The Waiting Room

I really want to get another house.

Although we have a very nice apartment, I am getting tired of apartment living. We have the world's loudest dishwasher. I mean this thing reminds me of the dishwasher that my parents had back in the 80's. Actually, all of our appliances are quite old.

Also, we don't have a yard for the Boy. He must be on a leash at all times. Husband was sitting out on our deck, which is enclosed, when the Boy had a stare down match with a squirrel. (Imagine the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing in the background). Needless to say, the Boy lost the staring match because he wanted to give chance, but could not. The Boy just stamped his paws in frustration. And if the Boy needs to go out to do his um, business, one of us has to put on our shoes, put the Boy on his leash and grab a couple of poop bags.

We have been going to look at homes that seem like potential contenders. After all, it doesn't have to be perfect. Our next house should just have the potential for greatness. We have seen a couple of nice homes, but nothing that makes us want to break out the checkbook just yet.

There are some things that are total deal breakers. I must have an updated kitchen and bathroom (Master bath MUST have a garden tub). Those of you who are long time readers know that I lived through a major kitchen and bath remodel and although the end result was spectacular, getting there was rough.

We also want to have a newer home. Our old house was built in the 1950's and the previous owners did half-assed work in maintaining the house. If we wanted to paint a room, something that should take a weekend, it would take a week to complete. There was hideous wallpaper in our house that was not properly installed. The previous owner did not prep the walls, so the glue-back was stuck and could not be removed. So, we would have to sand the walls, which were Pepto-Bismol pink, repair cracks and holes, and THEN paint.

So given all of that, plus other heinousness that I just don't want to think about, I have earned the right to have a house that is move-in ready!

The other thing is, we are trying to educate ourselves about housing in the area. Each time we look at a house and talk to a real estate agent, we learn something new. Sure, we are now veterans, having already owned a home. But, the homes are way different here than they are "up North". We found that there are different materials used in building that are not used up North. There are issues with poor workmanship on many homes. With the housing boom, contractors cut corners with products and labor. Sadly, there are some serious issues that one would not expect. One house we looked at had the hot water tank in the attic! Hello...serious issue if your water tank bursts! We had that happen in our old house, but at least our tank was in the basement!

Egad!

Well, one good thing is that the tax credit for homes is supposed to be extended to people who owned a home in the last couple of years and wish to move into a new one, so long as you are under contract by April and close by June. That's some good incentive for us to keep looking and learning.