Thursday, June 16, 2011

House Hunting ~ My way

11 houses. The list gets longer and longer, then shorter and shorter. I make notes on each sheet that describes each home. Some say like....

"I LOVE THIS HOUSE"

"HUGE YARD"

"Beautiful, updated kitchen!"

"Bombay Bedroom"

"Needs a fence"

"kids play room on first floor"

I take time for just me in most of these homes we visit, some just a few seconds, and some a few minutes. I envision things like the kids stumbling into our bedroom from theirs in the middle of the night. I think of them playing in the backyard while I sit on the deck reading a book. I picture each child in their bedrooms, placing the beds in just the right spots and always making sure Lily gets the room with the biggest closets. I can't lie, I even laid down in one of the bathtub's, just to see how it felt.

House hunting is exhausting and mind boggling. And no matter how many times our realtor says "take good notes", I always expect myself to remember the one's I love and each reason as to why I loved them.

But I don't. Even my notes fail me, as does my memory. I can't remember which house is which and things of the sort. I am lucky enough to have a husband with an impeccable memory for detail and a realtor who certainly won't let me forget the important things like ugly carpet, laundry room upstairs, and "the one with the pool".

And the schools. Oh my. The schools. The realtor tells us his thoughts. He is honest and straight forward. I insist on doing my own homework, to research them on my own. I of course, forgot we are now on summer break and it is impossible to get a feel for the school since it is not in session.  We can visit the schools, and I plan on it on our next trip down, but for me, this seems like the biggest deal breaker. I need a good school for my kids. And a safe home. I need to stop getting hung up on pretty kitchens and big bathtubs, and worry about whats important, like where my children will be spending their time away from me and where they will be getting a good quality education.

These decisions are tough, but necessary. We are up for all of the steps involved in the process of relocating. We are ready to move on. We will miss what we have at "home", but are excited to move forward.

2 comments:

sheena@sophistishe.com said...

If you view some more houses... if they let you, take pictures next time :). Especially after your offer is accepted so you can plan out where everything's going (and shop) while you wait for the big move in day :). Good luck, my friend!!

MBKimmy said...

I am sure as with every county they have good schools and bad schools - If it is like SC you can take your child to any school in the county you live as long as you are willing to drive themif it is off the bus route. IF you find the house you love go with it - shcool will also fall into place!
We are currenlty on our 3rd house in 7 years of marriage - 1 I owned before marriage, the 2nd we built and BOTH loved it - it was THE HOUSE!!!! The 3rd that we are in now was LOCATION LOCATION a very old house but on the inter coastal waterway with a pool and huge yard!!! It wasn't the "house" that sold us but the "things" that came with it!
Good luck!