Day 2: house hunting, house #2 - beach house

House #2 was suggested by our relocation agent.  It was a bit above our price range, but it looked to be really nice and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of options to choose from (before we knew that 2 were already rented!).  

It was a bit further out then House #1, but still near a train station - about a 5-10min bike ride to the nearest station.  It was a bit more difficult to locate, but when we caught the first glimpse of the ocean through the houses in the neighborhood we quickly forgave that!

House #2 was at the end of a street and had 2 parking spots along with a carport.

It had a good sized front yard and the backyard...well I will get to that...

Right upon entering the house we could tell it had a lot of charm.  It had a nice sized kitchen with lots of seating and space.

Beyond the kitchen was a dining/sitting area.

Beyond that was a small back room that was being used as an office but could also have been converted into a playroom or guest bedroom

As you might notice from a lot of these pictures, it seems like people here don't feel the need to tidy up or prepare for showings.  The owner of this house was still using the bathroom when we came in.  But they were a charming couple and we got along very well with them so it was forgiven :)

Back towards the kitchen I forgot to mention this splendid door.  

And back behind the kitchen was the laundry room and a larger bedroom and full bathroom (bathroom not pictured).

Beyond the sitting area was another bedroom, a mudroom, another full bathroom and a walkin closet/office space.

M

Up the windy staircase we went and found this view:

The upstairs had a large living area and a master bedroom off that.  The patio outside had a stunning view of the ocean and the owner showed us where we could see Sweden!

Outside the house had a good sized yard and beyond the gate was a running trail which we could easily jog to a bird sanctuary even to the beach!

We left the house feeling warm and fuzzy but a bit deflated.  The house was beautiful but just out of our price range.  We would have to go back to the hotel and do some number crunching...

...to be continued...

  

Day 2: House Hunting, house 1

Day 2 started with a leisurely wake up and a relaxed breakfast on the top floor of our hotel.  We then met up with our relocation agent who was basically our house tour guide for the day.

We had originally planned to view 6 homes.  Of those, 2 were off the market by the time we arrived and 1 the agent never returned the calls from our relocation agent, so our agenda only included 3 appointments.  While that was a bit disappointing at first, we were still able to look at some quality Danish houses.  All were quite nice, all with different pros and cons.

But this post focuses on House #1.

From the outside, House #1 appeared quite rundown and in need of repairs.  The agent who arrived to show the house  assured us that many repairs were on the works and that would be completed before we took over the house.

Then a train went by...then another...and another...and another.  Well, you get the idea.  Turns out House #1 was right by the main train line.  And when I say right by, I mean RIGHT BY.  There was a wall blocking the yard and house from the tracks.  I could have touched the train with a ten foot pole if I wanted to!  Now the train wasn't loud, but it was definitely there...and it goes by frequently.  It was a definite con before even seeing the house.

The outside yard was large, definitely a good party patio and yard, spacious enough for the boys to play and have fun.  There was both a front and back yard, both size able.

View from driveway/carport

The fence blocking the train.  Those wires are for the train!

Nice large patio area

Front yard of house

Inside the house was very nice.  Modern kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  The living spaces were HUGE and with lots of windows it received fabulous natural light.  The house had lots of closet/storage space inside and the carport/garage offered additional room.

Laundry room/mud room off the kitchen and main entrance

Spacious and modern kitchen

Lots of cupboards and stainless steel appliances.

View from the kitchen.  A nice breakfast bar, table book and to the left a sitting/tv area.

This space was incredible!  Look at how big this table was and there's still lots of room.  And the angled windows added a lot of character as well.

The one bathroom offered dual sinks and a stand up shower.

Mudroom area off the second entrance

One of the kids rooms - sporting some fancy One Direction posters

Second kids room sporting some Skylanders bedding :)

I guess I didn't get a shot of the master bedroom.  It was decent sized with an entire wall of closet space.

The inside of the house was definitely nicer than we were expecting after viewing the outside.  And indoors the train was a bit more muffled.  But we still weren't sold on having a continuous interruption by the trains day and night....so off to House #2.

...to be continued.

Denmark day 1

Hello Copenhagen!

An exciting trip to Denmark to take care of some relocation business...the most exciting being house hunting!

Tomorrow we will get to look at a number of properties that both we and our relocation agent found.  We are narrowing our search the to west/southwest side of Copenhagen so as to stay closer to where Max is working.  

So far our trip has been easy and unremarkable!  The flight was uneventful and we even managed to get some sleep.  Our hotel is comfy and nice and located right in the heart of the city...and short walk from everything!

After unpacking and freshening up, max and I headed out for a walk around the city.  That of course included grabbing a street hotdog followed by some Nyhavn ice cream.  We walked along the walking street, which is always full of interesting sites and sounds...including this bubble artist!

Enough adventuring for one day...we are both exhausted and ready to sleep!  Tomorrow will be full of excitement as we will be reviewing (and hopefully selecting) our next house! 

Moving to Denmark -- what to do with your house?

One of the first questions I usually get from people when I tell them that we are moving to Denmark is 'What are you going to do with your house?"  I guess that's a valid question -- people are curious and wondering what they would do in the situation...

When we moved into this house in 2011, we moved in with the intentions that this was going to be our 'forever home', or at least our 'forever home for the next 10-15 years or so'.  We had no intentions of moving again quickly.  We had been in our last house 10 years when we sold it, and we wanted to be in this house until the boys had fledged from their nest.  So, 'What are you going to do with your house?' was actually a very valid and very emotional question for us.  We didn't KNOW what to do with our house!

We threw around the idea of renting it... thinking maybe we could even make some extra money off this scenario.  But, everyone we talked to about this advised us 'DO NOT RENT YOUR HOUSE YOU WILL REGRET IT.'  Even so, with warnings from  multiple people, we explored the possibility.  We were pretty particular about who we would rent it to -- we were hoping to rent it to an employee who was coming over to the US from Denmark for a 3-year period.  But, when that didn't pan out we quickly moved on to Plan B.  SELL BABY, SELL!

We found out we were going to be offered a contract in the beginning of May.  In the last month we have managed to finish our outdoor landscaping, remodel the master bathroom, touch up paint and fix some walls that needed refinishing, clean and purge the house of a lot of stuff -- and have our very FIRST SHOWING (without even being technically on the market even)!

Take a look at our progress/photos below.  And, if you know anyone looking to buy a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2.75 car garage in Brookfield, Wisconsin -- feel free to comment below or email at Almesburyhouse at gmail dot com!  :)

An International McMove - Denmark here we come!

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.  And, seeing as I haven't updated the blog in forever anyways, I figured I would jump back into it by journaling all the details of our latest McAdventure...a move to DENMARK!!

We've been presented with an awesome opportunity from Max's company (which is based in Copenhagen) for a two year transfer to Denmark.  It's no secret that I LOVE to travel, and the boys are at the PERFECT age for this opportunity, so it was really a no-brainer when the possibility arose.

So, for the last few weeks we've been reviewing contracts, researching schooling options, checking out rental real estate and readying our house to go on the market.  It will be sad to leave our friends and family, but two years will go by so quickly and I am so excited about the prospects of showing my kids so many wonderful things that Europe has to offer.  And perhaps when we come home they will even be partially bilingual!

There are so many wonderful things about this move.  So many details that I'm going to chronical as we learn more about them and get to experience them. So keep posted for the full story and follow along!