Sunday, February 26, 2012

House Hunting for My Folks: Part 1

Every Friday night I think about writing a blog post. Sometimes I even sit down to the task. But I often feel like I don't have anything to say. Then Saturday comes with its whirlwind of activity, and usually I find something to talk about. (On Sundays, I start making mental notes of all the things I could write about in future posts; I often dilute myself into thinking that I will get another post in on Sunday or Monday.... or maybe Tuesday... but it doesn't happen. Life happens. And life doesn't usually stand still long enough for me to sit in a chair and type about it.)

The post I wrote yesterday (about doing demo in the basement) was started on Friday. I kind-of think of it as Friday's post. The post I really wanted to write for yesterday was about house-hunting for my parents, but I ran out of time. (Typical!) Today we had church in the morning, and it's nap time right now. Baby and dad just cuddled up in bed... I have one hour to myself. Apparently I want to spend it typing because here I am!

During naptime yesterday afternoon I went, on behalf of my parents, to look at three possible houses. They were all on the East side of town, about 30 minutes from my house. Sadly, the outcome of the houses was fail, fail, fail.

The first house was an excellent house. It had four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The floor plan was very open, everything was easily accessible, the master suite was just the right size. It had a huge upstairs space with a couple of bedrooms and a full bathroom -- a good setup for dual living, if needed. The lot was a little more than half an acre in size, with beautiful lawns and beautiful houses on two sides....

Then there was the other neighbors. Even though the house is out in the country, it just happens to be located right next to a small cluster of very shabby houses. Apparently the other dozen residences are (or were?) part of an agricultural co-op. If the house were in a different setting, I would tell my mom to go see it. Unfortunately, half the "neighborhood" is very undesirable.

So
we moved on to the second house. It was likewise a lovely residence on a large, beautifully manicured lot. There was plenty of room for my folks to park their RV and do some gardening (a hobby/passion of my mom's). But house two was too small. The kitchen was tiny -- it felt smaller than my kitchen, even. The doorways were all quite narrow, the rooms weren't especially roomy. Plus it was boxy.

We didn't stay long; we continued to
the third house...

Ahhh, privacy. Safety. Luxury. Rich people! House three was in a very secluded, gated neighborhood full of big houses on large lots. You could smell the money.... or maybe just hear it. (Homeowner #3 happened to be at home, and she wasn't especially nice. I guess I can't blame her -- it's obvious that I'm just a middle-class gal in my late 20s; it's not like I'm going to buy a big, fancy house. She became somewhat nicer after I explained that I was previewing the house on behalf of my parents.)

The landscaping felt like a park or country club. There was a bubbling stream at the foot of the property and lots of lovely, mature trees. The house itself was... so-so. It was all one level, which is great, but it had a lot of angles. The spare bedrooms were a bit small. And the master bathroom... oh gosh... carpeted throughout. And needed a lot of work besides. So house three wasn't a good fit. And I was happy to escape that gated den of gluttonous living.

(I'm hyperbolizing, in case it's not obvious.)

Thus the search continues. I still have a long list of potential properties, and I plan to preview plenty of them, probably continuing next Saturday with another two or three. Stay tuned!

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