Update on the Koi Pond House

I went back to see this house with my agent today.  I liked it so much, I'm putting a bid down on it tomorrow.


















When you come in the front door, the dining room is on the right.  It has windows facing the front and side of the house.  In the back is the kitchen, and on the left is a pantry (with a glass door).  The room is very bright.

The pantry is quite spacious, and as you can see, there is a small window with glass bricks separating the kitchen from the dining room.  You can also catch a glimpse of the master bedroom in the background.

The kitchen is decent sized with silestone countertops.  The dishwasher and microwave convey, but the stove/oven and refrigerator do not.  There is a solar tube over the kitchen, and a large window over the sink.

A close-view of the non-conveying stove.  You can see how much light comes in from the windows and solar tube.

The laundry room in the back.  All the cabinetry in the kitchen and pantry has been redone.  There's a door just to the left leading to the back yard.

This is the other side of the laundry room.  As you may have noticed.  The current owners have two cats and a dog.  There's clearly some odor control in the house (it all smells very sweet), so I remain a little concerned about that.  Having seen other laundry rooms in Lakewood, I can assure you that this one has been completely remodeled.




















Looking back to the entry door (with coat closet out of view on the right), you can see the living room.  The ceiling has recessed lighting and all the floors are hardwood.

The living room has a large bay window facing the street.  They've rigged the room with several speakers, but I don't think they convey (nor do I necessarily want them).  There's crown molding throughout these rooms and in some cases, wainscotting.
  


















Here's the other side of the living room.  A couple of things here.  First you'll notice that they have a floor furnace.  This is the biggest drawback in the house.  No central heat or air.  They also have a HUGE television.  A nice flat screen on the wall would open up the space.

 
This gives you a nice sense of the living room, with the palm tree in front of the bay window.

The master bedroom has a wall of windows facing the back yard.  On the opposite side are large mirrored sliding closet doors.  There are two doors to the room (both frosted glass):  the one behind me to the right leads to the kitchen.  The one to the left leads to the hall, bathroom, and two other bedrooms.

This is the shower with glass bricks and solar tube.  The solar tubes really brighten up the house. The remodel work on the bathroom looks news.

Just down the hall from the bath is the second bedroom, which is currently configured as an office. This is where my office would be.  As with other rooms it is very bright, with one window (on the right) facing the backyard, and another (on the left) facing the side of the house.  While this (and the third bedroom) are carpeted, there is hard wood under the carpeting.

The third bedroom has been done up nicely as a guestroom  It has one wall of windows facing the street, but the palms in front somewhat shield it.  There is a second window facing the side yard on the right.  Both smaller bedrooms have small closets and there is a linen closet in the hall between them.

 In this room, they've put some rather nice stenciling along the ceiling (though no crown moulding).  The door with the towel rods opens to the closet.




















One thing I really like is that they've replaced (or covered) the concrete slab, the driveway, and the steps of the house with these brick paving stones.  The gazebo is the sellers' personal property, but I'm happy for them to take it as I feel that it currently closes off too much of the yard.  Behind it is the koi pond.  You can also see that two of the three walls are block (with one raised by wood). The third wall is wooden.

Here's the koi pond.  I don't care for the tarp and the bricks.  While not ideally located for a garden (too shaded), it'll do once it's been filled in with top soil.




















Here's a nice view of the back of the house.  The door on the far left leads to the laundry room and kitchen.  The next set of windows is to the master bedroom.  The small window is for the bathroom, while the last window on the right is to the office.  The water heater is external and abuts the house. 


I like the house a lot and it's by far one of the nicest we've seen.  While it's kitchen doesn't compare to "the nice kitchen house," that house has it's own drawbacks including 1) an unfriendly neighbor whose house is not kept up well; 2) two tiny second bedrooms and a fair distance from the master bedroom to the bath; and 3) the fact that it already has an accepted offer and would only become available if it falls out of escrow.

The sellers are asking $417,000 for this house and I'm bidding $410,000.  I'll let you know what happens.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep looking.  I'll post later tonight about the other places I saw today, two of which are also in the running.