Buying a House

Looking for a new house is a pretty fun adventure. Basically you go around looking into other people’s homes and lives. It’s a voyeur’s jackpot.

We gave the real estate agent our guidelines for a new house, and she set about showing us everything on the market. One major guideline we have is that we want to stay in our school zone, so Calfgrit8 won’t have to change schools again.

We originally chose our current location for the school zone — one of the best in the county. But that changed last year. Now we’re restricting our new home search to either stay in our current school zone (it’s turned out to be a good school) or get back into the old school zone. But then, we also know there’s no guarantee that the zones won’t change again sometime, sooner or later.

Our agent has sent us web links to about 30 homes, but some we’ve immediately rejected for various reasons. We’ve actually gone to see around 20 homes. Almost all the houses we’ve visited are 15-20 years old, and most of them look it. None of them are really run down or bad or anything, but compared to our current house they feel like a retrograde, even if they are bigger.

Out of the ones we’ve visited, only one remains on our list to consider. It’s only 9 years old -– the youngest we’ve seen –- and it has a really big backyard. We currently have a really nice backyard, and it’s one of the things we really appreciate about our current home. A big outdoor play area is essential for boys.

Then we visited a new neighborhood where they’re still building new homes. This new development is literally right next to Calfgrit8’s school. (But I’m sure the school board could find some way to defend changing the zone, anyway.) On the other side of the neighborhood is a big, town park, with a lake. Hmmm, says the home shoppers.

And now, as of signing the contract for selling our current house, we will be “homeless” in two months if we don’t make a decision quickly. The choice is between a 9-year old house with a great big backyard, or a brand new house in a great location. But the brand new house doesn’t actually exist yet. It’ll take 5-6 months to build.

Fortunately, Cowgrit’s mother lives very nearby, and she’s graciously offered to let us stay with her for a few months if we need to. This seems to be a repeating them for us: Cowgrit and I, way back before children, lived with my mother-in-law for several months while our first house (before our current one) was being built.

So, choose the good house that isn’t new but is ready right now, or choose the great house that is brand spankin’ new but won’t be ready for several months? Can we all live together in Cowgrit’s mother’s house for 3 or 4 months without anyone (us or my mother-in-law) going insane?

Yep, home shopping is a grand adventure.

Bullgrit