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House Hunting

Now that boyfriend and I both have permanent jobs and are starting to make real money we want to move to a house. Easier said than done.

Since we’re working in different towns we need to live in a place from which you can commute to both. We want a bigger house, with a bigger yard and those places are expensive in the highly populated areas. We’ve settled for a village, where you get “more house for your money” compared to the highly populated areas.

I’ve always known that I wanted stairs in my house. Whether they go upstairs or downstairs from the entry-level doesn’t matter, I want stairs so that the house doesn’t feel like an apartment on the ground. I also want a separated TV-room and living-room, in my living-room the furniture should not face one wall, when I entertain guests they should be sitting around a table, at all sides of it.

Since June we’ve been on three showings. The first house looked nice enough, but it didn’t feel like a home. The garden had a bad arrangement; it wasn’t used to its fullest potential. Considering it was the placement of the house that was off, it wasn’t much to do about it.

The second house was lovely, we really liked it. One story, with a basement, and a big garden with sun in the afternoon. However, the people who lived there hadn’t taken care of their house; with some potential damage for damp in the basement and dried out window-frames and bricks. Also some holes in the basement. After a long delibiration we decided to not go for that house, there was too much work that needed to be done, and too many potential damages that could show up later.

Then, last week, we went to see another house. It’s situated a bit outside this village, still not far though, on a hill so the view is spectacular. On the other side of the house is a big forest with many trails for walking or running. The house is big, two stories with a fully decorated basement. Wide open spaces. It’s almost a bit too big, but the location of it is so beautiful and we know we can never get that location again.

We’ve placed a bid, but nobody has responded to it; the sellers didn’t take it thoug, not unexpectedly. Now we’re waiting to hear from another couple who has expressed intrest in the house (he had to talk to his wife), but other than that it seems like we’re alone. The realtor will work on the sellers, make them realise that they probably won’t get what they’re asking. If we’re the only ones interested, that gives us the opportunity to deal directly and privately with the sellers. So all we’re doing now is waiting to hear about the next move; are we alone or not?
One thing about showings, it must be hard having children there (we’ve seen some). When we, as adults, are walking around, sure you think about what you want in the different rooms, but you know that there is a chance you won’t get the house. Having children running around saying “this is my room”, “here’s where that goes” must be harder. Do they know that there is a chance you won’t get it? If they know, do they understand?

So that’s one of the things taking up my time right now; waiting, talking, thinking. But it is exciting!