Thursday, February 10, 2011

New Home!

I am absurdly pleased to tell you that we finally have a house! It seemed the scouring of the available homes and attempts to schedule viewings would never end, but haha, they have! Finally our free time is our own again (relatively speaking). Jon signed the lease today and we're set to move in 1 Mar.

A few caveats before you see the photos: 1, they were taken with my camera phone. 2, they were taken in a hurry. 3, they were taken while the previous tenant (who talked at length with us and is really nice) was moving out their stuff and the landlord and tenants were hanging out in the kitchen, so no kitchen pictures.

Here is a view of the front--it's a duplex and we're 25/1 (instead of the other side of the duplex which is just 25). It's the far side of the house. Funny enough--we passed by this duplex early on in our search but were unimpressed with the outside, so we didn't schedule a viewing. Now, almost three weeks later, we're going to live here. And the other side of the duplex is owned by our landlords and has recently been rented (to an American military family) as well.






Enter in and the kitchen is immediately on your right, 1/2 bath on left, then space for coats. Walk forward, staircase on your left (you'll see Kate coming down it in the picture) and enter into the dining room, past this glass wall. (Which I love.) Downstairs are two more storage rooms (that could be bedrooms but the windows are small) laundry, and "furnace" room.



Looking to the right of the previous picture is the living room which opens out to the back yard. (not pictured, on the right) No, the monitor isn't ours, it's out-going.



Up that curvy flight of stairs that you saw Kate coming down is the bedroom level. Three bedrooms on this level and one full bath. What will be the girls' room is straight ahead as you look at this picture. Our room is to the left and the third bedroom (office) is farther to the left. Bath room on far right.



Up one more flight of stairs to the "attic." We found in German homes that they are not able to count space that is decreased in size by the sloping of the roof in the "liveable space" of the house, so when you see the house's stats on paper, this whole floor (besides the 1/2 bath) doesn't count at all. But this is a huge room (that I couldn't do justice w/ my camera phone) that wraps all the way around the house. It will be the guest room and probably a play room for the girls b/c...


...I also love this view from the top window. Most German homes (that we saw) have a lot of windows, of differing shapes and sizes. Because the homes are so closely placed together, the windows also often look on other homes, your neighbors' lawn, carports, the street, etc. Actually having some sort of view (this looks out to the fields that separate our town from the next) is a total bonus. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice. But you get the idea.



As I said before, we also have the added bonus of being in touch with the previous tenants (who had to move b/c of DODDs schooling issues, not b/c of the house or anything) so they are helpful in hooking us up with who their internet service was, phone, how to handle the heating oil issue (which is new to us and is a very big deal b/c it's tax exempt but we have to follow strict rules when filling our tank with oil). The normal tax on heating oil (and all utilities) is 20%, so we're VERY happy that it qualifies for tax-exempt status (for us, as part of the US service living in Germany). Our landlord's daughter lives three doors down and she told us there are a lot of kids on the street, so we're excited to get over there and meet them. Thank the Lord that this part of our move is over--we'll just kick back in the hotel for the next few weeks and finish inprocessing. Hurray!! Thanks to all of you for your prayers for us as we made this important decision.

And here are Jon and Kate, happy that we no longer have to delve into the depths of someone else's drippy basement or pile into the car after naps to go see another house. Actually, the girls were great sports and Kate seemed to look forward to seeing more homes. She hasn't asked to see any more, though, and we don't mind at all.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guten morgen! How wonderful to see these house photos and know that this part of settling in is now complete. So glad you have found a spacious and comfortable home. God is our faithful Provider. Can't wait to stay in that "attic"! Love the pics of Ellie eating and Kate "posing"...is that the bowling alley floor? Thank you for this update. Auf Wiedersehen, G+P

Rachel Balint said...

You must be so thrilled! It looks like a beautiful place! I will have to tell Rick that you two found a place. He'll be glad to hear it. Living overseas must be such an adventure! I can't wait to hear more!

Rachel Balint

Erin said...

Looks like a good and proper German house! They make such good use of space and are so tidy! I'm sure you will make a wonderful home there. We are so thankful you are getting settled. It does take time, doesn't it!?! Hope your household goods get there in time for the move-in! Keep on blogging - we are living vicariously through you now!

Nana said...

How wonderful to see your place. It seems like it will be a great house for you and we're thrilled there's plenty of room for family to drop by. I love the picture of the two girls in the dresses. Does Ellie really like to dress up too? That is so cute. Soon they'll be arguing over who gets to be whom today. That bowling alley carpet is amazing. I see why Kate likes it. PTL for answered prayers for a house. God has provided abundantly! Thanks for the update. We are so happy for you and happy the girls are enjoying house hunting and the adventure of it all! Love,

Shari Baker said...

YAY! That is so exciting that you found a home! It looks like there is a lot of space, and also looks like a fun home for your family. (I put fun house intially, but this didn't sound right). :)

b.niel said...

hooray! We're so excited for you guys and can't wait to see it in person!

Anonymous said...

Love the pictures of the house. Looks like you'll have lots of room. So happy to hear that there is lots of "little people" in the area! Can't wait to hear all about your continued adventures. Enjoy every minute. Very cute picture of Daddy and Kate!
Love you all,
Al and JoAnn