New House!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Some exciting news today... We bought a house!

Our new home is a 1950's ranch located in West Ashley, Inside 526.

A few things about this:  

(Bear with me, I love to talk real estate)

First of all, ranch homes are my happy place.

I love the solid, sturdy construction.  I love the layouts and character.  I love the fact that they represent well established neighborhoods.  Tract homes are just not for me and we aren't quite ready to build our custom dream home.  ;)

Second, location location location. 

Have you heard that Charleston is the best place to live in the whole world??

I think the latest is that 6 new people move here every day.

What's my point?  

I have many.

The prices of real estate in Charleston are at an all time high, with no signs of slowing down.  This is especially apparent in high demand areas.  Those are...Mount Pleasant (& Daniel Island), James Island, West Ashley (inside 526, close to town) and even Park Circle and Johns Island.  

These areas have such high demand that the prices are soaring.  You get hotdogs for the price of caviar.  

Going further out was not really an option for us considering our lifestyle.  Taking into account our commutes, proximity to family, and the outdoor activities we enjoy, we didn't want to sacrifice distance.  With a baby on the way, it just wasn't an option to uproot our entire routine.

Also, traffic.

So it was a waiting game.

Criteria: 

Over 1600 sq feet.  

No major repairs (cosmetic, minor projects okay).  

Great Backyard.

It took a few months, but we found it! 

Let's talk a little bit about our current labor of love, shall we?

10 gallons of paint, that's what's going down over here.

We are covering everything in a neutral gray to start. 

I'm not sure if I want to paint our front door.  I kind of like the naked wood look.  We'll see.

Also, door knocker?  

 French doors!  This house has 2 sets opening up to the large patio.  One set is in the baby's room (more on that soon!) and these are in the eat-in kitchen area, which we plan to make into a little den/family room.  This room is actually part of what sold me on the house because I envision us with the doors wide open, music streaming from the kitchen to the grill.  Also, you can kind of see the backyard here, we've got 4 huge palm trees that we think used to border a pool.  The lot is 1/2 acre, another selling point for us...and Alfie.

Phone nook.  So old school!  This is the kind of character I love.

My parents house has one of these so it's almost like my comfort zone to have one in ours.  I mean...it feels like home!

Brick floors.  This picture is terrible.  In fact, the lighting in all of these is pretty bad, my apologies.  But this room with the brick floor will be Kev's office.  It's actually an addition that used to be a brick patio side entrance.  But now it's enclosed and the perfect size for an office.  Not to mention it just feels masculine. 

These are just a few sneak peeks I'll share for now.
As I mention, we have a few projects happening to include:
New kitchen countertops
New bathroom light fixtures
Paint EVERYTHING
Laundry Room Redo
I am planning to do full before and after posts of every room as we make our way through the house.

I will be updating the "House Tour" tab at the top of my page frequently.  

Also note the new "Best of" and "Baby" tabs up there as well.

Speaking of baby...an update coming next week.

Boy or Girl??  We find out MONDAY!

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Have a great weekend!
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Oh!  One last thing.  We are keeping our condo on James Island as a rental.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a 1 year lease on a 2 br/1 ba condo, clean and convenient, please email me at LTLeamond@gmail.com