The Observation Deck

bryan,

a friend of mine is just starting his search for a home to buy in lakewood also. we were having a similar discussion to what has been occuring on this topic. one of his biggest factors involves what amenities are within a five to ten minute walk.

what a great time to be looking for a house in lakewood.

there have been many great suggestions mentioned by people. i agree whole-heartedly that you should try to find a house where the roof, furnace/boiler, driveway, garage, windows have been recently upgraded - or if you are looking to stay away from modern updates, windows, garage, slate roof, etc have been very well maintained.

if you like to be in your yard, relatively small differences in lot size can give you a large increase in green space. consider a typical city lot of 40' x 120' vs. a lot of 50' x 150' ...assuming similar footprints for house, garage, and driveway, you have a lot more left with the marginally larger lot.

a funny little thing that probably won't be a decision-maker, but is interesting to take note of is: where is the neighbor's driveway on each side of your house? usually one of the properties has a driveway adjacent to your property. sometimes neither property has a driveway adjacent to yours. it can be kind of nice to have a little bit more of a buffer.

good luck and glad to hear your returning!

chris trapp

I'm curious if anyone has a number in mind to keep reserved for maintenance and repairs. Sure it'll vary depending on the condition of the house but for a rule of thumb...

Shawn,
You pretty-much stated the rule of thumb: it varies a lot with the condition.
Even with some of Lakewood's older housing stock, there are some houses that are already "there".
There are also quite a few fixer-uppers. There is actually an FHA/VA loan program that allows buyers to roll the cost of rehab (house, not buyer) into the loan amount.

There are a number of loan programs available though the city and the county.

Check out the city's webvsite under the DCD (Department of Community Development).

Or go to city hall and talk with the DCD folks. Their office is behind (north of) the auditorium.

Well I'm excited to say that I just signed a purchase agreement on a house in Lakewood!

Closing is 2/28 but we're "renting" it back to the seller until a possession date of 4/20. Worked out well for him and also for us because of the amount of time we need to give to break our lease with a home purchase clause.

It's an awesome house with almost everything replaced in the last 5 years so not a lot of work left for us to do.

I think the roof might need to be replaced soon and I want to finish installing new windows (about 7 or so left) so I might look in the the H.E.L.P loan program for that (thanks for the tip on the DCD website dl).

So even though I won't move back until 4/20, I'll officially be a Lakewood homeowner by the end of February.

Congratulations on becoming a homeowner!

I have some more suggestions for you - don't do too much planting in your first year. Take detailed photos of what comes up when it comes up and go from there.

Also, if you get a total tear off of your roof, you'll possibly lose a lot of landscaping, so keep that in the back of your mind as well!

While I'm going there, be sure you talk with a lot of other homeowners before you hire somebody for a big job!

Congrats on the new purchase, Bryan.
Just heard about a nice little single family on Cordova that's being sold by owner, for those that are looking to buy.

Bryan,
Does your mom work at Forbici? Because if she does, I saw a picture of your new home and heard all about your upcoming decorating plans : )
Congratulations and welcome home.
Heidi

You can learn a lot about Lakewood when inside one of the many hair salons!

Doug

Heidi Hilty wrote:Bryan,
Does your mom work at Forbici? Because if she does, I saw a picture of your new home and heard all about your upcoming decorating plans : )
Congratulations and welcome home.
Heidi

Actually she does! It's a small world I tell ya.