* The Cape Cod*
The cape cod was truly a jewel hiding in the scum of foreclosures. It was at the very top of our budget but was advertised as "newly refinished, new appliances, new carpet". Sounds good right? We arrive and the house was absolutely beautiful. A very cute white house with green trim, a nice front yard with a little landscaping and a driveway. We walked through the house and the fresh white paint and brand new tan carpeting brought a smile to our lips. A beautiful (and clean) half bath was nicely positioned next to a decent sized bedroom. Brand new windows, new kitchen appliances, and a beautiful black counter top contrasting with the white kitchen cabinets gave the home a new, somewhat modern feel.
I walked up the flight of stairs, reveling in the cushy carpet under my feet, devoid of stains and without the smell of animal urine. I turned into the main bedroom...and wondered where the rest of it was! The two bedrooms upstairs were maybe 8 feet by 10 feet, and because of the cape cod style roof you could stand in the middle and touch the ceiling on both sides. This could be a problem as we have a very large bedroom set, which would definitely not fit in these rooms.
We walked out to the back yard and looked out at the view. Ok..an elementary school is really not the greatest view...but at least there was a school close enough for kids right? Then the sound of music filled the neighborhood, very loud music...time to get back in the car.
*The "murder she wrote" house.
We pulled into the driveway of another cape cod to the sight of our Realtor in the driveway laughing hysterically. This was generally not a good sign. He told us to go in and look, and that he and my dad had taken bets for which feature turned us off. We walk into the main door and enter the kitchen area. The kitchen consisted of a stove, sink, fridge, and 3, yes 3, cabinets. You could stand in the middle of the kitchen and almost touch both ends. Oh, and if I stood on my toes I could touch the ceiling. I'm 5'6, enough said. Ok...that's a good kitchen for...no one? Then we go to walk into the living room and have to duck under the large slanted ceiling. We walk into the living room and instantly are morbidly drawn to a giant red stain in the middle of the carpet. Chuck's son walks in behind us and goes "What do you think that stain is from?" Chuck jokingly goes "looks like the place where the last tenant died" and the poor kid darted out of the house. We had enough and left for the next house. We never did find out what the stain was...
*The Asian floor house"
This was actually one of the first houses that we looked at. We drove through the city of Manassas and kept on driving...and driving...ok...out of the city is good right? We pull up to an interesting looking wooden cabin in the woods. Walk in the front door and it's all wood floor and fairly beautiful. We walk into the first bedroom. It's about 20' long by 6' wide, and there is a giant Asian carpet/symbol...thing...painted on the wood floor. The other two bedrooms were about 8' by 9'. Definitely tiny. The kitchen was forgettable, not great but not bad. We walk down to the basement and it was decent. Again, not great but not horrible. The backyard however was a very steeply angled downward slope into a ditch. Not good for arthritic dogs, future puppies, or future little kids. More immediately I would have been miserable trying to garden and forget about mowing, you would fall off the yard into the ravine!
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