Decisions, Decisions

Well, we began our new house search today. This morning we left the girls at home playing with their grandmother and cousins while we went to walk through house #1. House #1 is a 5 bedroom, 3bath 1970's split level. We went with every expectation of the house not living up to our expectations. We wanted in some ways for the house to cry out to us "don't buy me." Honestly, that didn't happen. From the time we walked in the front door and up the stairs to the main living area I could see us living there. I could see our furniture there.

It needs only some cosmetic work. The walls of the main part of the house are pink. Lots of pink in that house. The two bedrooms downstairs are both paneled and would need to be primed and painted if we were not energetic enough to rip the paneling down and hang sheetrock - I am not Dy. The bar downstairs is uggglyyy and will have to be yanked out. But, the big things (roof, water heater, furnace and major appliances) have all been replaced within the last 12 years.

The eat in kitchen could not really be an eat-in kitchen for all five of us. But, can hold a small table that a few of us could eat at. The attached dining room could be used for dinners, when all of us sit down to eat. But the kitchen is large enough for elbow room for two cooks - which is better than we have now.

The yard is huge, and when we have our yearly snow would be the best sledding hill.

The storage is great. Big closets in every room, attic access and a laundry room/storage area as large as our family room right now.

We left thinking that this house is a definite possibility. I could tell from DH's body language that while he was not ready to sign any papers right then, could see us in that house. But, it is also the first house we have walked through. So, we left and told the agent we would talk to him after the holiday.

When we came home DH, himself, found the flier I had printed on another, newer house, that actually had a better location for us. He called the agent and scheduled us for a 4:00 walk through. This house was also 5 bedrooms, but had about 150 less square feet. He took the girs to hit golf balls and go to the park while I worked on some things around the house. Once EM was up from her nap we headed out to drive by another possible house. As soon as I drove into that neighborhood I knew we would not be interested. The neighborhood was very inconvient for DH's commute and it just felt wrong. So I could mark that one off my list.

Then we headed over to house #2 for the walk through. The neighborhood was great. Lots of amenities. The house was on a cul-de-sac and was really nice looking on the outside. The yard was horrible. A huge ditch running through the backyard, no fencing, only some scrub bushes separating the yard from a road (not a neighborhhod street). That lot was supposed to be the same size as our lot now. There was no way unless the next door neighbor put his fence on half of that lot. The interior space in this "huge" house seemed downright small. Not even cozy, but small. I don't think our furniture would fit in either the living or family rooms. The kitchen area, although it was supposed to be much larger than the house #1 seemed cramped and the 'eating area' would only fit a small round table - and then if you didn't plan on accessing the pantry.

The only space in that house that had any size to it was the master bed and bath. And athough I would love to have the bath, the bedroom was wasted space. It had two walk-in closets, one of which was larger enough to serve as a nursery for a baby.

Neither DH or I liked the house from the time we walked in. This one did scream at us "don't buy me!!"

So, what do we do now? Next week we have two different agents coming to our house for a walk through to let us know what they could do for us in selling our home. What projects we need to complete and what we coud just ignore. I guess because of the tremendous growth near us and the stability and success of the local schools; when we told the agents what neighborhood our house was in both were practicaly salivating. If DH and I were convinced we could get X amount and sell the house relatively quicker, then we might speed up our search. But, being convinced is the key word. Both DH and I hate pressure, that will turn us off quicker than anything.

We have to decide whether we want to put the house on the market and hope that we find a house that we really want before this one sells. Or, find a house that we really like, make a contingency offer (if the sellers would even accept one) and hope that our house sells quickly for what we want/need. How does anyone find the happy medium in making that choice?

Off to do some thinking.

Peace,

Amy