Moving Along

My husband is retiring from the USAF.  He started looking for jobs working with medical residents some time ago.  He enjoys teaching and medical education, it has been one of his favorite jobs.  He looked in VT, Boston, Phili, DC, Richmond and Pittsburgh.  I was hoping for Phili.  I went to school in Phili, grew up in the Poconos.  We have family in Pa and NJ. 

Pittsburgh called him early in his search.  He went out and really like the people and the program.  It helps that I have two sons in Pittsburgh who graduated from Pitt.  They really speak highly of the city.  Part of me thinks that he was just looking for a way to balance the equation, find someone to watch football with...  we find ourselves bound for Pittsburgh.

Tom and I are at an interesting point in our lives.  We don't care about school districts, we don't really need a house that is move in ready.  This is a good thing.   We looked at homes in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Regent Square and Highland Park.  There aren't many homes available.  People are moving into the city and homes sell quickly and at a high price.

I flew to Pittsburgh and looked at homes at Christmas break.  Then we went out for Spring break and looked at some more.  The boys would go and look at some houses for us.  Matt generally didn't like anything that he saw.  When this house came on the market,

he was prepared to tell me that he didn't like the neighborhood.  He went, he parked, he went up and down the street, up the alley.  He drove around, the neighborhood passed.  Tom can walk to work, I can walk to a grocery store.  He met with the realtor and looked at the house.  There are some issues.  I'm not sure that I can have chickens in the back yard but no one is as concerned about that as I am. 

The owner put in a new interior door and made the downstairs into an apartment.  Then she put in doors on the second and third floors.  Not with permits, so the house is being sold as a single family home.  With locked entries on each floor, kitchens on each floor, etc.  Not really a single family home.

The beautiful stair case

has been divided by a wall to cut off the first floor apt.  It is in need of a good job.  The stained glass window on the stair landing is broken.

And will need to be repaired.

The front downstairs living room needs work.  There is hardwood under the carpet.  There are built ins on one side of the fire place and not the other. 

But there are pocket doors leading to the dining room

The dining room was a bedroom, so there is an added odd closet and a full bath.  Not many people can say that they have a full bath in their dining room!!!!

The kitchen has issues.  Oh lots of issues.  There is an addition off the kitchen space, that is being used as the main kitchen.

This is the downstairs, everything needing work.  But worst is in the basement.

There is a beam that has splitting boards.  It holds the house up.  This is an ISSUE  a structural engineer issue.

And we will go no further until it is investigated.