Well, we're supposed to be putting in a bid for a place out near Belmont and Oak Park today. We saw the place yesterday at an open house, and Gina went back with our realtor to check it out. He confirmed that it was worth putting a bid on, so we're supposed to do that today.
The place is a very good size...it's a first floor (ground floor), 2-bed, 2 FULL BATH that allows dogs and has a dining room area. It not only has a patio (like many condos), but the patio is about the size of (if not bigger than) my current back deck...it's enormous. There is an in-unit washer and dryer and no storage room, but the closets, my God the closets, are huge. The master bed closet is a walk-in that is so big it has a flourescent shop light on the ceiling to light it. The 2nd bed has a closet about the size of some of the storage rooms we saw in other condos. The kitchen appliances aren't new, but you can tell that they are newer, at least. The cabinets are good enough that we probably won't even have to change them, but who knows on that.
The negatives: It needs some work...and some before we move in. First off, the floors need replacing. Currently, everything but the kitchen and baths is carpeted in old, dirty-ish carpet. It must be replaced...we're actually going to look into getting hardwood installed. The kitchen tile is stick-on that is very, very worn also. The "public" bathtub needs to be refinished and the fixtures replaced. Another negative is that the price they're asking is quite high for what they're offering...so our realtor is going to work them. :) The place also needs a paint job, but that's easy enough.
The former tenant was a wheelchair-bound person, so the master bath is interesting, but it's "remodeling" can wait. Currently, it is set up with about 1/3 of the wall between the bath and bedroom acting as the "door"...i.e., open. You can see the sink from the window. We'll see what we might do with that, if we get the place and after we move in. There's definitely room to be creative with that.
It's in a complex that is on Belmont, but we're about a block north, at the "quiet" end, on a street that dead-ends into the parking lot. We get 1 parking spot, but parking seemed easily doable down the block a bit.
Basically, although this isn't Jefferson Park or Edison Park, I'm quite excited, and I'm hoping we get this place. It's got plenty of room to grow, particularly in value...and although it didn't show quite as well as many of the other places we'd seen (it was still pretty dirty overall), I'm glad we were able to see the potential. I'm crossing my fingers that it goes through.
