Remember to Wipe Your Paws

Help me to Know It. Fight It. End It.

2014-03-08T11:28:00.000-05:00

This blog has fallen to the wayside what with moving, the holidays, HAVING A BABY, settling in our house, and returning to work. I hope to get back into it as I think we are finally finding our groove but I'm going to skip all the updates for now because this is WAY more important.
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I owned an iPhone, iPhone is made by Apple, Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple, and Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer.

This was my six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon relationship with pancreatic cancer. Distant. Removed. Little did I or anyone else in my family know in late January 2012 we were about to become really familiar with this scary, deadly, and usually silent form of cancer.

I knew my Dad hadn’t been feeling well over the holidays. He complained of some back pain and of fatigue but chalked it up to being worn down and a probable kidney stone. My Mom called late one night and said she was taking Dad to the Emergency Room because he was having a lot of back pain related to the kidney stone they thought he had. I woke up in a panic in the middle of the night. I knew something was very wrong. When my Dad called me in the morning he told me that they found cancer in his liver. Lots and lots of cancer. The next few days were a whirlwind of tests, hospitalizations, biopsies, more tests, surgeries, and even more tests. They determined Dad had stage IV pancreatic cancer. It had spread from the pancreas to the lymph nodes and had run rampant in his liver. His blood work for pancreatic cancer markers was so high it was unmeasurable. They offered little hope, less than a year with chemotherapy, but they offered to help us fight.

So it began. Chemotherapy three days a week, every other week for months on end. With each month the tumors shrank and his blood markers went down. In July of 2012 he reached the maximum number of chemotherapy treatments they recommend and went on a break... but his progress continued. The tumors were gone by fall and his blood markers were in the “normal” range.

It’s been over TWO years since we started this fight. Since then Dad has ran a half marathon, seen his first grandchild’s birth, been awarded with 25 years of service at his job, celebrated his 30^th wedding anniversary, and much more. Help us spread the good news that hope is an option for those with pancreatic cancer. Help us to reach more milestones. Help us Know it. Fight It. End It.

(Last year at PurpleStrides)

I'm leading a team of friends and family at PurpleStride Washington DC on June 14th at Freedom Plaza. Please consider joining our team by visiting our website at http://purplestride.kintera.org/dc/purpleout (use code EarlyReg2014 for $10 off your registration) or making a donation to my personal page at http://purplestride.kintera.org/dc/brookepowell.

Countdown Catch-up II

2013-09-16T21:12:00.000-04:00

Baby boy is growing fast and his kicks and punches are getting very strong. His favorite things to do is party when I'm trying to sleep. He loves to dance to music especially anything with a little base and gets real crazy when sugar consumption is involved.

And just for fun, a progress summary.

We went back to Peek-a-boo 3D this week and got to see our guy again for the first time in over 2 months! He was sleeping and not a happy camper that we woke him up for pictures but his ~~little~~ big personality definitely had us laughing. Admittedly all baby's look pretty freaky especially in the womb... but I'm his mom and therefore biased so just ignore my gushing...

PS. I swear the next post will house updates.

all is fair in love and house hunting?

2013-08-25T14:07:00.000-04:00

The new digs...

A few days after we got the paperwork from DR Horton officially terminating our contract we were able to meet up with our Realtor, John. He got us in to see five of the seven houses we wanted although one already had a contract in on it. The two we originally thought we were going to love, we hated, yet we couldn't stop gushing over one. You guessed it. The one that already had a contract. Turns out the sellers were in the processing of countering an offer thy had received. As the title suggests, we pulled a little Swiper action and snuck our offer on the table in the middle of their negotiations. Later that night we found out that the sellers would be meeting at 11am the next day to make a decision. So we waited. And waited. At 12:30pm we were sure that they went with the other offer.... it had just been too long. But, SURPRISE (insert sarcasm), our real estate agent called around 12:45pm and WE GOT IT!!

There are few more steps like the home inspection and appraisal before closing. Since we know all too well how wrong things can go we are trying not to get too excited before the keys are in our hands... but its hard ya'll! This one just feels right.

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Speaking of our real estate agent(s) if anyone is looking for a house in the Northern Virginia we HIGHLY recommend Century 21 New Millennium specifically John Queeney and Bob Scherbarth. Bob showed us over forty house and wrote 5+ offers in two months. John fought for us throughout the whole DR Horton debacle for over six months and got us this pad. If you want more info about our experiences with Century 21 New Millennium, John, or Bob feel free to message me!

dust yourself off and try again...

2013-08-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've been holding off on posting for some time about the house because, well, things just haven been a bit of a mess. After we got our permits in mid/late June we thought it would be smooth sailing but we were very wrong. The builder did not begin to pour the foundation for almost another month putting us even further behind on time AND when the foundation was poured it was poured wrong.

See that large window in the middle? Yeah, its not supposed to be there. Not only that but the foundation is missing two smaller windows and the walkout basement. Whoops?!?! The builder assured us it was an easy fix. Several weeks later it still hadn't been corrected and in fact, they and had continued to frame in the wrong window and installed a window well.

Our concerns about the house were growing exponentially. Getting in contact with the sales agent took an act of Congress and when we were able to reach her we heard the same things over and over "I'm not sure. I'll have to get back you", "I will have to discuss that with ______", "I've been really busy so I'm not sure about _____" or "I've been out of the office so I'll have to check with ______". We tried to get contact information for her superiors with no luck and felt totally out of the loop with the plan for moving forward. The straw that broke the camel's back was when we heard about the lumber delays. The lumber wouldn't be arriving until August 15th at the earliest and it would take ninety days from the start of framing for the finished project. Then we would have to wait for the appraisal and closing before being able to move.

All this was quickly adding up to my worst nightmare... having to move with a newborn baby.... while still recovering from the delivery.... in the middle of winter. Thanks, no thanks. I may or may not have cried for the better part of a day while we tortured ourselves over whether to walk away. I'm just going to blame pregnancy hormones. In the end we felt the best thing for our growing family was to start looking for a new house as soon as possible.

When we tell most people that we walked they want to know if we lost our earnest money, or deposit, and the answer is.... unfortunately, yes. Parts of the contract supported DR Horton's position that they should keep the earnest money and we felt parts supported us. In the result of dispute like this our contract stated we would have to go to arbitration to settle it. But if we went to arbitration we wouldn't be released from the contract to start looking at other houses until the issue was settled. And well, ain't nobody got time for that.

We officially forfeited our money and withdrew the offer on the house this week. Instead of viewing it as six months and thousands of dollars wasted we've decided to view it as divine intervention and an opportunity to find the home we are supposed to be in. Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited to start looking again.

Countdown Catch-up

2013-07-25T18:43:00.000-04:00

When I was looking for a cute way to keep track of the bump progress I stumbled upon this Maternity Calendar inspiration by Miranda at One Little Minute and ran with it. I loved the idea but had NO energy to make a stencil and paint so I made my own slacker version. I found a similar T-shirt on Amazon, bought some flocked iron on numbers, and a roll of red duct tape from Michael's. I just eye-balled the layout and then broke out the iron. Each week I just add a little strip of duct tape to mark our progress.

Feeling like major poop

No real changes yet

Obviously trying to suck it in a ~~little~~ lot

First time seeing the little guy where he actually looked like a baby

Starting to feel a little better

Bump in its wee stages. Found out we're having a BOY!

I "popped"

Other people really started to notice the bump

Feeling like belly is doubling each night

Half-way there.

It's crazy to see how much my belly has grown in just a few short weeks. Here's hoping the next 20 weeks go by just as fast because I'm very impatiently waiting to have this little guy in our arms instead of stomach.

Playing house...

2013-07-24T21:11:00.002-04:00

*Note: I am behind on house updates and just about everything else in life. Growing a human is TIRING! But, I'm trying to get caught up so keep checking back for updates!

**Sorry for the iPhone quality pics!

Our lot as of Memorial Day weekend....

They were grading our lot! Even without permits... it was nice to see some progress.

Smiling (even though we still didn't have permits)

After finding out that our permits were approved in late-June we were very anxious to get the party started. We met with the site manager to go over our site plan, review all of our finish choices again, and talk about time lines. It was a pretty uneventful affair but afterwards we stopped by a newly set up model home for our particular model. It was fun playing house for a few minutes, really feeling how big the space felt with furniture, and envisioning what we could/would do with the same space. Our house will look pretty different due to the finish choices we picked but the model house is still a good representation:

Living Room

Main entry/Foyer

Dining Room

Kitchen

Kitchen Eat-In Area

Lower Level

Family Room

Office

Rec Room

Basement Bathroom

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

Upstairs Bathroom

Laundry

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Our lot as of late June.

Life is about to get CUH-RAZY....

2013-07-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

Since our last update about the house we have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more for permits.

We were starting to sweat bullets as we have other pressing deadlines that the house greatly effects. I know our builder had little control over the permit process but we needed a housing solution and couldn't afford to wait much longer. It got so bad that we told them if permits were not approved by July 1st we would have to walk away. Yeah, bad. But no sooner than the words were out of our mouth did our permits get APPROVED!

And for the best update of all, the reason we were sweating bullets, is this guy....

bowtie in utero.

We can't wait for this little squish to come. I know all moms say this but he is the cutest darn thing ever. At every ultrasound we've had he always has his hands up by his head or in his mouth at some point. He even had hiccups at this last ultrasound.

kicking away

sweetest profile

john hancock

2013-04-18T17:00:00.000-04:00

I won't bore you with all the crazy acronyms, number crunching, and comparison lists but lets just say buying a house, like legit paying for it, is no fun. I go cross eyed about three pages into the forty page contracts. I feel anxiety trying to read and understand all the lingo so I know what I'm signing. We have been elbow deep in signing more contracts with the bank, collecting supporting documentation, and all that jazz for the last few days and will be for the foreseeable future. bleh.

from here

sitting, and wishing, and hoping, and praying

2013-04-16T19:10:00.003-04:00

We are still ~~patiently~~ VERY IMPATIENTLY waiting on permits (and a yard).

my version of fancy

2013-04-10T20:22:00.001-04:00

So the "formal" living room is a decorating conundrum for me. I'm not formal. I want my house to be a comfortable place where strangers feel at home kicking their shoes off and tucking their feet under them as we chat on the couch. Unlike many homes I've been in I want to use my living room and not have it become a museum.

My parents have been threatening to give us everything that was remotely mine as soon as we move into a house big enough... something about downsizing/decluttering. phesh. I thought parent's home was synonymous with free storage locker. One of the things my mom has been hinting at passing along is the upright piano that my grandparents showed up with in the back of their truck one night as a gift for me when I was four. I would love to have it but its shiney cherry finish isn't really my style. I thought about maybe painting it in the future but right now I think working with the original finish would be ~~easier~~ WAY EASIER.

I feel like this inspiration board is the perfect combination of formal-ish pieces with more comfortable casual finishes. I feel like the antique brass finishes (because polished 80s brass is a BIG no-no) mixed with the warm wood tones of the cherry piano and nesting tables balances the whole room. And that blue velvet couch. Be still my heart. I might have to freeze my credit card so I don't pull the trigger on that baby until we move.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

ps- mom and dad you don't have to give up the piano.

bloglovin'

2013-04-02T22:36:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard of bloglovin'? With Google Reader coming to end I was looking for new way to keep up with all the blogs I follow. I wanted something that was prettier to look at than Google Reader, easy to access from my computer or phone, and easy to navigate. While you are checking it out be sure to follow remember to wipe your paws on bloglovin'.

like I need more inspiration to eat...

2013-04-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

We are anxiously waiting for news about the building permits for our house this month. I'm an impatient person so I know these next few weeks/months are going to be an excruciating wait. In the meantime I continue to window shop and get inspiration for the house. Here are some ideas I have for the dining room...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Since the main level is very open I'm hoping to keep all the rooms cohesive by picking a cool toned color scheme (blues, greens, grays etc). I love the idea of a large rustic table with lush chairs that would encourage lounging. That built in is made of two Hemnes armoires from IKEA but looks so much more expensive. I would love to paint out the back a navy blue or add a beautiful navy patterned wallpaper which would really make my milk glass and bronze/antique gold chachkies pop.

Do you have a large open space? How do you keep the flow through your home?

my happy place

2013-03-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

I'm just going to go ahead and put it out there... Target is my happy place. Find me a red bulls-eye and I am home. Target has a new line out right now, Threshold, that I'm kind of obsessed with. Its described by Target as "the right mix of classic and modern. An effortless elegance. Beautiful, yet affordable. Designed for a lifetime of housewarmings. It's everything you'll love about your home." I think their description is spot on. I tell you it is taking every bit of my restraint to wait until we move into the house before I start buying up the entire store. Since I am abstaining from purchasing home decor at the moment I thought we could take a moment to window shop.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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Grover did great through surgery. Although, for a dog that never barks he howled like a hound treeing a 'coon for hours coming out of anesthesia. The pathology came back that is was benign! He has a bandage on his leg to keep his stitches covered but you couldn't tell the way he runs and jumps and acts crazy. Stitches come out next week and I imagine he'll probably be crazier than he already is.

A few hours after surgery, still coming out of the anesthesia....

The next day, wide eyed and bushy tailed.

grover

2013-03-24T17:36:00.001-04:00

Our "youngest child", Grover, is having surgery tomorrow morning to remove a suspected mast cell tumor from his leg. It is likely malignant but we are hoping that we caught it early. Please keep our boy, and this anxious mom and dad, in your thoughts and prayers.

the gathering place

2013-03-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

I love clean and order. Office supplies. Label makers. Clorox wipes. Closets organized by color and season. Towels all folded the same way. When my surroundings are in disarray I feel like my mind is also in disarray. Some people call this anal retentive, neurotic, crazy.... I say tom-A-to, tom-ah-to.

White cabinets have been on my wishlist since day one for their ability to create an open, light, and airy feeling to a home as well as highlight any dirt and grime. Most people dislike anything that highlights dirt in their home but I say if you can't see it how can you know you got in clean?!?!

Needless to say all of our kitchen choices were based primarily around the white cabinets. We chose to stain the oak hardwood floors saddle. The home came standard with a yellow-ish granite and we were looking for a more gray toned counter which brown eyes (I swear its a good mixture of mostly gray and a little brown). The GE stainless steel appliances are the only option DR Horton offered.

kitchen finishes

Like all married couples Ryan and I have some differences, including our decorating tastes. I like more casual farmhouse/cottage chic while he likes more formal colonial. We try to compromise. We are basing our kitchen mood board around one of those compromises, our current kitchen table. Ryan picked it out based on two criteria set by me-- round and dark finished. (*Note- Ryan wants to make sure you know that he hates the two chair options I've included in the mood board).

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Do you and your significant other or roommate have different styles of decorating? How do you make it work?

let me upgrade ya', you may not be a model but I can front page ya'

2013-03-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

from here

Upgrades. We love them and we hate them. S@#$ can get cray cray real fast unless you have someone there to reel you in. It is very easy to go over budget in ~~minutes~~ seconds. We managed to use some restraint and contained our upgrade costs to just under $80,000. My stomach just dropped typing that. Fortunately for us, DR Horton was running an AH-MAZING deal when we signed our contract and we were able to get all the upgrades for 50% off- so technically we only paid $40,000. I pride myself in being a bargain shopper so although 40K still gives me butterflies it mostly just makes me proud.

So what did we upgrade...

Basement Level:

Finished bathroom
Finished rec room
Espresso cabinets in bathroom
Thicker carpet padding in rec room and on stairs
12x12 tiled foyer
Walkout to exterior (already zoned for this... so not much of a choice but we were happy with it)
Garage door opener, additional remote, and keypad
Electrical outlet in unfinished den

Main Level:

Gourmet kitchen layout
Gourmet kitchen appliances (Gas cook top, double wall ovens, microwave, dishwasher, and french door refrigerator)
42"white kitchen stepped height cabinets with brushed nickel knobs and crown molding
A different color granite kitchen counter (granite comes standard but it was yellowish/tan)
Undermount double bowl kitchen sink
Fireplace with slate surround and mantle
Extra electrical outlet and HDMI wiring for above fireplace to mount the TV
Wooden stairs in entry and to second floor stained to match hardwoods with carpet runner
Hardwood floors throughout (kitchen, breakfast area, dining room, living room, library, family room, hall, foyer, and powder room)
Trim package (crown molding in formal living and dining room and chair rail molding in dining room)
CAT5/telephone and cable outlet in library
Overhead light rough in for family room

Second Level:

Espresso cabinets in master bathroom and hall bathroom
Thicker carpet padding throughout
12x12 tiled floors in master bathroom
Level 2 tile for tube and shower surrounds
Overhead light rough in for master bedroom
Double vanity hall bath with linen closet access from the hall (not really an upgrade... they have made it a standard feature since printing the floorplans)

What we opted out of...

Wet bar in basement
Second fireplace in basement
Tray ceiling in master bedroom
Columns between hallway and family room
Finishing the den

Although I am pleased with the value and volume of upgrades we got for the price I still think my ultimate bargain deal is a pair of vintage leather miss capezio boots that I bought for $5 in college. What is your best bargain deal find?

come and knock on our door

2013-03-18T19:00:00.000-04:00

We chose to build the Wilmington model of home by DR Horton because....well frankly, because they had already submitted permits for that model to be built on the lot that we liked. Also it was affordable and allowed us to add a ton of customizations that we otherwise might not have been able to.

wilmington model by dr horton

Our final product will look a little different. The front will be completely brick. We won't have the round tops on the main floor windows or the triangle shaped awning over the door. We will have a two foot bump out where the right top floor windows are and an additional peak in the roof centered above those windows. Our outdoor color scheme:

The homeowners association only allows wood finished, board on board, privacy fences. We hope to build something like this for the yard:

here

Sometimes I wish you could have customized door bell rings or knocks to let you know who is at the door... aka whether its actually worth getting up to answer. What would your custom door bell ring/knock be?

i'll start walking your way, you start walking mine...

2013-03-17T12:34:00.000-04:00

Before we started looking for a house we created a checklist of items we would ideally like in our home. Although we understood we would probably end up compromising on some things it gave us a good jumping off point and allowed us to really visualize what was important to each of us. So, how does our new house stack up against the checklist of our ideal home....

The new house is so much more space than we could have even imagined and although it doesn't meet every single thing on our check list we got far more than we expected. We were able to get hardwood floors on the entire main level and hope to upgrade some of the other floors along the line. Our first big purchase after moving will be to fence in the yard for our pups, Libby and Grover. What smaller concessions have you had to make in order to achieve your bigger goals?

google it

2013-03-15T15:45:00.001-04:00

We were becoming increasingly frustrated with our house search and over the past month began to feel pretty defeated. We started brainstorming what else we could compromise on from our list to get into a home. On a whim I googled some new construction town homes in Chantilly I had seen an ad for but we ultimately decided it was too far of a drive for both us. One website led to another though and we discovered some builders that were building in Fort Washington, MD. It turns out that the homes were surprisingly more affordable and substantially bigger than everything we had seen to that point. We were officially intrigued.

After lots of googling using many of the tools we told you about here we also discovered the area is in the middle of a big transition with many upper middle class neighborhoods being built around the growing National Harbor area. The school system leaves a lot to be desired... although the elementary school is OK. We figure by the time we have kids ready to leave elementary school it will be well over a decade away and who knows what our life will be like by then.

Our lot looking from above.

Our search was narrowed to two builders based upon location, Ryan Homes and DR Horton. We looked at national reviews, local reviews, and even got the opinions of some people that had already built in the potential neighborhoods. I also rediscovered a great website for asking advice of others based upon a specific location. After weighing ALL the information, price of the homes, upgrade options, and looking at the available lots we decided to go with DR Horton. When you make decisions do you just take the leap or cautiously dip your toe in the water until you know its safe like us? Hey, there might be sharks...you never know.

a place to call our own

2013-03-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet for a while because we have been busy. We found a house. Well, more like we found a place for a house. That's right...we are starting from scratch and building a home. The past couple weeks have been spent touring models home, signing contracts, making finishing choices, amending contracts, keeping fingers crossed for permits, and patiently waiting. Although this is most definitely not the path we thought we started down six months ago it is where the dirt road traveled and we couldn't be more excited.

home. sweet home.

is that included?

2013-02-24T20:37:00.002-05:00

Our realtor sends us automated email searches of any houses that meet the criteria that we outlined for him. The emails serve as a first look to current listings and help us to focus in on the properties we a truly interested in seeing. You have to question what some of these people (and their realtors) are thinking when they included pictures like these in their listings....

hey, can you throw me a roll?

if you have any metal on you'll certainly feel pulled to stay in this house

no age lines here...complementary botox with purchase

maybe they won't notice the bare light bulb if we place the chair here...

honey, what do you think we should decorate the shelf in the living room with? i don't know, how about a dining chair?

hurry take the picture...my good looks will draw their eye away from the oddly placed window.

princess potty seat included free of charge

some people hang curtains but we think baskets are a much better finish to the room

PS. We know you have to look past the decoration and finishes when looking for a house. We actually toured some of these homes but unfortunately still haven't found the right one for us.

pursuit of happiness

2013-02-21T16:49:00.004-05:00

Surprise, we are still looking. Went and looked at a few properties this week but everything either needed extensive updates (carpet, bathrooms, paint, kitchen, etc) or had structural damage that we are just not prepared to deal with as first time buyers. But we've decided to change our perspective. We are switching up the game plan and have a few things on the back burner that we are hoping might pan out into something great, like a home. Until then we are continually on the pursuit of happiness.

home is wherever i'm with you

2013-02-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

Although we are deep in trenches of looking for a house to call our home we know that home is where the heart is and that is with one another.

home is whereever i'm with you print : tuesday mourning

Well that and with our pups.

home is where your dog is : JessicaBishopPaperie

Hope you have a great Valentine's day!

then we ate ice cream...

2013-02-13T16:59:00.002-05:00

...and drank wine in the dark while listening to Taylor Swift and crying into our pillows. I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen in a few months yesterday and mentioned how we were looking at houses. She said her friends just got done with the same process. I asked where in NOVA they ended up moving, to which she replied, "Oh nowhere. They gave up and our just renting for a while". Whomp whomp.

We lost a third house on Monday. A THIRD house. I know, I know I'm moving too fast... let me catch you up. The first house we found was spectacular and we knew it. We made an offer within twenty four hours of it being on the market hoping if we moved fast we might be able to snatch it up. SEVEN OTHER OFFERS.

As perfect as house one was house two was even more so. It was in the IDEAL location (for what we can afford), completely renovated, and even had Ryan squealing like a little school girl. We toured the house the first day on the market, well us and six other couples, all AT THE SAME TIME! We took second in that race.... to a cash offer with no appraisal contingencies.

This third house had the most amazing backyard and was in a neighborhood we liked. We really thought we were going to get this one seeing as we offered WELL over the asking price. Other people had the same idea only they offered cash and again no appraisal contingencies.

Although we're not ready to throw the towel in yet we are drowning our sorrows in steins of craft beer, eating pad Thai take out, and watching Homeland on demand.

What is your go to sad food/booze? I feel like we're going to have to expand our horizons in order to make it out of this process.

PS. I promise to start being a better blogger and take pictures of these places we see.

not your parent's house hunt

2013-02-08T16:12:00.001-05:00

According to our real estate agent's website in 2011 the average Northern Virginia home was listed for 60 days. All of the houses that we have been interested in have had multiple offers in less than 24 hours. I think its fair to say, at least in this region, it is impossible to wait for the Sunday paper to view new listings. You have to constantly keep your eyes on the market and be prepared to move fast on properties that you're interested in. So here's a few of our "peeping tom" ways to help you stay on top of your game.

Searching for Properties

-Many realty websites have similar functions such as the ability to apply filters to help narrow down your search, map views so you can see where properties are in relation to major roads, your job, or some of your favorite hang outs. Specific filters we like to use besides the standard 3 bed/2 bath are just listed/new properties, active listings (as opposed to sold, contingent/no kickout, etc.), and open houses. Just try searching realty websites until you find one you like. Some of our favorites are Weichert, Long & Foster, and Realtor.com.
-Realtor.com also has a free app I like to use when we're driving around or when I don't have easy access to my computer and feel like browsing.
-Get a Realtor. They are experts at this and many will send you updated MLS listings daily based upon the criteria you've discussed.

I don't recommend other websites like Zillow for your initial house search (we like them for other stuff) because we found its often out of date. Its the worst to get excited about a property only to find out it sold last week.

Researching Properties

So you found a property you think you might like... now its time to break out the private investigator tools to really learn what you're getting into. Some of our favorite tools are:

-Google Maps street view is a great way to get an idea about what the neighborhood looks like but again is not a live feed so you should always go see a property with your own eyes.

-We liked websites like Zillow when looking for comparable pricing (comps) as well as pricing in the neighborhood. BUT you have to take it with a grain of salt. Zillow uses "Zestimates" which are just that, estimates. It allowed us to get a big picture idea of what homes in the neighborhood were generally worth/selling for and helped us find other recently sold comps.

-Your county's property tax website. By looking at the property tax history you can learn a lot about when the house was built, how many times its been sold, who has owned the property, and the type of sale that occurred (foreclosure, standard, relative to relative). Although this information isn't critical if you can see that a home was just bought two months ago for half the price you can infer that this is probably a flipped property and therefore you may have a little more wiggle room for price if the seller is trying to move it fast.

-We also use our county's website to find valuable information about crime in the area. We are able to get a general idea about the prevalence and types of crimes in the areas we were looking.

-Virginia's sex offender registry is a good way to find out who is living near you and always something we look at.
-Although we don't have children, schools play a big role in resale value, and therefore something we feel we should look into before purchasing a home. We found Great Schools to be a good resource for learning more about the area schools from pre-K through high school.

*Disclaimer: It should be noted that all information included above is just our opinions and we were not paid to endorse any of the above mentioned websites.