So the big news is that we placed an offer on a big ol’ house in Santa Maria on Sunday, and the seller accepted yesterday. It’s a short sale. Both of our realtors are dedicated to making it happen, but we are all at the mercy of the bank. I really like our realtor, she is a lawyer as well, and as nice as she is, that girl don’t mess around. So, hopefully she can blaze a trail through that bank and light some fires…

Here are some much anticipated highlight photos:

A little courtyard off of the living room in the front yard

The entryway, from the living room. The hallway straight ahead leads to the bedrooms/bathrooms and garage.

The living room from the entryway. The slider on the right leads out to that courtyard pictured above.

Fireplace. I want to add a mantel.

More of the living room, to the left of the couches, where they have their dining area. Should we put our dining table here? We would have to put wood floors down everywhere...

Ceilings- and beams!!

The kitchen. Definitely a lot of cosmetic changes in here, but I really love the countertops.

Another living area. Formal dining? Family room? Office? This was taken from the kitchen, the slider on the right goes to the backyard, and to my left is the living room. Straight ahead you can see the hallway to the bedrooms on the right and if you turn left instead, the front door is right there.

Backyard to the right

From the opposite angle. That window is in the kitchen. Cute kid, right?

Patio. The big plants will go, I think. Sell em?

Mooooore backyard. I heart green.

from the patio

Master Bedroom. Plenty of room to the left for some seating, or whatever. Our bed is bigger so it will take up more room- but still, plenty!

And the Master. Bath. Whaaaat? Awesome, right? On the right is the doorway to the walk-in closet that goes the entire stretch of that wall down to the shower.

The vanity and toilet to the left. Check out the solar tube light in there! So nice and bright.

Show-ow-chicka-bow-ower. The glass block dates it a bit, but I love all the light it lets in, so I'll take it! There's so much room I could do yoga in there. If I did yoga.

Aaaand the guest room. Believe it or not, there is more. I mean, another bedroom to the left of this room, sliders in both that connect on a little courtyard off the side of the house, a laundry room, etc. Woo!

 
Our main plan for this property is to live in it as long as we need to, and then if forced to move, or if we have enough money for a down payment on another home, we will rent it. Our best intentions are to keep this home until retirement (unless we decide to retire in it). This is the kind of home we went shopping for, and the price range that we were looking at. An investment property. Ideally, we would want to live further north. But honestly, Scott would love to work further north, and he doesn’t. It is still pretty ideal to live on the Central Coast and we will take it, especially over leaving the state entirely. I am sure other states have their advantages, but we are die hard Californians. Mostly a product of living here for thirty years and hardly even visiting much of the greater US. A preference born of ignorance, no doubt, but still. There you have it.

However, we found this house, that is in a great rental price range, but is also just a great house. It has these luxurious amenities that we thought we may never have. A huge soaking tub. A walk in shower, an enormous closet. A three car garage. So, if we end up there, or just keep coming back, great. So far, my first impression is love, love, love. We will just have to hear what the inspector says.

And perhaps wait a bazillion years to actually get it. We shall see. Meanwhile, you should see the drawings flooding my sketchbook right now. Apparently I am trying to moonlight as an interior decorator. You shall see my results here, someday!

Tell me what you think! And… obviously, considering big cosmetic changes. Paint flooring, hardware details. Consider those on my list. Should we do wood or carpet? How should we divide the living areas? Don’t you love that master suite? I will probably live there for the first few months. So excited to finally show you guys these photos!