In$$$$pection

Today was inspection day. I took a lot of pictures. (Some of these are from the website though.)
The exterior is stucco and is a pretty classic California Bungalow profile.

The neighbor's driveway. You can also see where they capped off the brick chimney and replaced it--less aesthetic; way more earthquake-proof.

Our driveway and Mr. EBB with a gigantic bougainvillea.

The living room. I love the built-in bookcases and the hardwood floors. The sellers replaced all the windows and wood frames with much more efficient vinyl. I'm glad, but I would have left the wood in the front ones. Oh well.

The dining room. (I hate chair covers. Gah. So glad I rented chairs for the wedding.) Love the light fixture and the built-in china cabinet.

The kitchen and eat-in nook. The sellers did the granite upgrades and refinished cabinetry about two years ago. I'm psyched to put in a stainless steel backsplash and some really nice cabinet hardware! (The fridge and a pantry cabinet are against an opposite wall.)
As you walk back from the kitchen you come to this "landing" area that leads down to the family room or up to the two added bedrooms. This is where we'd eventually put a piano.

The family room is part of an addition. The sellers finished it about five years ago. I love how they put in some of the Craftsman details in the woodworking on the bannister going down the stairs and in the molding (no pictures, sorry). This room is huge--I have no idea what we're going to do with all the space. It's perfect for a flat panel and our sofas, and I guess we could put a ping pong table or pool or something in the other half of the room. There's lots of closet space under the stairs too.

And here's the master bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom has so. much. closet space. I love it. Not such a fan of the carpeting or wall color, but cosmetics are cosmetics. I also like the updated master bath. I'd like a different vanity though....I hate vanities where you can't put down a hairbrush or makeup. I totally forgot to take a picture of the main bathroom, but you're not really missing much. It's functional but needs serious updating.


And finally the backyard. The decking is made from recycled material--it'll last for ages without rot worries. I'd eventually like to jackhammer up that concrete and put down sod. The neighbor's overhanging tree is a concern--apparently the sellers just chopped off branches ten years ago and haven't touched it since. I think I'd ask the neighbors first!
I'm excited to see that sun--vegetable garden going in, stage left.

The furniture is all the stager's--our agent said that it's fun for her to see the same furniture show up at different houses.

I cannot stress how important an inspection is, especially if you're buying an older home--but even if you're buying a newer home! Mr. EBB and I are highly risk-averse people, and while I love surprises for Christmas and my birthday, I do not want the surprise after purchasing of finding out that the roof is in bad shape or the steps are about to fall down.
Our inspector spent almost four hours with us. We walked all around the property and poked into every nook and cranny. I was very pleased to find that I could stand up in the crawl space--I was the only one. :) We ran the dishwasher (no water leaking--that's good!), we turned on the furnace (loud!--not good), and tested the water pressure (uh...weak. very weak).
Even the "not good" things that we learned are good to know, because now we can use them as ammunition to negotiate with the sellers for credits at closing, or even a lower purchase price. While the sellers have done a lot of good maintenance on the inside of the house, we learned they haven't done such a good job with some of the major systems. The house needs a new furnace, a new water heater, new piping, and new wiring. That ain't cheap, and Mr. EBB isn't going to shell out for the maintenance the sellers deferred. Not when the headline of the Chronicle yesterday was "Bay Area home prices hit record low."