Yep. (Note that I DID buy the first place that I took a tour of, but there was some hurried touring of Other Properties between the time I saw it and the offering.)

Signs of Impending Springiness here: I just saw a goddamed BEE fly past my window.

We didn't buy the first place we saw. Which is good. It was too far out of the center of Niles -- backed up to the boulevard which means harleys all day long esp. sat and sunday and It was boring. We bought the second.

DH and I bought the second place we saw, which made us so nervous we went back to see it again three times. But it was just the right place for us, you know? We got lucky.

I bought the first place I even thought about buying but saw a few others on a city-organized bus tour so I could get grant money from the city. It was a very lucky situation though. And I'd been living two blocks away for a couple of years so I knew the neighborhood and the street really well.

When you know what to expect, you really can judge places. When I moved into this apartment, I started off looking in some neighborhoods I didn't know well, and didn't see anything good. I knew this neighborhood, and knew when I saw the place it was the best I would see. So, if I hadn't tried to trick myself into moving to Brooklyn, I would have taken the first place.

Although obviously there are additional considerations when buying...

Well, saw about 11 places and 10 were definite nos. There were a couple triplestories that were neat to see, but since both leaned (on the same block) and while they might be structurally fine, it would drive me batshit. Plus, not so sure about the location. But it was neat to see the inside of 'em because they really were architectually interesting places.

The one that is a definite maybe is : [link] No good pictures online. It's a huge place. Inlay in the wood floors, in good shape LR, dining room big as my current LR, kitchen. I think that was the one with the lavendar bathroom. But maybe not. Basement isn't scary. Deck off kitchen, and one wee rooftop one off the back bedroom. It was a quiet housey one way street. One next door had bicycles on the porch (don't ask me why I count this as good.) The things that keep me from falling in total love: radiator heat, no ductwork, so no easy cheaper way to add central air. Back decking will need replacing eventually. Door to second floor porch space will need replacing straightaway. Kitchen small in terms of cabinets, but spacewise there is room for that to be worked with. It's really classic and I love that it has all the outside "spaces" and the interior space is really nice. Even has closets!

I want to see some more that get definite maybes. But this one has potential.

It definitely has 30s charm.

Probably similar to this one, on the same street, though kitchen is different : [link]

Lavender bathrooms get big points with me.