outdoor color scheme:

The homeowners association only allows wood finished, board on board, privacy fences. We hope to build something like this for the yard:

here

Sometimes I wish you could have customized door bell rings or knocks to let you know who is at the door... aka whether its actually worth getting up to answer. What would your custom door bell ring/knock be?

i'll start walking your way, you start walking mine...

Before we started looking for a house we created a checklist of items we would ideally like in our home. Although we understood we would probably end up compromising on some things it gave us a good jumping off point and allowed us to really visualize what was important to each of us. So, how does our new house stack up against the checklist of our ideal home....

The  new house is so much more space than we could have even imagined and although it doesn't meet every single thing on our check list we got far more than we expected. We were able to get hardwood floors on the entire main level and hope to upgrade some of the other floors along the line. Our first big purchase after moving will be to fence in the yard for our pups, Libby and Grover. What smaller concessions have you had to make in order to achieve your bigger goals?

google it

We were becoming increasingly frustrated with our house search and over the past month began to feel pretty defeated. We started brainstorming what else we could compromise on from our list to get into a home. On a whim I googled some new construction town homes in Chantilly I had seen an ad for but we ultimately decided it was too far of a drive for both us. One website led to another though and we discovered some builders that were building in Fort Washington, MD. It turns out that the homes were surprisingly more affordable and substantially bigger than everything we had seen to that point. We were officially intrigued.

After lots of googling using many of the tools we told you about here we also discovered the area is in the middle of a big transition with many upper middle class neighborhoods being built around the growing National Harbor area. The school system leaves a lot to be desired... although the elementary school is OK.  We figure by the time we have kids ready to leave elementary school  it will be well over a decade away and who knows what our life will be like by then.

Our lot looking from above.

Our search was narrowed to two builders based upon location, Ryan Homes and DR Horton. We looked at national reviews, local reviews, and even got the opinions of some people that had already built in the potential neighborhoods. I also rediscovered a great website for asking advice of others based upon a specific location. After weighing ALL the information, price of the homes, upgrade options, and looking at the available lots we decided to go with DR Horton. When you make decisions do you just take the leap or cautiously dip your toe in the water until you know its safe like us? Hey, there might be sharks...you never know.

a place to call our own

Things have been quiet for a while because we have been busy. We found a house. Well, more like we found a place for a house. That's right...we are starting from scratch and building a home. The past couple weeks have been spent touring models home, signing contracts, making finishing choices, amending contracts,  keeping fingers crossed for permits, and patiently waiting. Although this is most definitely not the path we thought we started down six months ago it is where the dirt road traveled and we couldn't be more excited.

home. sweet home.

is that included?

Our realtor sends us automated email searches of any houses that meet the criteria that we outlined for him. The emails serve as a first look to current listings and help us to focus in on the properties we a truly interested in seeing. You have to question what some of these people (and their realtors)  are thinking when they included pictures like these in their listings....

hey, can you throw me a roll?

 if you have any metal on you'll certainly feel pulled to stay in this house

no age lines here...complementary botox with purchase

maybe they won't notice the bare light bulb if we place the chair here...

honey, what do you think we should decorate the shelf in the living room with? i don't know, how about a dining chair?

 hurry take the picture...my good looks will draw their eye away from the oddly placed window.

 princess potty seat included free of charge

some people hang curtains but we think baskets are a much better finish to the room

PS. We know you have to look past the decoration and finishes when looking for a house. We actually toured some of these homes but unfortunately still haven't found the right one for us.

pursuit of happiness

Surprise, we are still looking. Went and looked at a few properties this week but everything either needed extensive updates (carpet, bathrooms, paint, kitchen, etc) or had structural damage that we are just not prepared to deal with as first time buyers. But we've decided to change our perspective. We are switching up the game plan and have a few things on the back burner that we are hoping might pan out into something great, like a home. Until then we are continually on the pursuit of happiness.

home is wherever i'm with you

Although we are deep in trenches of looking for a house to call our home we know that home is where the heart is and that is with one another.

home is whereever i'm with you print : tuesday mourning

Well that and with our pups.

home is where your dog is : JessicaBishopPaperie

Hope you have a great Valentine's day!

then we ate ice cream...

...and drank wine in the dark while listening to Taylor Swift and crying into our pillows. I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen in a few months yesterday and mentioned how we were looking at houses. She said her friends just got done with the same process. I asked where in NOVA they ended up moving, to which she replied, "Oh nowhere. They gave up and our just renting for a while". Whomp whomp.

We lost a third house on Monday. A THIRD house. I know, I know I'm moving too fast... let me catch you up. The first house we found was spectacular and we knew it. We made an offer within twenty four hours of it being on the market hoping if we moved fast we might be able to snatch it up. SEVEN OTHER OFFERS.

As perfect as house one was house two was even more so. It was in the IDEAL location (for what we can afford), completely renovated, and even had Ryan squealing like a little school girl. We toured the house the first day on the market, well us and six other couples, all AT THE SAME TIME! We took second in that race.... to a cash offer with no appraisal contingencies.

This third house had the most amazing backyard and was in a neighborhood we liked. We really thought we were going to get this one seeing as we offered  WELL over the asking price. Other people had the same idea only they offered cash and again no appraisal contingencies.

Although we're not ready to throw the towel in yet we are drowning our sorrows in steins of craft beer, eating pad Thai take out, and watching Homeland on demand.

What is your go to sad food/booze? I feel like we're going to have to expand our horizons in order to make it out of this process.





PS. I promise to start being a better blogger and take pictures of these places we see. 

not your parent's house hunt

According to our real estate agent's website in 2011 the average Northern Virginia home was listed for 60 days. All of the houses that we have been interested in have had multiple offers in less than 24 hours. I think its fair to say, at least in this region, it is impossible to wait for the Sunday paper to view new listings. You have to constantly keep your eyes on the market and be prepared to move fast on properties that you're interested in. So here's a few of our "peeping tom" ways to help you stay on top of your game.

Searching for Properties

-Many realty websites have similar functions such as the ability to apply filters to help narrow down your search, map views so you can see where properties are in relation to major roads, your job, or some of your favorite hang outs. Specific filters we like to use besides the standard 3 bed/2 bath are just listed/new properties, active listings (as opposed to sold, contingent/no kickout, etc.), and open houses. Just try searching realty websites until you find one you like. Some of our favorites are Weichert, Long & Foster, and Realtor.com.
-Realtor.com also has a free app I like to use when we're driving around or when I don't have easy access to my computer and feel like browsing.
-Get a Realtor. They are experts at this and many will send you updated MLS listings daily based upon the criteria you've discussed.

I don't recommend other websites like Zillow for your initial house search (we like them for other stuff) because we found its often out of date. Its the worst to get excited about a property only to find out it sold last week.

Researching Properties

So you found a property you think you might like... now its time to break out the private investigator tools to really learn what you're getting into. Some of our favorite tools are:

-Google Maps street view is a great way to get an idea about what the neighborhood looks like but again is not a live feed so you should always go see a property with your own eyes.

-We liked websites like Zillow when looking for comparable pricing (comps) as well as pricing in the neighborhood. BUT you have to take it with a grain of salt. Zillow uses "Zestimates" which are just that, estimates. It allowed us to get a big picture idea of what homes in the neighborhood were generally worth/selling for and helped us find other recently sold comps.

-Your county's property tax website. By looking at the property tax history you can learn a lot about when the house was built, how many times its been sold, who has owned the property, and the type of sale that occurred (foreclosure, standard, relative to relative). Although this information isn't critical if you can see that a home was just bought two months ago for half the price you can infer that this is probably a flipped property and therefore you may have a little more wiggle room for price if the seller is trying to move it fast.

-We also use our county's website to find valuable information about crime in the area. We are able to get a general idea about the prevalence and types of crimes in the areas we were looking.

-Virginia's sex offender registry is a good way to find out who is living near you and always something we look at.
-Although we don't have children, schools play a big role in resale value, and therefore something we feel we should look into before purchasing a home. We found Great Schools to be a good resource for learning more about the area schools from pre-K through high school.

*Disclaimer: It should be noted that all information included above is just our opinions and we were not paid to endorse any of the above mentioned websites.

won't you be my neighbor?

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine?

It's a neighborly day in this beautywood, 

A neighborly day for a beauty, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you, 

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day, 

Since we're together, we might as well say, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine? 

Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you please, 

Won't you please, 

Please won't you be my neighbor?


The search is on! Well technically its been on. Ryan and I have been keeping our eye on the market since late November but when we discovered the VA home loan terms we decided it was time don a red cardigan and some chucks and become official homeowners. BAHAHAHA! HGTV is lies. All lies. There is none of this look at three houses, make an offer, and get it for $20K less than asking price.

Do you own or rent? If you've already bought, how was your home search?