My Son's Teacher's House Burned

On the first day of the new year, my son's teacher's house caught on fire when a freak thing occurred in her very clean chimney...a spark flew through a small crack in a brick and lit their wall on fire.

She and her husband woke their children and got out of the house, but a portion of their house (their living room, dining room, and kitchen) was burned beyond repair. There is also an awful lot of smoke and water damage throughout the entire house. Half their house will need to be gutted and rebuilt. Many of their personal items will need to be replaced, from furniture to quite possibly their clothing. Even all their Christmas presents were destroyed. They will be living in a mobile home on their property for a few months while their lives are recovered.

Thank goodness they are safe. Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Thank goodness.
Thank goodness their home owner's insurance company has been wonderful to them so far.
Thank goodness that the many, many hours she spent preparing the new classroom she is opening in her own home were not for nothing, as those items were miraculously spared.
Thank goodness friends and family have rallied around her and she is feeling very supported.

I pray that they can begin to heal from the tremendous emotional trauma that this was. I pray that their property is quickly rebuilt and that they can truly return home soon. I pray that they will grow ever stronger and closer as a family through this. I pray that they continue to feel the loving kindness around them.

Tomorrow I break the news to M. because this means he can't go back to school for a while. We don't know when his teacher will be up for teaching again. She's still sorting through a lot of wreckage, trying to find her bearings in all this and get a clear picture of what the coming months will be like.

This will be a very big blow to M. One of the best things I think I can do for him is to help him see that we can be part of the community that cares for his teacher and her family. We'll be cooking some meals for them...or something. And I will invite M. to take part in whatever it is we do.

As for his schooling, I don't know what this will mean. I have offered our house as an alternative location, but some folks won't be able to make the drive into our city. I also don't know, like I said, if his teacher will be up for teaching. In fact, she's not even sure yet if she'll be ready by the time the second trimester of the spring rolls around, when K. is scheduled to start. This may be a push for me to do something here at the house. Both the kids really appreciate their school time with the other kids in addition to homeschooling. I'm going to just let the chips fall where they may for the next couple of weeks, and hopefully by then we'll be able to make a gameplan with M's teacher.

This is hard to get out of my head. What a crazy, crazy thing!

Our Strategies For Keeping the Heat Turned Down Lower This Year

...Okay, so check to make sure if weather stripping isn't cracked...got it. Other ideas...

• 2 Layer Minimum: All family members have happily agreed to wear long underware under our clothes. Sweaters are encouraged but do not count as a layer.


• Socks and Hats Required: We plan to wear socks all winter long. Two layers of socks, with wool on top, or even just wool socks by themselves are preferable. Slippers make a great addition but are not necessarily necessary ;-). Hats are a must at all times outdoors, but also are great when folks get chilly indoors. If one of us is cold during the day, we'll try a comfortable hat before turning up the heat.


• Tea as the Standard Drink: During the winter, we plan to drink warm drinks throughout the day. Options include warm milk, apple cider, or our current favorite: tea. The children enjoy a child-friendly herbal (thus naturally caffeine free) tea, lightly steeped. They like Celestial Seasoning teas such as Sleepytime, Chamomile, Peppermint, and the Berry one (can't recall its name at the moment). They have yet to try the Orange Zest tea. Coffee is also an option for adults and hot chocolate is a favorite among everybody on special occassions. All of us will drink something warm not just during the day, but especially before bed.


• Warm and Spicey Foods: Cooking and baking not only keeps the house warmer, but eating warm cooked meals helps to warm people. We won't be having meals that are served cold this winter...hardboiled eggs, most types of sandwiches, etc. Since everybody in our family likes spicey food, we'll also be eating plenty of that because it can noticeably warm us up.


• A "Downsized" House: We will be closing off a number of rooms for the coldest months of the winter. We don't have multi-zone heating, but we do have radiators that can be shut off individually in rooms, and as I understand it, this can save on heat. I know a woman who has shut down the entire upper level of her house, setting up bedrooms on the first level (which she decided to make the "open for business" level due to the location of the kitchen on the ground level). I guess that is always an option. We have three rooms downstairs that could be transformed into bedrooms with a little creativity if absolutely necessary.


• Cold Means Get Out: The library and the ecotarium (to which we have a membership) are two of probably several places we can go that will not be keeping heat any lower this year than last year.


• Rice Pack Warmers: We have at least one already, and could make or inexpensively buy several more. Heated in the microwave for a few minutes, these can warm beds before bedtime, couches, and even chairs throughout the house. They can also be used by any of us if we just feel a little chilly.


• Blankets, Blankets, Everywhere: Reading books under blankets on couches can be a fun activity for everyone! Blankets can also be used by any person who wants one for his or her lap while doing a puzzle, playing a card or board game, drawing, writing, or otherwise staying put in one place.


• Fans on Reverse: I have heard that putting a fan on the "reverse" setting, if one is available, helps disperse heat throughout the room. I will be checking to see if either of our fans has this setting.


• All Appliances Run During the Day: In the summer, we have a rule that we don't vacuum, do laundry, cook, or run the diswasher during the day because it makes the house hot. Now that winter is here, this can be part of a great strategy to keep warm during the day. At night it is great to run appliances too for heat, but it is easier to stay warm at night under the covers than it is during the day.

Other things we'll possibly do? I am going to keep my eye out at the thrift shop for soft, wool clothes. Unfortunately, we can't do just any wool clothes because wool is very itchy and none of us tolerate itchy wool. But maybe we'll find something. If not, I am at least going to buy wool *socks,* no matter where I have to buy them. I also am going to look around for heat-resistant radiator reflectors to put on exterior walls behind radiators to prevent heat escape, and hopefully we can swing it (assuming cost) to get our radiators fully serviced this winter. If the project looks manageable for non-do-it-yourselfers like us, I'll use 2" certifoam insulation around rim joists, which are in between floor joists in the basement, to help keep the floors warm. If we have enough when that is done, we will also get flannel or fleece sheets for the beds. And finally, I hope to make "draft dodgers" for doors between rooms, especially rooms we won't be using.

Anyone Looking To Buy a Home Should Read This

The book is called The Virgin Homeowner: The Essential Guide to Owning, Maintaining, and Surviving Your Home by Janice Papolos.

It has both positive and negative reviews on Amazon. Here is the review I wrote today:

I *adore* this book. I first bought the 1997 version (I hear there is a new one?), right around the time we closed on our very first home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The house was a 1963 ranch style home.

Another reviewer mixed this up with a novel-style book. In fact, it is a narrative-style. I am a "reader," so I appreciated the narrative spiced with good humor admist all the technical bits. Like the author, I was moving from a city I loved to a town I liked but did not love. It covered a lot of ground and helped me feel less alone in the emotional experience of first time home ownership (particularly involving a relocation). The narrative style made it a very quick read for me, despite how inadept I am mechanically.

What the book gave me primarily was an understanding of how the systems of homes work, and what all that meant for me as "the average inexperienced homeowner." You can't get that in a how-to and fix-it book. Generally, those books look very narrowly at systems and their failures. This book gave me a basic foundation to actually *understand* the how-to and fix-it books.

There may have been pieces of information missing, which the author might want to consider adding to a future addition, such as what a previous reviewer mentioned about the question of whether to wash air conditioners annually. But I found the author provided a good basic guide to maintaining a home. Advice included everything from what type of firewood not to burn in a fireplace to how to how to pest-proof a home.

The author also advises her readers on how to find quality home care professionals, how to establish good relationships with these professionals, and what type of regular contact is necessary with these folks. In the case of "when things go wrong," she gives a basic guide as to what to look for, what to do for immediate steps, and when to call a professional. This includes everything from a sink clogging to a furnace not giving off heat. She gives good "starter" advice on purchasing replacement equipment when it comes to the major components of a system: toilets, water heaters, air conditioners, and so forth.

When I sold my first home, there were even a few tidbits in the book that helped me with that process too.

Now I am finding myself in the middle of purchasing my second home, this time in New England. Though this book is geared to the "virgin" homeowner, I am still finding it to be a very helpful guide.

So far it has been useful in figuring out the right types of questions to ask as we've been hunting for our new home. This last week, we put an offer down on a house (a 1920s colonial), and in the coming week, we'll be doing the inspections. I am pouring over this book right now, soaking up so much stuff I once knew but have forgotten.

And I feel waaaaaaay more prepared this time, having this book before my home inspection, whereas last time I didn't get it until closer to our closing. It has already helped me hire an inspector with whom I feel I can place total confidence, and I feel like I have been asking the right questions and seeking the right kind of information this time around to really know what I am getting into.

The section on home inspections has some great little tips that will really be useful for me in making the most of it, and now I am re-reading all of the "home systems" sections.

I already have a list of great questions to ask about my home's systems during its inspection, and I know exactly the types of things I will be looking for in the report...and how anxious I should get about each possible problem.

Not only that, in both the case of purchasing my first and second homes, the book has helped me avoid major anxiety attacks during critical moments in the process. Even the author's occassional affirmation that you will be in a financial panic any time you buy a home is helpful.

I only wish I bought this book much earlier the first time around. For such a small book (the perfect size for a book of its type), it contains an amazing amount of information, as well as helpful and supportive narrative.

For what it is worth, though I am gushing about this book, I can see a few limitations. For instance, in the child-proofing section of the book, I think the author's advice is presumptive about parenting style and overly limited in scope. She also recommends some products in that section that I have used and found to be unhelpful or "cheap" in make. Nonetheless, the book overall is a complete and total gem!

Yep!!

That's THE ONE.

I loooooooove it.

That said, here's the obligatory pros and cons list:

PROS

• The location is good, both for re-sale and for our purposes. There is stuff we can walk to, including a park.
• This house is totally move-in ready!
• The house is vinyl sided, so we won't have to worry about painting it. In this climate, this is a big issue because here houses need to be painted frequently.
• Most of the windows are updated.
• There is a new furnace.
• There is a lovely little inground pool-- K. will LOVE it.
• It is the perfect size. Not impossibly large, but not too small for our purposes either.
• Our agent thinks this house is likely underpriced, but it is not a foreclosure or a short sale. She just listed a house (without a pool) in this same neighborhood. It didn't have a garage and was listed at $267,000. She immediately received six offers. This is a DEAL (though the downside to that is that we're probably going to have to fight for this one, and it is already the top of our price range).
• All appliances are included in the price, and they are newer appliances.
• The mantel on the fireplace is beautiful, there is a window seat in the living room looking out to the front street (M will love it!) and there are a few nice built-ins and storage spaces throughout...including a nice built in bookcase in the smaller bedroom.
• The staircase is nice and wide (easier for moving furniture, and feels more comfortable too)
• There are a lot of windows, for great ventilation. The ceilings are somewhat high, which adds to the house's good open feeling.
• The house has been well maintained and feels like it is in good condition. The floors are also in relatively good shape.
• The master bedroom, while it doesn't have its own bath, is very close to the bathroom and is very large: 14x20 at least. A second bedroom is also a good size.
• There is a lovely sunroom type space on the first floor that could be used as an office or playroom, or for any number of purposes. It's great!
• There is an enclosed sunroom type porch next to the pool.
• The driveway is shared. Often this would be a big draw-back. However, there is still a two car garage (apparently with a garage door opener), the driveway is well maintained and wide enough for its shared use, and it also means maintance is shared with the neighbors (and word is, the neighbor's sons shovel it).
• The seller's agent is in the same office as our agent, which may give us some advantage in getting an offer accepted.

CONS

• This is at the top of our price range, and the taxes on this property are also rather high.
• There is not a real back or side yard. There is the pool, which is gated. Then there is also a paved area that the current owners have set up as a nice children's play space. In addition, there is a small area outside of the paved and pool areas. It currently has stones as well as a stone walkway, and a patio-swing. The no-yard factor is actually a pro for us because experience shows we can't maintain a yard very well. We have a very hard time with that. However, we do have a large dog to think about. On the other hand, our dog is 12 years old (so not buying a house because of her may not be adviseable), and there is a place for her to go outside even if not ideal.
• There is asbestos on some pipes in the basement. However, they are encased, so it would only be an issue if we decided to do updates. We'll talk to the inspector about it during the inspections.
• The roof appears to be older. It may need to be replaced in the next few years (we'll find out in inspections).
• The heat is by oil, and there is only one heating zone=expensive. This is something, however, that we could probably address in the years to come given that there isn't major work to do elsewhere in the home aside from the roof.
• One of the bedrooms is very small, probably 8x8 or something. And there is no room for expansion. This is an issue for foster licensing, but because one of the bedrooms is very large, if G. and I were willing to take the smaller one at some point, we should be able to continue being licensed for the number of children we would like to care for.
• There is likely lead paint inside that we'll need to get removed.
• There will be costs associated with maintaining the pool, though the good news is that it seems well-maintained currently and they have done some updates on it.
• There is no open, neighborly porch.
• The basement does get some water, which is VERY common in this city, particularly with this type of foundation (however, there is a sump pump and a dehumidifer already installed).

I've called our agent, and she is at a doctor's appointment right now. She is going to call the selling agent and get a feel for urgency. If there is not an offer on the table yet and no word of one yet, I will meet with our agent tomorrow at 11am to write one. Otherwise, her brother (another agent) will be writing the offer with me later today, or she may do it after her appointment. Updated at 4:30 to say that she checked with the selling agent and we were the first to come in. The next showing isn't until tomorrow at noon, so we'll be able to write our offer tomorrow at 11am. I am so nervous about getting this offer right, so we are competative but don't break the bank. I really, really, really WANT this house, and I KNOW it will get other offers. It is unfortunate that I will do this without G. having seen the property, but she said it sounds GREAT, so she is on board and excited. She just can't wait to see it.

Side note: The bad news is I was basically out of my office all day. I worked much of the day Monday (my usual day off), and a lot of Tuesday (despite missing my day off). My assistant had to be out both days for personal reasons. Today I was running late because I was seeing G. and the kids off to New York. Then G. called late this morning to say she got a flat tire. She usually can change a flat tire, but was having difficulty getting the tire off. She was on the Mass Pike and AAA said that when you are on the Mass Pike, they can't send somebody out. The state police have to come. The state police came, called somebody to help, but the folks were taking forever, and it was past the kids' nap time, and everyone was in quite a state. So I stayed on the phone with her until help arrived. Part of the time she had me on speaker phone talking to the kids, who were miserable, while she kept working to try to change the tire.

I came to my office this afternoon and found a note from my assistant saying she wasn't coming in tomorrow but would be in on Friday, and that she wouldn't have time to get several things done. I don't mind at all. But I called to check and make sure everything was okay, and she seemed short with me. I have been in late a lot lately, and I know that makes her work harder because we can't chat in person about stuff. I value her so much, and I am terrified that I have really let her down. I have such a knot in my stomach. I hope everything is okay with her and between us as well. She is amazing! I have always been paranoid about my own inadequacies, and whenever anything like this happens, I always assume I am making someone's life miserable and that our relationship is coming undone. I know there are a thousand other things that could be happening, but boo hoo! I am having super, super anxiety.

Remember this House?

Remember this house?
http://becausethatiswhatmylifeislikerightnow.blogspot.com/2008/04/further-house-hunt-updates.html

Well, they've lowered the price by $15,000 or something. I have a feeling buyers are being turned off by the notion that this is a short-sale.

As for the rehab house, alright I concede, it looks like it may indeed be too much of a project (we're still deciding), as much as it might result in a dreamy house in the end!

We have another house we are going to look at on Sunday, about a half mile from the rehab house. Its location isn't quite as much of a match with our desires, but I still like the location better than the one above. It is as small as our old cramped house, but the house is super cheap (even cheaper than the rehab property!!! We will see what kind of work it needs).

But if we don't think this one is worth an offer after we look on Sunday, I think we might go ahead and throw our names in the hat for the one above. I am feeling so perfectly done with looking.

Below is the one we'll be looking at on Sunday. I'm not a fan of the overall style, for whatever reason, it is still on a busy street (re-sale issue), and it is situated between two funky properties--one rather unkempt-- but at this price, we'd have some room to make some improvements and maybe even expand this house a little. Plus, it does have a porch of some kind. And I bet pulling out those oh so perfectly groomed bushes might help too.



To see the listing, go to http://www.remaxadvantage.com/search.asp?search=standard&agentid=104861, scroll down to where it asks for the MLS number, and plug in the following number (but take out all the spaces):

MLS # 7 07 431 36





For some reason the listing doesn't have the indoor photos, so here they are as sent to us by our agent upon our request (she had it from the last time it was listed, as it is a "back on the market property" from an estate...our agent said she's shown it before and that it is cute...the pictures indicate that some sweat equity will be needed):

Further House Hunt Updates

On Sunday we went and looked at two more properties, and we looked at the house I talked about in my last post a second time.

Here is the deal: there is one other house we really like now (more on that in a minute). Before any of you jump in right away to say that we should start running away from the previously posted house into the direction of the "new house," let me say these things:

• I really, really, really, really DO NOT like the location of this new house. Buying in this area is technically probably a very good investment. It is one of those "nice neighborhoods" that will probably appreciate better. BUT, even though it has at least some sidewalks, it is not within walking distance to anything but other houses. There are few folks out walking around the neighborhood, even with the great weather we've been having. And, while we were out at the house, the neighbor man (who creeped me out for some unknown reason) was on his back deck, with his young child, smoking. Smoking on his deck that is right next to what would be our yard. And the smell was wafting our way. And his son was really in our kids' face. And the yard is lower in that part so privacy options are restricted. When I drive toward the other house, I get so happy and cheerful. When I drive toward this house, it gives me a tight, constricted feeling in my chest.


• This house is about $30,000 more expensive than the other, yet it has 300+ fewer living sq. feet, it will require less work but still some notable work (including the replacement of *nearly all* windows-- which happen to be custom, hard-to find sizes-- just as one example), the house has a great layout but not a particularly good feel at all, and the yard will still need to be fenced and will need a significant amount of work. Right now it isn't in tip top shape whatsoever (I think we've been priced out of that option now that the market is picking up again).


• And perhaps most importantly, this is a "short sale." This means that the seller is in danger of foreclosure, and owes more on the house than the asking price. As long as the asking price isn't too far out of range of the market value, the bank may forgive the remainder of the loan for the seller. But the bank must approve of the purchase offer, which often takes about 90 days (unlike a typical offer, in which case you would hear back within three days or so about whether or not your offer is accepted). While the short sale makes for a slightly better deal, and there may be a way to structure the offer so that it gives us lots of room to back out at any point, it will put us in a difficult waiting spot for several months.

That being said, here is the house:

http://www.remaxadvantage.com/search.asp?search=standard&agentid=104861

MLS #70 7 4 71 57 (take out all spaces)

After we get the first house looked at by a contractor, we'll know whether we will pursue it further. Perhaps at that time, if we're still unsure about what to do, we can put in an offer on both properties even. If the "rehab house" falls through during inspections, we'll already be under consideration for the "short sale" house.

I don't know. We'll see.

The House-Hunting Report

Here's what I wrote on one of my message boards tonight:

We exhausted ourselves looking at houses today. It was completely, utterly tiring. Honestly, I would be willing to put an offer on any of them (they all have good points and bad points), but none of them make both G. and me smile except for one:



http://www.remaxadvantage.com/search.asp?search=standard&agentid=104861

MLS# 70 55 9 738 (take out the spaces)

Both G and I walked into this one and just felt really comfortable there. We like the layout, and it just FEELS good. I wanted to sit down and stick around. G. literally left *beaming.* She smiled ear to ear all evening thinking about it. The problem is that it is somewhat of a rehab project.

• It will need a new roof.
  
• All the shutters need replaced.


• Some of the windows still need replaced.


• The lead and asbestos need to be removed.


• It may need a small amount of electrical work (though it does have a brand new electrical panel).


• The kitchen will need some major work, and as a part of that project, we'd probably end up converting a "bonus" room right next to the kitchen into a bathroom and laundry room combo.


• The basement is very wet. It has an ancient drainage system that would need to be replaced and it needs a sump pump or two.
• There is an old oil furnace (luckily sans asbestos). It would be in our best financial interest to update the heating system, converting it to a multi-zone gas-powered system (fortunately the house is gas metered).


• The (small) yard needs work and needs to be fenced.
  

Eventually the driveway will need to be repaved. It also needs a lot of cosmetic updating.

Much further down the line...we'd knock out that front entryway (it is unuseable right now...very, very, very musty...though rest assured that the rest of the house doesn't have that smell), and we would hopefully put in a porch or a deck.

I'm unsure about taking on a house like that right now. And I worry about the wet basement, in terms of longterm structural issues. I also think a rehab loan might knock us out of the running because right now I've heard they require 30% down and are more expensive loans.

Actually, there are some other downsides to the house as well, which would impact re-sale value. It is on a very busy street and right behind the house (next door, basically, as it is a corner lot), are several business (rather than more residences).

BUT we LOVE the house. It is a comfortable size and very likeable in soooooo many ways. And the location is very good (besides the busy street, which we actually appreciate because our kids like watching cars go by). And it is much cheaper than many of the other properties we've looked at.

I'm gonna talk to one of our mortgage people tomorrow and see if this is at all possible financially. The house has been on the market for a year. Most houses that have been on the market when it hit bottom have now sold. Not this one. The seller is motivated (although we have to consider that when they first listed, the house was listed at $240,000). I am really tempted to put in an offer of $180,000 or $185,000 (or less if the price of the work adds up enough to justify doing so) and just see what they do.

That makes dw nervous because she loves the house and wants to start offering at $190,000. I'm not ready for that yet. There is so much work.

Our agent is gonna give us the contact information for a contractor who will give us estimates for all the work. This will give us an idea of what is a fair offer and whether we can afford this either as a rehab loan or by reducing our downpayment to help cover the costs out of pocket.

We also have one other property that just came back on the market that we've asked our agent to see. We'll see what we decide to do. Stay tuned.

House Hunting This Weekend!

I am getting anxious about buying a house.

My agent says that buyers are coming back to the market in droves at the moment (after I asked her because it seemed like every house we liked got an offer before we could get in to see it).

I don't want to have sold at the absolute bottom of the market only to have to buy when the market is in full upswing.

I'm irritated.


So I asked our agent to show us a handful of houses on Sunday. I picked them out. Let me show you the one I like the best right at the moment:

Why do I like it so much?



Location...Location...LOCATION
+a front porch *and* a back deck!!

To see the full listing, go to http://www.remaxadvantage.com/search.asp?search=standard&agentid=104861, scroll down to where it asks for the MLS number, and plug in the following (but take out all the spaces):

70 744 9 18
(note: at some point I will take this down)


This house just might have the potential to make the house-hunting process joyful again. When I think about it, I get butterflies in my stomach.

BUT, it is not perfect. Here is the ol' pros and cons list:

PROS

• It is within our price range in a location I ADORE! I like the location because it is in an area of the city considered broadly to be desireable (good in terms of an investment), but it is in a more economically mixed portion of that area (good in terms of our souls). There are trees and sidewalks in the neighborhood (you'd be surprised by how little of that there is out here), and there appear to be families with children around. It is walking distance to a lot (at least in comparison to everything we've found in this city so far). I haven't even seen it all yet. A new vegetarian restaurant (seriously unheard of out here) just opened up a few blocks away (I swear we could single-handedly keep it open)!! From what I could tell, we could walk to at least a couple different restaurants (granted one is a faster-food type chain), to at least one if not two pharmacies, to a youth center with a basketball court and a very tiny park (see below under cons for some issues), to a "corner store," and MORE! You just don't get that kind of thing in most areas of this strip mall city. It is on a side of town that really appeals to me, despite being very congested through the route to my work...however, it is in the perfect spot because there is a short-cut I can take. It should be a ten minute drive to work, I think. The location makes me want to put an offer on it site unseen, for crying out loud! I swoon.
• As I said, it has a really cute porch! PLUS a nice looking, big deck!
• The backyard is perfectly level, very well-maintained and seemingly low maintance, and seems to be of decent size. It appears to be fenced, though the back portion of the fence would need to be replaced with something more dog-proof.
• It has a newer boiler, newer water tank, replacement windows, and vinyl siding.
• Supposedly the kitchen and bathroom have been updated.
• All appliances are included.
• Heating is by gas (much cheaper than oil), and the water heater also works by gas. Given the smaller size of the house, heating should be affordable.
• The house is pretty darn cute. Even cuter in person than in the photo.

CONS

• While I love the location, there are some issues with the location. On the next street over, there is a medium-size liqour store. Across from that there is a trashed out, ill-maintained Rite Aid (pharmacy). Though the house is less than a half mile from a park, it hardly deserves the title. The park is right on a majorly busy street. There is graffiti all over the park, and all it consists of a lonely slide and a few swings and *a lot* of litter. Though it is next to the youth center, it feels very sketchy, especially as night begins to fall. Also, across the street from the park is a commercially owned (though small) stadium. On one hand, I want to get involved in cleaning up and adding to that playground, but part of me thinks it's hopeless.
• This is another house with potential size issues. Again it is one the same size as our old house that we felt we had outgrown. I do feel that having porch and deck space increases the size of a home on some level, but we are a growing family.
• Also, a big red flag here is that the listed square footage differs greatly from public record (it is listed with a few hundred more square feet).
• The room sizes are not listed, and the rooms look small...especially that rinky, dinky supposedly updated kitchen. If any of the bedrooms is smaller than 10x10, we can't buy this house due to foster licensing.
• The bedrooms are divided between two floors. Ack! I don't know if I can handle that.
• Right now there are carpets everywhere. It says there are hardwoods under all carpets, but there is no way to know what condition they are in or even if this is true.
• There is only one bathroom, there is no fireplace (Waaaaaaaahhhhh...I really, really, really want a house with a fireplace damnit! A lot! How much does it take to add one?), and though there are four off-street parking spaces, there is no garage.
• There is likely lead, which means for foster licensing we'll be sinking a bunch of money into the house right away to de-lead. On the other hand, this is an issue with most of the houses out here.
• There is only one heating zone (more expensive, less efficient, and less environmentally friendly), and the heat is also by steam which is a potential issue with M's asthma.
• I am not a fan of wallpaper personally, and it has wallpaper in every room.
  

So what does it mean when you love the location in so many ways, but there are also other glaring location concerns?

And they say to always buy for location, but when does location trump other downsides?

I know, I know. I haven't seen it inside yet, and I could end up hating it. Plus, for all I know they'll already have accepted another offer by Sunday. And knowing my luck, this won't work out. But for now I can't stop thinking about it.