-This room feels, this feels like the woods. -Yeah.
[narrator] Pennsylvania couple Drew and April want a vacation home
in the Poconos to make family memories.
He like, can explore back here,
-Yeah. -and he doesn't have to take off far, that's really cool.
[narrator] Drew beat cancer twice and is ready to go all in
on a move-in ready cabin. -You wanna go up to $400?
I wanna go up to $400 so we do nothing.
[narrator] But April wants a charming A-frame with potential.
New countertop, a new sink, maybe a new floor.
It does need some work.
[narrator] And there's one thing Drew won't sacrifice.
The lake's about a mile and a half away.
That's not even close.
[door bell rings] [theme music playing]
Eli should learn to ski, huh, Eli?
You want to learn to ski?
We met at a hotel bar in New York City.
And we dated long distance at first.
And then it was probably about a year before he proposed.
-Yes. -Yeah.
It looks like the lake is just down the street, which is
pretty nice. -It does.
A couple of years before I met April, I was diagnosed with
Hodgkin's lymphoma.
So I started chemo and beat cancer,
and it was amazing, awesome.
[April] But about a year into our relationship,
he was diagnosed with the same type of cancer.
[Drew] Mm-hmm, and that illness turned into a stem cell transplant,
60 days in the hospital, of which she was there with me
every day when I needed her the most.
-Well, look at, well that's -- -That's nice.
These are some cute houses.
After Drew went through treatment, there was a question
whether or not we would ever be able to have kids due
to the chemotherapy.
But we ended up with Eli, who is perfect.
-We just hanging out? -He's doing OK.
All right.
We live in Valley Forge area outside of Philadelphia.
We work from home, so we're always in the house.
We wanted to get away and feel like we could get away.
[April] And I also wanna be no more than two hours from
our current home.
So in conversation around, you know, whether or not
we should buy a place in the Poconos, it was really
around, like, is this a place, you know, that we could go up
to whenever we wanted and leave all of our stuff there?
[Drew] What do you think?
We're going to hang out here for a couple of days while
mommy and daddy go look for a new house here.
We were lucky enough to find a local sitter who could watch
him while we look at these houses.
I think I'm going to put him down for a nap.
-We'll see if he can. -Sounds good.
Yep. It's time.
The great thing about the Poconos is all these
communities with a bunch of lakes
and pools and playgrounds. And I really want that for Eli.
We give him an opportunity to grow up in a place with
a bunch of families.
I think it'd be great to be able to have a place that's in
the woods, that's kind of just us, and we can kind of spend
good time together.
And maybe nobody can find me if they try.
So price, we're thinking about what we're going to spend.
I am way more comfortable with $300,000 than $400,000 for
our vacation home.
But if we spend $300,000 on a place and we find a couple of
projects that we want to do, doesn't that start inching
it towards $400,000? -But small projects are OK.
Small projects sometimes turn into big projects,
or 50 small projects.
I'd rather not put any work into it, so if we can pay more,
have it ready, and she'd be happy, everyone wins.
You know, growing up in Northern California and going
to Tahoe, I just feel like A-Frame is the right way to go.
They're cute. They are stylish.
What April's looking for, it's kind of unique.
So I'm more comfortable with not a lot of frills.
It's like a cabin, it's -- we have a better shot of finding
a spot by the lake. Being near that lake is clutch.
But I still want to have those high ceilings that you get
with an A-frame.
So, but if it's not as pointy as a traditional,
that could be OK.
Two bedrooms is fine, one bathroom is fine.
-With a tub for Eli. -A tub for Eli.
-Some type of yard for the dogs and for Eli. -Yeah, yeah.
Fireplace, we definitely agree on the fireplace.
Yeah, we're doing this to make memories.
We've been through a lot of stuff together.
We have.
-And I think we will make memories -- -Thank you.
that won't require thousands of dollars of renovations
and we won't be on top of our neighbors.
[April] It snowed last night, I can't believe it.
I mean, that's nice that it's plowed.
That's important.
I want to disappear in the woods, but I want to be
able to get to the woods. -Safely disappear in the woods.
Yeah, right, you know.
[narrator] Drew and April are starting the search seeing an A-frame.
[Drew] I looked at the pictures.
It does look like it needs a lot of work.
Right, but you can't be $235.
I mean, you can't be $235 if that's all that we have to
spend on it.
-Oh, wow, beautiful. -Wow.
There's the lake right across the street.
-Hey, Mark, how's it going? -Hey, Mark.
-Hey, you found us, huh? -We did.
-Good to see you. -Oh, good to see you too.
-Hi. -So, welcome!
[April] This is exactly what I envisioned.
-So we are in a gated community. -Yeah.
Your HOA fees are low, less than $100 a month.
-That's nice. -That's great.
[Mark] And there's a series of lakes, several pools for
the summer months.
I know you don't want to be in crowds of people,
but I'm telling you,
it's nice, it's modest, and it's a relaxing place to be.
[Drew] Seems pretty well spaced out, so it's not on top of
each other. That's great.
Yeah, and the community is perfect for Eli.
-So, I know the owner. -Yep.
And you'll be the first to look at it.
-OK. -Perfect.
So we've got all kinds of homes up here in the Poconos.
We've got chalets. We've got raised ranches.
There are a few A-frames, but they don't come on
the market too much.
So the challenge with this house is that being built in
1966, it has a lot of old things in it, and it could use
some upgrades.
[Drew] Oh, wow. OK.
-[April] Oh, my gosh. -[Drew] That is a fireplace!
-That is the fireplace. -Wow.
They don't make them like this anymore.
-Do you know if it works? -Of course, look there's wood in it.
[Drew] That is a tall ceiling.
-So this is the A-frame. -This is the A-frame.
-Got it, OK. -[April] Look at the brick.
-Remember the brick we had in our first house? -In Philly.
-It looks exactly the same. -The heat's on the floor.
-Well, that's -- -Is that electric?
-Electric baseboard heat, it's typically what we use up here. -OK.
It makes the homes heat up quick.
And then if you happen to not wanna be up here in the winter,
then just turn them off, shut the house down,
turn the water off, -Mm-hmm.
and the electric baseboard heaters keep you at a minimum temperature.
-Look at the floors, I bet these are original -Yeah, it's pretty cool.
-These are pretty cool. -1966.
What did you say? 1966.
It's hard not to look at the fireplace, though,
because that's unbelievable. -It is the show, right?
-That is it, right? -I know.
[Mark] Get a nice sectional wrap around this.
-OK. -Yeah.
-Oh, wow. -Oh.
-I bet we can fit a tub in here. -I don't see how it could work.
There's no room in there.
A bedroom.
[April] It's nice to have a bedroom down here, especially for when
parents are here. -Parents come and we don't want
them to go up the steps. That's really cool.
The only bad thing is this carpet
we'd have to take it out. -Yeah.
-That would be like right away, but -- -But look at how --
Well you lose the -- I mean, you lose
the tall ceilings now it's starting to feel...
[Mark] Talk about cabin-y. Talk about a mountain feel.
-I know, don't you want cozy? -I do.
-And tight, small? -OK, fine, this is my room.
-And I'll just chill in here, OK. -This is your room.
-[April] Another closet. -Bigger closets than we have at home.
-Yeah, lots of closets. -That's cool.
-The kitchen is quaint. -With a washer over here.
-[April] And a dryer. -[Drew] And I'm guessing that's the dryer.
Well, I mean, I guess it's functional.
But the character in here is incredible.
Look at the beautiful details. Yeah, this kitchen's great.
-One of a kind. -I don't think that
I would actually change this that much in here.
New appliances, and they're small appliances,
so it's not like we're buying big, grand appliances.
New countertop, a new sink, maybe a new floor.
It's not like you have to completely remodel.
You're not going to put an island in.
No.
-Now, charm is upstairs. -OK.
-Oh, this is a nice big bedroom. -Oh, cute.
[Drew] This seems to be the only room that doesn't need work.
-It needs new floors. -Other than the carpet, never mind.
How cute would this be for Eli?
[Mark] So this does not count as a bedroom.
-Uh-huh. -But it's your bonus room.
This is awesome. This is perfect for Eli.
You don't think he can, like, jump over this?
-That's a drop. -I mean, can you?
-I wouldn't try to do that, no. -Look at how beautiful that is.
That's cool.
-[April] I love this. -[Mark] All right.
[April] We could put a little barbecue, a little table.
-Yeah. -Maybe a heat lamp.
-[Drew] So what are these little trees? -[Mark] They are rhododendrons.
-OK -They're, I think, the state bush of Pennsylvania.
-Oh, OK then. -Something like that, there we go.
-[Drew] We are separated from the house, it's pretty cool. -[April] Yeah.
-I mean it goes really back, it wouldn't be too much. -Yeah, this is beautiful!
-That's cool. -[indistinct conversation]
[April] This house is perfect. It's beautiful.
-[Drew] It is unique for sure. -[April] It is beautiful!
[Drew] The fireplace, unique, everything's unique.
A lot of issues that could be costly.
[April] You want to go up to $400?
I want to go up to $400, so we do nothing.
[Mark] Don't forget, this one hasn't been listed yet.
-It will be soon. -[April] So we need to snatch it up.
[Mark] And that hopefully puts a little urgency.
But we are going to look at other places, right?
-We can. -OK.
-[April] Thanks, Mark. -So it's maybe something that's a little flatter.
[narrator] So Mark finds something he hopes Drew will like.
-In the woods, brand new. -Nailed it.
Exactly what you wanted.
-Oh! -Boy, we got a bunch of rain last night.
Yeah.
Mixed with the snow, that's a lot of water.
Yikes.
[narrator] April and Drew head deeper into the Poconos to
a newly built cabin.
It's more expensive than the homes they've
seen, but turnkey.
But it's $329, which puts it way over what I want to spend.
Yeah, but look at all the woods.
Look at all the trees. Like, this is -- Eli's gonna love this.
-It's cute. -Yeah.
-It's a cabin. -Yeah.
Very nice. Look at that.
-It looks really new. -Yeah, it does.
-Hey, Mark. -Look at this, right?
-All right. -Cabin in the woods, brand new.
-Nailed it. -Exactly what you wanted, right?
Where's the lake?
The lake's about a mile and a half away.
-But you got everything right? -That's not, that's not even close.
-Still part of the HOA? -Yeah, that's far.
I don't see myself walking a mile and a half to a lake.
You're on a cul-de-sac, you're in the woods.
-That's great. - [April] I mean, it is very secluded.
-[Drew] It is secluded. -[Mark] It's everything you want.
-The lake is not close. -You don't have to do a thing.
-Oh, wow. -[Drew] This is cabin living --
one room, all on one floor, like real cozy.
Look at all the trees.
It feels like we're, like, nestled in.
I do really like this fireplace.
[Mark] Brand new.
Yeah. This is a nice window.
-They're nice windows, nice light. -Yeah.
So with April wanting to be near $300 and Drew being OK with
$400, my goal in getting them to this house is to let Drew see
something that's new and for April to kind of get the idea
that maybe a vacation house is not necessarily a project.
-The floor is really nice. -Yeah.
Like, this is perfect for the dog, especially with all this
water and snow outside. -Oh, yeah.
-So this is easy to clean, so that's a plus. -Yeah, yeah.
[April] The kitchen's very clean, all brand new.
-Uh huh. -New appliances, the cabinets are nice.
-Yeah. -I think I'd add maybe a little backsplash to this.
-Oh yeah? -Liven it up.
-OK. -It feels like one big open room.
I feel like you'd have to set this all up so that
it's very defined.
Maybe like a work table or something here to close
off the kitchen. -OK.
-Standalone food island. -Yeah, to make it feel like it's separate.
-Right, but not -- -Because right now it just feels --
Not too separate. That's the whole thing about a cabin.
You got that like one floor, one room, kind of
everybody together.
Trees, trees, and a deck! And a deck, look at that.
-Yeah. -Out to see the creatures running by.
-Oh, wow. -This is really nice.
-[Mark] Welcome to the Poconos. -[April] It could be bigger.
-But you're in a cul-de-sac, nothing behind you. -I mean, we're gonna grill,
just the three of us out here. Eli can explore back here.
-[April] Yeah, yeah. -He doesn't have to like, take off far.
That's really cool. I really like this.
we can really kind of chill out back here in this.
So my only issue with this right now is that I don't,
like, everything's been redone.
Like, what is it that we do here?
You don't have anything to do but hang out and relax.
-Right. -And enjoy.
-Buy it and just come hang out. -Yeah.
There's gotta be something you could change that isn't
blowing out walls and stuff like that.
Yeah, I do like the paint color, I'm gonna say.
So it is small in that sense that it's two bedroom,
one bath. -Yeah.
Just one bath.
-Yeah. -Cozy.
-Cozy, that's right. -Which is what I wanted.
This bathroom is done well.
-Yeah. -It is.
-And I love the fact that there's a tub for Eli. -Yep. Totally.
-OK. -So, bedroom one.
-It's a good size. -Yeah.
-Big windows. -It is a big window.
And it's not facing someone's other window.
That's true. That's true.
It is positioned nicely.
Don't forget, we also have a basement.
-Very cool. -Is it finished?
-Oh, it's not finished. -Now you can do some things.
-Hmm, that's true. -OK.
-Um, there's a problem. -What? Whoa.
The whole thing is flooded. Wow!
I've dealt with that at other houses.
It's not fun, but if it knocks off some money or it works to
our advantage, that would be pretty cool.
I'm not ready to give up on getting the place, so I would
love to be able to figure it out.
But, like, what do you do in a situation like this?
-Is it, oh, we fix it? -You don't fix it.
--The guy who's selling the house is gonna fix it, right? -Oh.
I mean, this place is awesome, and then that,
and it's like, ah!
The snow, it just looks different up here.
It's beautiful.
[narrator] Today, Drew and April are seeing a place with a bonus bed
and bath that's somewhat secluded, but close to
lakefront amenities.
[April] I'm really interested in seeing this one.
It's not an A-frame, but it's A-frame-ish.
-What does that mean? -Well, I guess it's pointy.
The only issue is it's $320, and I really want to stay in
that $300 or less range.
-Hey, Mark, how goes it? -Hey, hey.
Hi, Mark! -Good to see you.
-In the woods, but about a mile away, -Yeah.
you'll find the community center.
There's a lake there with a little beach,
a clubhouse, a little marina, sports court. -OK, yeah.
The deck is very nice.
It's wood siding, recently painted.
What is that?
It's a hot tub with an enclosure around it.
I don't know if I want that.
-Oh, look at this, oh wow. -Oh!
So it's currently being used as a vacation rental, as you can
see with some of the little things. -Oh.
-Right. -Not super high ceilings.
No...you know, pointed on the front, it would be nice
if the... -Right, it's a fake A-frame, OK.
Yes, yes.
-Not real wood floors. -[Mark] Nope, these are luxury vinyl...
But that's OK, that's OK.
...so, waterproof. -Yeah, that's great.
-Easy to clean. -That's great.
-For spills. -Well, that's good with Eli, yeah.
-It's nice that there's a fireplace. -Yes, no, I like this.
So it's propane.
Imagine, just hit the remote and you got fire.
I actually don't mind that. It's just lacking character.
-OK. -It just feels a little bit too much like a house, not like
we're in the woods. I do like the kitchen.
It's nice that the appliances are updated.
[Drew] Yeah, we wouldn't have to buy new stuff.
The pulls on here, that gives it a little bit of character,
makes it feel a little older. -Yeah.
You could put a coat of paint on here.
Oh definitely, absolutely.
With some of the walls, accent walls with wallpaper.
Yeah, yeah.
But for the most part, we've got nice floors.
[April] Yeah, the floors are great.
[Mark] Overall the house is in very good condition.
-Yes. -Yep, yeah.
And because it's a vacation rental, you have, usually have
the option of being able to have everything included so
whether you want the plates and the knives and the forks --
-[April] Oh, all of this stuff is included? -It could very well be.
Maybe we can put it in the offer.
So that means that we could come hang out here immediately.
First floor bedroom, which is great,
especially for our when our parents come to visit.
[Drew] I like the trees and a little bit of a yard back here.
-It's nice that there's a bathroom. -Yes, is there a tub?
[April] No, no tub.
-OK. -Uh, it does need some work.
This would be a great room for wallpaper.
-We can make that bathroom really cute. -Right.
In a cabin, there is no upstairs.
Everything's like in one place, just saying.
The carpet. It kills me.
-Luckily, the carpet's only on this. -On the stairs, yeah.
You don't have to deal with that, and those rails.
[April] This is nice.
-This could be Eli's room, yeah. -See, this feels A-frame-y.
-It's got that arc. -It's not, yeah, it's higher.
I mean, I wish the height of these were downstairs.
Right, yeah.
-But this room feels, this feels like the woods. -Yeah.
I think that would be a sweet space for Eli.
All right. And the last of the big rooms.
-Oh, this is -- -A really tight hallway.
-Yeah. -This is cool.
A lot of wood paneling, though.
-This is a huge closet. -Holy cow.
[Drew] Every time we go somewhere with Eli,
we have to, like, drag the whole house.
Having a place where we can stick everything,
shove everything, that is huge. -Yeah, wow.
-It's nice having two bathrooms, really is. -Oh wow, this is a big bathroom.
[Drew] Oh, wow. It's got the tub.
[April] Yeah, yeah. No, that's great.
This place seems pretty done.
It has a little bit of stuff I'm looking for, a little bit
of stuff that April's looking for.
It's finding the right feel.
I like the backyard a ton.
Area for the dogs. Nobody's on top of us.
I dig it.
[April] I just don't know about this one.
-I mean, there's the decks. -[Drew] Yeah.
Plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms.
[Drew] Right, I like it.
There's not a lot of work that needs to be done to it.
so I think we should think about it, I really do.
Yeah, I just, the price, I don't know if I'm comfortable
with, but I understand what you're saying.
I think Drew thinks that this house is perfectly fine the way
it is, and that nothing needs to be done to it.
But in my eyes, it needs new paint.
It needs some character. It needs a lot.
[Mark] Well, you said you were going to make the decision this weekend?
-[April] Yeah. -[Drew] We're gonna talk about it.
We're gonna figure it out.
[narrator] April and Drew want to buy a vacation home in the Poconos
if they can agree on one.
-OK, the A-frame. -The A-frame.
-I love it, it's full of charm. -I know you love it.
-Pardon me, your salads for you. -Thank you so much.
You're very welcome. Just lay that there.
-Thank you so very much. -You're very welcome.
All right, I know you love that one, I get it.
-[April] It's full of character. -[Drew] Sure is, yes.
-[April] It's full of charm. -[Drew] It's full of projects.
-Which I love. -Which cost money.
-But it's $235. -Gotta re-do a bathroom.
That's $15,000, $16,000. Gotta re-do the kitchen.
That's $15,000, but the tall ceiling's amazing.
-[April] That fireplace. -[Drew] It's a wood-burning fireplace.
-[April] Mm-hmm. -[Drew] I've never seen one like that before.
And it felt nice in there.
And it's right across the street from the lake.
It's just so much work. So much work.
-[both] Thank you so much. -Enjoy.
[April] At 1,000 square feet, the cabin was the smallest
that we saw. -[Drew] It didn't feel small in there.
It felt open, and even though it only had one bathroom,
it was a good-sized bathroom. There's a tub.
[April] There is a tub. That's nice.
And while there's, like, no work that needs to be done,
it's all finished, you actually like the stuff
that's in there. So that's a rare combo.
[April] I did like it, but the basement was full of water.
[Drew] It was full of water. Mark's talking to them.
Maybe he could knock off, what -- it's $329?
They knock some money off the house, and we know it's OK,
there's nothing else that needs to be done there.
[April] The outside kind of won me over.
I thought maybe this could be a place for us.
[Drew] But definitely not a mile and a half away from the lake.
-That's just, come on. -[April laughing]
Do you see me walking a mile and a half to a lake,
or to anywhere for that matter? So how about the chalet?
-[April] The chalet was A-frame-ish. -Right.
[Drew] It also had a really weird hot tub, which just --
I keep thinking about. I don't know what we'd do with it.
-We'd get rid of it. -Probably.
[April] But I do really love how there are three bedrooms, one on
the first floor with a bathroom, and then the two
bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs with the tub.
But the only character that the chalet really had was
that fireplace.
[Drew] I know that you'd want to do some projects,
and do some things.
[April] Mark said that it had been redone.
-Yeah. -I just feel like we have to add a lot in order for that place
to be what I want. -OK.
Like, we know we want to move here.
We know it would be cool to have a second place here.
-Mm-hmm, yeah. -But where?
[doorbell rings]
-What do you think? -It's beautiful.
Yeah?
She wants the A-frame? Let's get her the A-frame.
She deserves it for a ton of reasons.
-[Lynda] I love that fireplace! -Isn't it great?
-It's perfect! -[Drew] You can't miss it.
When we found this house, I thought immediately that this
was the one.
It had a lot of what I wanted, and it also had a lot of what
Drew wanted.
You know, with getting the A-frame, but it's dark
and cozy, like the cabin he wanted.
So it was a very good compromise.
-Lovely. -Yeah.
It's pretty great.
The owners wanted $235, and we ended up paying $232.
-How about I start a fire? -That sounds great.
-Yeah? Cool. -Yes, yes.
I didn't know we would be able to find a fireplace like this.
Oh, it's a showstopper. It's incredible.
I think every time we come here, we feel like
we don't want to leave.
Well, you've set up this so nicely.
I love your tables. I love your chairs.
-Thank you. -What other plans do you have?
Well, I'm going to give you him.
Oh. [indistinct]
[April] I want to tackle the bathroom first, because the bathroom is
obviously essential to living. Also, we need a tub.
To spend time up here, we're going to have to be able
to bathe Eli, so that's first.
-Then we'll tackle the carpet, get all the carpet out of here. -Yeah.
We should take her over to the lake and show her
how close it is.
It's like, you see a lot of wildlife,
-so they're just right here. -[Drew] That's where they all hang out.
-It's very cool. -And I think the neighbors,
I definitely think the neighbors feed them.
-I think they might, yeah. -So they're a part of the community.
April's happy, Eli's clearly happy.
He's got his stuff here, so I'm happy.
I don't have to drag it everywhere we go.
It's not something I would have thought about five years ago
or 10 years ago that it would be possible.
When you go through a lot of things, it's hard to
figure out what happy is.
You don't know, it's like you're in survival mode.
You're just like, just make it to the next day, make it to the next day.
And I am proud that we are making it to many more days.
-Yay! Whoa! -[giggling]
It feels like a start to move forward.
-Yeah. -Yeah.