Day 2 house hunting: house #3: the city house

I feel like I should be honest and let you all know that going into this house hunting trip, both Max and I had a strong bias towards house number three.

House number three is VERY attractive because of its location. It is pretty much the closest we could get in living arrangements to where Max will be working. It is 5K from his job and only a short bike ride, walk, or one train stop away.  And, because I am approaching our family's relocation to Denmark as the catalyst for a large lifestyle change for our family, this fact was very attractive to me! Max and I agreed that we would love to try to see how long we can survive without a car. With public transportation so readily available and so easy to use, there's no reason that we should even need a family vehicle except for taking European vacations....

But back to the house...from all the pictures we had seen online of the house, it looked open, very airy,  light, and clean. On paper and on pictures, it looked to be the perfect house! It even boasted a 10 minute walk to a primary school with language assistance.

But, as anyone who has ever looked for a house knows, pictures don't always meet reality when you go to visit a property in person.

The house was very open and airy, and it was mostly clean as well. But it seemed a lot smaller in person than it had appeared in pictures. Part of that could've been because there was nothing in the house when we went to look at it though.  The backyard was definitely a lot smaller than it had been represented in pictures.  The neighborhood, while not unsafe, was definitely a little more rough around the edges than the last two houses we had looked at. 

The house was definitely a 'city house' and you would be hearing a lot of city noise as a result.  While not necessarily a bad thing, this would be a transition for all of us...There are definite pros and cons to a city house...You are close to everything, and a car most definitely not be necessary.  But life would definitely not be quiet nor private!

But, on the flip side, I suppose if you are making a lifestyle change that involves moving your entire family across the ocean, you shouldn't really expect too much of your life to stay the same! And if you're going to go all out, you might as well go all out :-)

From the outside, the house appeared very similar to the listing we had seen online. It was a very decent sized house with a modest sized yard. The yard looked like it needed a little TLC, however.  The agent showing us the house assured us that it would be taken care of prior to move in.

On the first floor was a decent sized modern looking kitchen. It definitely had less storage then house number one and house number two, but it could be doable.

While that looks like a lot of cabinet space flanking the built in oven, to the left of the oven the entire wall is a hidden refrigerator.

The large dining and sitting area beyond the kitchen was an open space that received good natural lighting from the door leading to the backyard. The floors were a really cool whitewashed rustic looking pine.  They definitely were well worn but it added to the charm a bit...

Beyond the dining/sitting room was a room with two entrances, both which could be closed off.  It had a built in desk in the corner. It could have easily been converted into either a bedroom or a guestroom or even a playroom!

There was a small half bathroom downstairs, and upstairs was a full bathroom with a shower. There were also three bedrooms upstairs. The master area had a living area similar to house number two adjoining it.

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2

Master bedroom 

Room adjoining master bedroom.  They had a large unit in the middle of the room making it difficult to photograph.

This house also had a full basement, in which the laundry was located. The basement was very short and kind of gave me the creeps, so I didn't take any pictures down there. :)

Overall, house number three, despite being a little different than we expected, turned out to be a decent choice!  It is right at our price range, and our agent felt that we could negotiate it even lower. The neighbors appeared to have small children as evidenced by the toys we could see in their backyards from the second floor. It has a big open floor plan, and lots of space for us and the children. It would even have plenty of space for all the guests we expect to come visit :-)

The cons include that there were no closets in the upstairs bedroom and only one shower in the house.

But of course, the pros as mentioned in the beginning are that this one is closest in location to where Max will be working, it is right near the train line and right near a very good school!

Overall, I feel like our house hunting on day two went well. I'm not exactly happy that we only had three choices to review, especially when our list of potential homes was around 12 to begin with. We are dealing with the relocation agent to see if there are any other houses that we can look at before we leave Denmark to head back home. If not, we will enter negotiations with the agents of the houses or house that we select. Here in Denmark, apparently rental rates are negotiable. So it is possible we can negotiate rates even lower to our benefit.

Stay tuned for more!!