The House Hunt

I’m having a hard time believing that Vince didn’t agree to buying a house in MO, knowing that by the time he got done telling me what he wants and doesn’t want, and the price he’s willing to pay .. he’s certain it will be impossible to find.

There’s one here that’s kind of a condo/duplex thing and I like it. It’s been totally re-done. I love the kitchen. It has a full unfinished basement (safe place for storms), it has a full two car garage. I think I’d feel safe there if I were there without Vince. The kitchen is plenty big enough to cook holiday meals. It has a perfect deep windowsill where Boots could sit and look out. There’s an HOA fee and that takes care of trash pickup, snow removal and keeping the grass cut and beds maintained. But, I’m not sure about sharing a wall and having neighbors that close. Good neighbors would be fine. Crazy, loud neighbors . . not so fine. I suppose I’d be ok renting but probably not buying. Vince and I agreed we’d scratch that one off the list.

There was another one that’s out of the city limits, has well over an acre but it has a detached garage. An attached garage is kinda high on my list because (1) it rains a good bit here (2) this area gets more than its share of snow and ice. The driveway is rock and it’s probably about 6 or 7 car lengths long. Vince said “How are we going to remove the snow from the driveway?” Hmmm . . how did we do it when we lived here? Paid someone to come do it! Chances are slim that we’d be here when it snows. That mostly happens in January – March but . . I do remember that Christmas Day and I do plan to spend every Christmas in Missouri!

If there’s anyone who hasn’t read the Snow on Christmas Day story, you must read it! It’s been almost 9 years ago and it’s still one of my favorite posts.

So . . back to the house . .

Vince: You’re finding houses that just aren’t going to work for us. We need a basement. You’re afraid of storms.
Me: I doubt we’re going to find anything in the price range we want to spend that has a good basement.
Vince: And a fireplace. What if we’re there and the power goes out in the winter?
Me: I doubt we’re going to find a house with a good fireplace in the price range we’re looking.
Vince: We may have to spend a little more!

I know having a little house in MO is a luxury and not a necessity so I can do without some of the things I otherwise might think I need.

Then, he said “What about this house?” and sent me a link. It was about $30K more than I thought we had decided to spend. He said He’d rather spend that and get something nicer. Then he sent me another link that was $50K more than we had planned to spend. I said no . . I draw the line. Not happening.

The realtor here said they’re very low on houses that are listed right now. We’re going to stick with the budget. We’re not going to go crazy and buy something that’s more than we intended to spend. The right house will come along . . whether it has a basement and fireplace . . that remains to be seen!