Austin House Update!

This is not a baby-related post!  Are you relieved?  I am, a little.  It's good to have variety.

We put an offer on the Buffalo House {affectionately named for the stuffed buffalo in the entry - see below} before we left Austin, and after a bit of back-and-forth, the sellers accepted our offer!

The sellers' style is very "Ranch-y," but take away the decor and slap on some fresh paint {not sure I'm crazy about those black shutters, for example} and we think house is pretty great.

The house and garage are both made of limestone, and the porches are very South/Texas to me.  We toured other homes that were built in that generic McMansion-style and looked very forced and out of place.  I'm in favor of homes that "feel" like they are supposed to be right where they are.

not sure what's up with the cigar-smoking Indian... but he's not staying

As quaint as the front of the house is, the back of the house is the BEST.  More porches in the back, along with a terrific outdoor patio with a built-in grill and free-standing limestone fireplace.  The backyard is split between the grassy upper yard and the lower pool area.  And despite the amount of light the house gets, there are plenty of trees so the neighbors can't keep an eye on your backstroke.

I love this house because it's the perfect size for our small family, in a great neighborhood {Rollingwood}, has a terrific back yard and pool area, has a garage apartment for extra space, and was recently updated but still has a little room to play, improvement-wise.  There's a lot going on inside, which you'll see in future posts.

We're now in the "option period" - the window in which we can walk away for any reason with minimal cost - and I've arranged for three {yes, three} inspectors to look at the house this week.  A general inspector to look everything over, a pool inspector, and a mold inspector with fancy moisture-sensing tools to see if there are any problems lurking behind the walls.  Better safe than sorry!  And better to deduct any needed repair costs from the closing price rather than paying full price for the house and later discovering an expensive problem.

I'll be flying back to Austin this weekend to review the inspectors reports and do a walk-through of the house.  Even if the reports come back clean, I still want to know where things like water heaters, etc. are located and how to turn them on and off.  I'm the handyman in this marriage!  And by "handyman," I mean I'm the one who notices problems and calls in the professionals.  We all have our strengths.

I will say that it's been very interesting adjusting to Texas housing code standards after living in California.  For every Texas code, there are three California codes.  I read the seller's disclosure report {where they make basic disclosures about the property as required by law}, and was shocked to read that they only have THREE smoke detectors in the entire house.  A two-story, three bedroom, 3500 square foot house with two fireplaces. Only three smoke detectors.  Texas law says: NO PROBLEM!

Back in California, in our 1700 square foot Los Angeles condo we have five smoke detectors.  So basically I'm going to move into the Buffalo House and spend weeks bringing it up to California housing code standards because I'm just that nutty.  That will be me at Home Depot with a cart full of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors.  Thank goodness we won't have to worry about earthquakes anymore.

Here's hoping the inspectors don't find anything too crazy!