New Home,... New Adventure...

It has been a little more than a year now since we made the move to Albany and into the new house. All be it new to us, it was built in 1979 and has had it's share of remodeling, additions, and adjustments to suit an ever changing family that lived beneath its roof.

Over-sized 2 Car Garage (Pre-sale)

Front Yard (Pre-sale)

•  Over-sized 2 car garage.
• Heavy, insulated garage doors with the left side having an electric opener.
• Vinyl siding, newer roof, and newer paint.
• A bit of wear with fixtures, planters, and such, but nothing we couldn't handle.

• Well cared for front yard with a vast array of flowers, shrubs, and trees. (And even more that we had yet to see until this spring.)
• All "low-e" vinyl windows. (Screens seemed to be missing for most of the house.)
• In-ground/above-ground sprinklers. (Although we would quickly find out that very little of it actually works. Projects, yay. *sarcasm*)

Front Walk-way (Pre-sale)

• A well established white clematis shaded the front walk-way and the garage, helping with the afternoon sun. (A good portion of the underside was bare of leaves and dead.)
• Fairly large and well trimmed Japanese maple on the lower corner of the driveway and a younger silk tree (not pictured) give a touch of privacy to the front yard and house.
• There are two side doors to the garage. One from the front walk-way and the other located behind the side gate on the opposite side of the garage. With no entry to the garage from the house.

RV Space (Pre-sale)

• Not quite large enough for any RV too extensive, however, having the extra space makes it nice for another parking spot. Likewise, gives ample space for cans (garbage, recycle, and yard debris).

Left-rear Garage (Pre-sale)

• Great central air.
• Quite cluttered when we originally walked through making it a little difficult to see the actual size of the garage.
• Typical shop lights (working and non-working).
• Older doors.
• Attic entrance through a folding ladder.

Right-rear Garage (Pre-sale)

• Right-side door needs to be shimmed properly. Rubs on cement floor making it a bit trying to get the door open and closed.
• Vinyl window helps with airflow and light.
• Sprinkler controls.

Front-left Garage (Pre-sale)

• Again,... cluttered and full.

Entry (Pre-sale)

• Interesting paint to say the least. More so, interesting paint job (as if no tape was used),

Entry, seen from Kitchen (Pre-sale)

• Yes, that is red and bright yellow.
• New wood floors on continuous entry, kitchen, dining, and hallway.
• Coat closet to the left.

Living Room (Pre-sale)

• Add another color to the list: blue.
• Sunken living room.
• Alcove front window. Gives great layout for a couch. A side window on either side, non-opening, but still allows great light.

Fireplace (Pre-sale)

• Outdated insert. Needs to be removed, but free-standing unit.
• Brick is in great condition, just needs a bit of new color/stain.
• Nice mantle that just needs a little TLC.
• Chimney needs a new cap, but they left a sweeper.

Living Room (Pre-sale)

• Why yes, that IS a third shade of blue!

Hallway (Pre-sale)

• Bright yellow.
• Central air control panel.
• Luckily, it was a bright day. The hallway is DARK.

Hallway Light (Pre-sale)

• Worst Light EVER!!!
• Upon further investigation, this light is actually only one bulb, propped up in a false ceiling. It used to be the entry into the attic and the original light fixture was under the smoke detector.

Main Bath (Pre-sale)

• Large vanity with plenty of storage (drawers and cabinets).
• Teal, purple, and funky wallpaper border.
• Laundry with 2 shelves for added storage.
• Full tub with shower.
• Really tacky mirror and a "alcove" for the toilet.

Spare Room 1 (Pre-sale)

• Not exactly a large room.
• New carpet.
• Closet has a bit of built-ins that need to be removed.
• Some sort of "humming" tied into the doorbell. We still haven't figured it out.

Spare Room 2 (Pre-sale)

• Again, not exactly large.
• New carpet.
• Great room for an office.

Master Bedroom (Pre-sale)

• Tacky wallpaper and wallpaper border.
• Pink carpet. (However, it is the really nice, well padded carpet.)
• Double closets on the opposite wall pictured. (Mirror slider doors.)
• On-suite bathroom.

Master Bath (Pre-sale)

• Stall shower.
• Wallpaper. They were in the process of trying to remove it. Eventually, they just left it and painted over it. You can still see where the paper is peeled.

Kitchen (Pre-sale)

• More red walls. (Streaky paint job.)
• Newer counter tops.
• Really, really, really old cupboards.
• New stove and dishwasher.
• Fluorescent lights.
• Microwave fan didn't work, so they replaced it for us.

Kitchen (Pre-sale)

• Newer sink and faucet.
• Nice counter for work space.
• That extra cabinet was apparently forgotten when they moved out; we ended up with a roaster pan and some really nice Tupperware pieces.
• Limited in the storage in the kitchen with not a ton of cupboards and no pantry. I suppose part of it is that I am a cook and have a good deal of stuff.

Dining Room (Pre-sale)

• Once the larger furniture was gone, it was a decent size.
• Large sliding door to the patio and backyard.

Patio (Pre-sale)

• Completely covered.
• A bit of the foliage was overgrown.
• Cover needs to be replaced.

Back of House (Pre-sale)

• By the time we moved in, the rhododendrons had taken over and were pushed tightly up against the house.
• The white clematis was slowly taking over and cutting out light/closing the patio off.

Side Yard Garage Side (Pre-sale)

• A great little shed that was left with the house.
• We felt that this area would be great eventually for brewing. All it needs is some sort of cover for when it is raining.

Backyard (Pre-sale)

• Decent sized yard for a starter home.
• Cute little pond which we would later find fish.
• Trees and plants needed a little help.
• Grass was lumpy and uneven.
• Most sprinklers in back didn't work.

Backyard/Deck (Pre-sale)

• Fully-fenced backyard.
• The deck was added on, however, it has begun to rot away and really needs to be torn up and replaced.

Deck/Patio (Pre-sale)

• As with some stuff inside the house, there were quite a few things left in the backyard. Including: the swing, rotted out planters, the old ladder, and a substantial amount of rotted out lattice.
• Likewise, a good deal of random brinks, paving stones, and concrete chunks were everywhere.

Backyard (Pre-sale)

• Another point: birdhouses,.... EVERYWHERE!

Side Yard House Side (Pre-sale)

• Kinda wasted space.

We picked up the keys on July 1st, 2011 and went to work...

We had quite a bit to do!