Thank you all! I will post pictures soon, particularly of my kitchen. It's nice now but it screams for upgrades! The tile counter screams "I want granite!" The cook top screams "I want Viking or Wolf!!!"
The back yard slopes and I have plans to terrace it. Perhaps 3-4, maybe 5 levels (1-2 feet between levels, depending on survey. Part of the back yard will be dedicated to growing vegetables and herbs. I already have a Rosemary! This is IMO the very most important herb you can grow easily. I also have plans for a Koi pond, location yet to be determined. I wish I could put them right outside my bedroom but Koi don't swim on the second floor! Oh and you can be assured there will be other tropical fish on the property, probably on the guest (ground) floor where people can enjoy them, perhaps the living room.
It has a small patio but I want bigger and I intend to live here for the next 20-25 years so I'm all out to have a very nice patio, and plenty of barbecues! I picture my idol Steve Raichlen and his PBS TV series and books: "BBQ USA," "Barbecue University," and "Planet Barbecue." I intend to have at bare minimum a gas grill, a charcoal grill, a sidebox smoker and a vertical smoker. I'm impressed at all the various things Raichlen shows how to make on your barbecue including grilled, roadsted, barbecued and smoked meats and fish, vegetables and breads (including pita, focaccio and naam).
Furthermore I'm in a "planned urban community" (PUD) so nobody is going to paint their house black or work on their cars (and park them) on their front lawn.
I may be the most scrofulous resident of my new neighborhood. Most of the houses are almost $1M or nearly so, and I'm in a "baby or starter" home. (Considerably less cost, I'm not a millionaire.) I promise to not work on my cars on the front lawn. (Actually I prefer Jiffy Lube.) I have every major restaurant chain within 5 minutes drive from my house, and also two major supermarkets and representatives of most of the shopping outlets (Walmart, et al.). Cost+ WM and BBB no problem! And a short distance away I have all the major shopping: Macy's, Penney, etc. Trader Joe's a few miles, Costco a few miles farther.
And finally, this is the best house I ever saw after looking 1-1/2 years and perhaps 500 properties: there will be no remorse that if I would'a could'a had some other house. I never saw once the equal of this property, and only 1-3 times did I see nearly equal properties (within a few blocks of my new home) and I even lost a bidding war on one of them, but glad I lost because for a small amount of $K I got a much better home!
Wow! I can't think of much more to say except that within two weeks I'll be living there! I have major shopping tomorrow and Monday since it's Labor Day weekend (and the appliance and bedding sales) and never mind that the flags fly on next Friday. I'm making my deals tomorrow and Monday for deferred delivery until closing day in a week or so. I'm negotiating the fridge, there is a built in oven (electric, I think its GE) and cook top (gas). Need clothes washer and dryer too.
I'm taking suggestions to replace the cook top with ... Viking? Wolf? What? Cost is no object, I'll pay anything to have the best cook top! Subject to space, dimensions to follow...
Am I okay with an electric oven? I know the cleaning will be less but there are humidity issues for electric ovens (since gas ovens humidify the oven, so perhaps a dish of water will help--I love to cook breads!).
And lastly, my dog has large areas to mark. In fact he's just now begging me to help (leash) him to repeat his marking of my current locale. The new yard has a dog proof (and bunny proof) yard. I'm looking forward to the day I can just open the sliding patio door and let my dog self walk himself!
