House Hunters: Our Fourth House

A few weeks ago, I was looking for an old blog post and stumbled on this one that I wrote when we were purchasing our first home. Everyone was obsessed with the HGTV show House Hunters way back in 2011, and this was such a popular post with my readers back then. I giggled when I read it because it is so incredibly obvious which house we chose (I couldn’t hide my love for it!), but it was such a fun post to write and re-read, and I decided I’d do it again as we prepare to move to our fourth (!!) home.

As tends to happen on the real House Hunters, decisions have already been made! That’s right – as I’m typing this to you we are under contract on our new home. In just over a month, we’ll be moving. After 8 solid months of prepping and working to make this move happen, I am so excited to be this close to the finish line.

I’m going to do my best to be more sneaky this time around with which house we chose. And, because we’ve had so many ups and downs over the course of this process, I’m not going to be revealing the actual house here on the blog until we move. So, think of this as a way to satiate your curiosity for a little bit, but prepare for a wait to know the truth because my lips are SEALED (that is, of course, unless you’re a Substack subscriber because they get to know all my secrets and may or may not be finding out which house we chose TOMORROW!).

A couple of notes before we jump in:

• All three of the houses you are about to see are homes we very seriously considered. We had long discussions about putting in an offer on each one of the below homes.
• I took all the photos of the homes myself and am sharing with the permission of the Realtor/homeowner!
• If you’re local to north Austin and moving and are curious about one of the listings, I can put you in touch with the best real estate agent in Austin (AKA: my husband!) for more info.
• For each home, you’ll see a photo of the exterior, the living room and kitchen, the primary bedroom and bathroom, and the backyard.

Let’s jump right in, shall we? These three houses are VERY different from one another, and I truly adore each of them for very different reasons.

House Number One: The Fixer Upper

The Stats:

• 4 beds / 3.5 baths
• 3,229 square feet

This house is quirky in all of the ways I love dearly. The exterior of the home is truly stunning, with gorgeous mature trees and so much shade. When you walk in, there’s a curved staircase on one side and if you look up, there’s a Juliette balcony on the other side that leads to one of the bedrooms (which would be my office). It had many details that were original to the home, which is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted room to make my own changes without feeling like I was undoing someone’s hard work. It felt incredibly spacious, and the location was fantastic – walking distance to both the elementary and middle school, which is kind of a dream come true! The backyard wasn’t as finished out as we would like (we’re not great at exterior upgrades and would love to find something with some work already done), but it was a good size and had a super charming little greenhouse in the corner.

The biggest downside of this home? It needs work – and not necessarily the fun stuff. We had access to an inspection report and it was clear that quickly upon moving in, there would be a handful of pricey and not-too-exciting updates that needed to happen. Things like the roof, exterior grading, gutters, and windows. Certainly nothing we can’t handle, but not the ideal way to kick things off in a new house.

A Few Pros:

• Two full bathrooms upstairs (a rarity!)
• Charm + potential oozing out of every corner
• High ceilings throughout and spacious bedrooms
• Three car garage!

A Few Cons:

• I would prefer a downstairs office
• The primary bathroom is on the small side (but has potential!)
• Laundry is a garage pass-through (not our favorite)

House Number Two: The 70’s Charmer

The Stats:

• 4 beds / 3 baths
• 2,927 square feet

This house is a bit of a rarity in our market. The vast majority of the homes in our area were either built in the 2000’s (an “old” home is 10 years old in our town!) or they’re in really established neighborhoods that are faaaaaar out of our budget. A house built in the 70’s doesn’t hit the market all that often, is what I’m saying. That alone really makes this house stand out quite a bit. Add in the unique layout and all the details and it felt like quite a gem.

This home was dated in all of the most charming ways – from the cabinets to the wallpaper to the flooring. It was obvious that the owners really cared about this home, and it had been lovingly taken care of. I would guess that the house was a multi-gen home, as one of the bedrooms was in a separate wing of the house and had its own exterior entrance. The backyard was very spacious and beautifully updated. Location-wise, it was further out than we had planned to be from our current home (technically a different city), but closer to Austin proper, which is nice for Corey’s job. But, it was zoned for some really fantastic schools (probably the ones we would have picked if we had our choice of any), and in a more new-to-us part of town, which could be exciting.

A Few Pros:

• It’s one-story, so we’d all be on the same floor!
• Has a detached 1-car garage
• My office would be a sunroom (my dream, hah!)
• Mature trees everywhere

A Few Cons:

• The furthest home from schools
• No neighborhood pool
• The primary bathroom is the smallest and least updated
• No powder room (guests would likely use the boys’ bathroom, as it is closest to everything)

House Number Three: The Dream Neighborhood

The Stats:

• 4 beds / 2.5 baths
• 3,318 square feet

Corey and I have always known there was a specific neighborhood in our town that would be the dream ‘hood for us. But, it’s not super common for homes to come up there in our price range (people love it and don’t leave!). Well, this one is right in one of the older parts of the neighborhood! It was the most updated home on our short list, but it still had tons of opportunity for me to get creative. There were lots of little quirks, and it had a layout we had seen a couple of times and knew we really liked.

There was a nice, large deck off the back of the house with a super spacious yard beyond. Oh, and did I mention it’s on a cul-de-sac?! The upstairs family room was really spacious and almost felt like two rooms, and the bedrooms upstairs had nice tall ceilings. The primary bath was spacious and in really great condition. Overall, this home checked a ton of boxes on our list, but was more updated than I would have liked.

A Few Pros:

• Location, location, location (and did I mention a cul-de-sac?)
• 3-car garage with an epoxy floor already done
• The kitchen was super spacious, and I already loved the countertop
• The backyard was huge with a deck and huge patio

A Few Cons:

• So many little wall nooks in the living room that we’d want to fill in
• We’d need to add a wall to create an office for me
• I’m not thrilled about the idea of another two-story living room (Corey is, though!)

So…What Do You Think?!

And there you have it – a little peek at the top three houses on our list! Which one do you think we chose?!

I’ll be making the big reveal here on the blog next month when we actually move, but if you’re impatient and want to know NOW (plus see another photo or two), you can sign up for my Substack to get all the details!