radiators!

We did a second walk-through of the house last night, to make sure I want it before throwing down money for the inspector, and discovered something we'd missed the first time through: the rooms have gas pipes for radiators. This is very interesting for two reasons. The first is that I prefer radiator heat to almost every other kind.

In Seattle, I loved the apartments I lived in. Seattle has tons of prewar apartment buildings with all the charm (right down to the milk doors) kept intact. One of the most disappointing things about moving to Austin was realizing that those basically don't exist here. Most of the places I rented in Seattle had radiators and I thought they provided the perfect amount of heat. Plus I find the sound comforting.

The second reason this is a big deal has to do with FHA loans. The house currently has no heating. The sellers, who've lived there 18 years, say they've never needed it and this isn't hard to believe since Austin only gets a few cold months. They've put in new windows that, even in what should be an exceptionally drafty old house, were keeping the temperature comfortable on 107° days with only three tiny window unit A/Cs for 1,900 square feet. But these are not facts the loan people care about. The loan people insist that a home must have a heater, and this home has none.

I was dreading spending $500 to install a wall-mounted heater to satisfy the loan requirements, because I knew I did not want that at all and when I'm spending a quarter of a million bucks, the last thing I want to do is waste any of it. I'm hoping that I can put in a radiator instead, making both myself and the bank happy (and making use of pipes that right now offer nothing except a place to stub your toe).

We finally got some pictures of the interior on this tour, too:


The front porch and the back yard.


Living room and dining room.


Entryway and master bath vanity (which is outside the bathroom - nice).


The kitchen and the addition off of it. I guess you call that a bonus room. If your definition of "bonus" is pretty loose.


The full bathroom in the hallway and the giant master bedroom.