Saturday we went with our realtor for two hours and looked at 8 houses. Sunday open house day we looked at another 3 or 4. With all three kids, 6 and under. They are funny and I really have great kids. I can't remember them all they are all starting to blur in my mind. This is proving to be harder than I thought. There is one house we like but it has a driveway of about a 40 degree incline. The backyard is mountain and rocky, but flat enough to hike. The question we have is where would the kids ride their bikes, play kick ball or play catch? If only the house was on a different lot it would be more appealing. It might have structural issues.
So much to consider here. Mountainside, acres, acres with mountain, mountain view but not on the mountain, valley, valley subdivision with tiny lot with new house, top of the mountain, my list could go on and on and on.
Then there is the new house verses old. All the houses we looked at this weekend needed help and most need work before we would moved in. A few would need a new kitchen ASAP. One had the original late 60's stove and oven and the cabinets where as old too. That house was over 3000 square feet! 6 bedrooms with a pool! I like it but Mark, not so much. Needs lots of work and it is not "grand". You would think walking into a 3000 + sq foot house to have a grand entry or something grand that would take your breath away. It doesn't have high ceiling or great open spaces. It has two jack and jill bathrooms! HUGE but conservative is the best way to explain it. On a golf course too. If it is still for sale when the time comes it will get my vote.
We really don't want to do anything until our house sells. Just because we don't want to be stuck with two mortgages if our house doesn't sell in Saint Petersburg. We have narrowed down which neighborhood we would like to live in if we move into the "big" city. You just know driving around what you like. There is not a lot of houses for sale around here. So we have to wait even if we do sell our house.
Next weekend Karen will be here for dare I say it.... NATHAN'S THIRD BIRTHDAY! The following weekend we are going to focus on the suburbs and what they have to offer. It seems you can get more for your money, land and house. It is a suburb of the city and is different landscape wise. Not a whole lot of mountains over here. Hilly but no mountains.
That was our exciting weekend. We let the kids rate houses on a scale 1 to 5. Five being the best, all but one got a 5. Madison would count the bedrooms to make sure the house had enough for her to have her own. That is how she mostly rated them. All houses with stairs got a 5. They were so disappointed come 4 PM when the open houses were done yesterday. They want to go in more houses. I think the "fun" will come to an end soon.
Let me just add one more thing, people do weird stuff to their houses. One house had three or four different wood floors and then tile and other crazy flooring. One was just to weird to explain. One closed in half the two car garage and added another front door? Strange. I didn't even bother to get out of the car for that open house. People are not OCD like me and it is obvious. Do people consider resale value when doing projects?
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