We bought a house!

Okay, it's not the entire house, it's a TIC, which is sort of like a condo, except that it's not defined as a unit, but rather a percentage of the building. So there are 6 flats in this building, and that means we get 1/6 of it (since all the units are essentially the same). And we haven't closed yet, we're still in escrow for another 3 or 4 weeks so technically it's not ours yet. But I have the feeling that things will work out, so much so that I already rented an office studio in my new neighborhood in the city.

We'll be living in the "hot Valencia corridor" as all the real estate agents call it. It's a particular area in the Mission that has become edgy, hip, cool, up-and-coming, whatever lingo you kids use. There are great restaurants, tons of boutiques, a kick-ass park (also referred to as The Beach b/c of the sun bathers out), and of course your smattering of crack whores, junkies, and bums.

The house is located on a small side street that is pretty quiet despite being surrounded by some very busy streets. The bus that goes to Yoshi's school is around the corner. BART is two blocks away and will go to Tom's work. My office is about 3/4 of a mile away so I can ride by bike there.

Here's a passion flower from our backyard:


Our home is a 2 bedroom, with a shared closet between Yoshi's room and ours. You will note that Yoshi currently sleeps in the closet/laundry room, so her having her own big room may be a little daunting. However, if she finds herself overwhelmed with too much space, she's more than welcome to hide in the closet for comfort. I've known a few closeted people in my life (though they eventually came out...). Yoshi already has ideas for what color she wants to paint her room.

We started going to open houses last year, just to see what the market was like. When we asked what kind of house she would like, Yoshi said she would like a house that had a lemon tree in the backyard. I was a little leery on promising that, but like Miracle on 34th St, she got her wish. This house has a lemon tree. We sure got lucky on that one.



And there's even grass! I didn't know grass existed in San Francisco yards.


What I love about this place are the details. Lots of picture moulding, wainscot, chair rail, beams are throughout the home. The building was remodeled about a year ago, updated the plumbing, electrical, added a garage to house 6 cars, updated the appliances and just made everything look lovely.

Wainscoting detail in the hall:


This kitchen is spacious, with cupboards and counters and room to put all our kitchen stuff, as opposed to our current situation where half our stuff is in storage or the dishes are next to the record player in the office.



Anyway, back to filling out more paperwork!

You can see more photos and descriptions of the house here.