420 Prospect Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18018

Great house in great neighborhood in wonderful small city. Fully-furnished with tasteful and somewhat whimsical style. Mix of antiques and modern. Main floor is open living area that offers 2 separate sitting areas, then a large eat-in kitchen. Living area has gorgeous pine wood floors with area rugs. Comfy chairs and sofa in one area, and the other sitting area is spacious yet feels cozy. A large double doorway opens into the spacious kitchen, with white cabinetry and appliances and plenty of counterspace. Gas cooking, built-in microwave, large refrigerator with bottom freezer Kitchen floor is vinyl tiles for easy cleanup. Table seats four, extra chairs available. Laundry and 1/2-bath in back. Laundry machines are in great shape and high efficiency. Upstairs, there are 2 bedrooms, one bigger than the other, and a really cool bathroom setup on 2nd floor. Larger bedroom has the same beautiful wooden floors, and triple window facing south for amazing sun all day. (Note that large bedroom furnishings will be different.) Main bedroom is queen bed and bedclothes, plus dresser and mirror, and nice walk-in closet with wall organizers. Ceiling fan, up/down blinds and darkening shades, too 2nd bedroom has double/full size bed and all bedclothes. Bathroom setup has full tile floors, toilet, sink & vanity in one room with pocket door to separate room for shower: 5 foot walk in shower, full tile walls. Really sweet. 3rd floor is attic for storage (& basement is available, too) There is a nice front porch with two glider chairs and a small table, and in the back is a small yard that is just big enough to get outside, but not too much to maintain. Note that the house does not have air-conditioning, but one medium and one small window unit will be in the house for the resident's use. This house stays cool, if the shades are drawn and windows closed all day; open at night for cool air circulation. Now for the details: we are renting out our most valuable personal asset, so this is a very serious situation. We will not reply to people who do not give basic information. Do not request a tour until we have spoken in person. Any replies that are just tour requests will be discarded. Looking for one year lease, with renewal probable, up to 4-years. We are leaving the city temporarily, planning to return in a few years. We are looking for someone to rent our house and treat it as if it were their own. We are looking for the minimum number of people possible, this is not a high-occupancy situation, and we will be very picky with who we choose. Multiple personal references required, previous landlords will be called, credit check will be run. Resident will be responsible for rent plus electric, gas & trash bills monthly (Bethlehem has individual trash service). Heat is gas-fired hot air system and hot water heater is also gas-fired. Cable and Internet at the resident's discretion. Owners do not have cable, so some hook-up work/fees may be necessary. Owner will pay the city's water/sewer/recycling fees quarterly but resident will pay any increase in these fees due to their level of usage. A couple non-negotiables: 1. Absolutely no pets in the house. Not even for a visit. 2. No smoking in the house- ever. The security deposit is on the high side, because the house is furnished with valuable items. We are trusting the resident with all of our stuff! On that note, we will be storing some of our stuff in the front of the basement, and the front of the attic. There will be times when we need to access this stuff, and would arrange an appropriate time to do so. This must be part of the deal; we won't bother your stuff or take anything that is in 'your parts' of the house, but we will need to walk through the place to get to our storage spaces. Also on the note of walk-through, we may ask to inspect the place every so often. Especially if we have not been in for a while. Again, we are trusting a resident with our home and our furnishings, so will want to make sure everything is being taken care of. Yard maintenance is negotiable; if resident likes mowing (7-minutes!!) and gardening then go for it! Large projects like tree trimming will be done by owner. In the winter, snow/ice removal is an important duty of the resident - although a local entrepreneur may be contracted to help in this regard - as long as it gets done! Garage is being used by owner, but this could be negotiable, too. Parking is on the street, and there is a very small private spot in back of the garage- if no street parking is available.