Our First House!

Ryan and I are excited to announce that we have purchased our first home. Technically, our official closing date is expected to be July 28th but, we have already gone through the inspection process and have signed a contract on the property. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the paper work to go through and then the house will be ours!

We have been looking at homes since I moved here in February. We were having trouble finding exactly what we wanted. For those of you that aren't familar with Arizona, the Phoenix valley area has been fast growing. Many new housing developments have been set up in gated communities. Ryan and I aren't a fan of "cookie-cutter" new homes because all the houses in these types of neighborhoods look exactly the same and offer little land for the price you pay. So, we knew if we wanted something different we would have to get an older home.

After a lot of searching we finally found what we were looking for. The home is older (was built in 1989), so it definitely needs some work and upgrading. Some of you, after looking at the pictures, may be thinking..."why did they buy that?"...but Ryan and I see a lot of potential in the place. And we think over time it will be fun to fix it up together. We were laughing last night thinking about how for the next 10 years at every birthday or christmas we will just be asking for Home Depot gift cards. You know you are getting old when those types of gifts excite you haha!

The main reason we decided on this home was for the size, space, and neighborhood. Also since it was a foreclosure we got a great deal on it so, we already know that we will be making a profit on it when we sell it in the future. The drawback to a foreclosure is that you have to buy the house "as is". We were nervous about what kinds of problems they would find during the inspection but we were pleasantly surprised. Besides termites in the garage the only other major issue is that our air conditioning unit is old and will probably have to be replaced in the next few years. Other than that, all the other things found in the inspection were minor maintenance issues that we can fix ourselves.

Below are some pics of our future new home. It's 2840 sq/ft, 4 bedroom, 3.75 bath, and sits on an acre lot.

massive 6 car garage

backyard

view of the house from backyard

view of the backyard from the house

little side shed

back covered patio area

Riley's playhouse

front of house

(this will be the dining room/bar area)

living room

(will eventually redo the fireplace w/ stone

and cover up that weird circle window)

den

(will probably put a desk in here and make

it a study... the room is pretty small)

laundry room

(this is where the ".75 bath" comes from...to

the right is a shower and toilet and that door
leads right to the pool so guests can use this

bathroom when they come over for a swim)

kitchen pantry

kitchen

(will buy new kitchen appliances first...

eventually we will redo all the cabinets)

In my opinion the ugliest room in the house

(basically everything will eventually be redone in

this bathroom, starting first by getting

rid of that hideous wooden cabinet...

seriously, what were they thinking? haha!)

guest room #1

(will recarpet and paint)

guest room #1 walk-in closet

guest room #1 attached bathroom

(will eventually retile and paint)

guest room #2
(will eventually recarpet, paint, and replace

closet door)

guest room #2

nursery

(the first room we will remodel...recarpet,

paint, and replace closet door. What is up

with that ugly blue carpeting?!)

master bedroom walk-in closet

master bedroom
(will eventually recarpet and paint)

master bathroom shower

master bathroom separate tub

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! In case you are interested for an update on the baby, Riley is doing great. I had another ultrasound last week and they estimate she is about 5 lbs already. She is actually measuring a week ahead of schedule so, maybe she will arrive early, although I doubt it. I think she likes it in there. I have just about 5 weeks left. We can't wait to meet her. Below is a pic of my huge belly =) We miss all of you and hope we get some visitors soon! Have a great weekend ahead!