So, if you were considering these two places, and the monthly payments (hoa fees, taxes, etc) were almost exactly the same, and they were just 2 blocks from each other...
Which would you go for?
Pics are included!! Sadly, I have no pictures of the second bedrooms or bathrooms, but the white kitchen house has ever-so-slightly nicer finishes in baths and closets. We are thinking of making an offer tonight! The kitchen photos are the first photo for each condo.
86 votes
eggplant / 11716 posts
@Bao: I like the white kitchen place more, too....but hubby prefers the brown, and we are at a serious impasse since building amenities, and everything else is equal.
This is a walking city, and brown kitchen is closer to a nice grocery store, whereas white kitchen is closer to a daycare we like.....but they are only 2 blocks apart, so that only matters when it's snowing or raining.
persimmon / 1479 posts
The furnishings in the white kitchen are much more my style, but I think the second kitchen itself I would prefer. The natural light in the first one great-so basically I am no help. I am not sure you can go wrong either way. they are both great spaces!
One question- do they both have patios?
pineapple / 12526 posts
I'm a sucker for white cabinets and black countertops. Very pretty.
honeydew / 7916 posts
I like the one with the white kitchen, because at least from the photos it looks like the living area is bigger or more useful?
eggplant / 11716 posts
@mrsmenow: no, only the white kitchen has the balcony ( the brown one has a small Juliet balcony that is basically useless.)
The thing that my husband dislikes about the white kitchen house is the second bedroom. The owners spent a TON of money on all these built in cabinets and a Murphy bed...which would be awesome, but the Murphy bed is custom and somewhere in between a single and full, which is not practical for visiting guests, like our parents.
Pic:
persimmon / 1479 posts
@Anagram: Wow, that room is awesome. Maybe not having a spare that is super great for guests could be a blessing in diguise, lol!
grapefruit / 4649 posts
I love the one with the white kitchen! Pictures are such tricky things but to me it looks like the light in the first one is much better, the one with the brown kitchen seems much darker. Having a lot of natural light was a big thing for me and I vetoed a few places that were too dark. Plus, I feel like the shorter walk to daycare is more important than the grocery store. Good luck picking, the good news is either way you get a great place!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
I'm a sucker for a white kitchen...
Anyway, to make the murphy bedroom more usable? Add a rollaway bed or rework the murphy wall to accomodate a larger bed?
pomegranate / 3383 posts
The white place looks awesome!! I prefer the kitchen and master ((to the pics of the brown kitchen) and having an updated bathroom is a great bonus. I also love that 2nd bedroom!
nectarine / 2886 posts
White kitchen. I love open spaces, and the white kitchen condo's living room seems more open maybe because of the balcony? Both places look cool though!
eggplant / 11716 posts
@Reese: it's really close. They're both small. haha
The white-kitchen house is something like 1100 sq ft and the brown kitchen is like, 1150.
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yeah, if we end up making an offer on that one, we'll start pricing how much it would cost to take out some cabinets and convert to a queen, or uninstall and try to sell it somehow? It's *super cute*--I just wish it were a queen or at least a double!!
coconut / 8498 posts
I usually love white kitchens, but I think between these two, the brown looks more high-end.
eggplant / 11716 posts
We made an offer in the white kitchen. It's a multiple offer situation, so they came back and tried to ask for closer to asking (both offers were under asking, which is RARE here, so it must really be a bit overpriced). We made our final offer and are waiting to ear.
I've been through this before, and we lost it. So. Since I'm jaded now, I kind of hate this house (overpriced, not the most convenient location to public transport) and love it and want it really badly at the same time. So. Confusing.
nectarine / 2522 posts
@Anagram: goodluck! I think the first one is gorgeous!!! Especially love the light fixtures! Are they included?
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@Anagram: good luck! I love the white one too. I was in a multiple offer situation too and we lost it 
so disappointing because it was perfect for us and our growing family.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
It might just be the photos, but the first looks like it has nicer light. I think that light is a huge element in your happiness and one that people often overlook.
bananas / 9229 posts
@Anagram: For what it's worth, we ended up in a bidding war and won at $16k OVER asking price...
pomegranate / 3503 posts
@Anagram: good luck. I like the one with the white kitchen more as well. It has better natural light. We were in the same situation (bidding war) 2 years ago when we bought. It's so stressful.
grapefruit / 4712 posts
I love the look of the white kitchen. Just keep in mind that it will be hard to keep clean.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@sslm: White kitchen!
There's been a lot of drama. When we made our first offer, we found out they'd just accepted an offer from someone else. I mean, they didn't just get the offer--they accepted it! But apparently, our offer was higher, so then they verbally accepted our offer, and we spent all evening two nights ago calling our mortgage broker, lawyer, etc., faxing them each paperwork (last three years tax returns, bank statements, etc) and thought we were moving into attorney review.
Then, the next day at 4 pm, the sellers came back and said the other people offering on the house upped their offer and matched ours. So we asked our realtor what we should do, and he said we could leave it as it, and they would just pick between the two of us (wtf!), so we offered slightly more and told them that was our final and best offer.
Their agent came back and tried to tell us if we would forgo the appraisal, they would accept our second offer. We said, absolutely not--our last offer was already our last offer (if it appraises for less, we have to make up the difference in cash, from what it appraises to what we offered. Um, no thanks.)
We waited a whole day and they came back and took our last offer. I guess the other couple didn't want to go without an appraisal either. I feel like the sellers were being super greedy, and at this point we don't trust their word.
So last night, DH had to redo allllll the paperwork with the mortgage broker and the lawyer to reflect the new purchase price. And we haven't heard anything back today, so hopefully it's officially under contract and heading into attorney review.
Totally ridiculous! But at this point, I'm not going to consider it a done deal until everything is finished.
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