Between us.
Staring at us.
We met with an agent last week. Articulated what we have talked about off and on over the years. What we want, what we don't. Mostly, it's been a process of elimination. We can't live too far from where D works, because he doesn't drive. So, a mile or so radius of location. Which suits me, so I don't have a bad commute either. No basement condos. We lived in some nice basement apartments, acceptable short term, but we're not going to buy one. We are not handy enough to get a fixerupper, so the functional stuff needs to be in good shape - furnace, windows, roof, basement dry, plumbing, electrical. Cosmetic aspects I can probably manage, in time.
I would like a garden, however small. In fact, a big yard would be more of a problem. We need just a little more space than we have. Right now 700 sqift* is just a little too little, with the bathroom through our bedroom. One more room will do us just fine, so about 1000 sqift total. We like enough light, we want a useful layout - decent flow. D would prefer a condo to have maintenance support, I am open but would prefer a home or townhouse, not wanting to deal with condo fees and homeowner associations.
And a place to put the car, garage, carport, or a place to put a heavy duty tent over it. Enough natural light. Newish furnace to be efficient, either AC or a swamp cooler.
Want to avoid squeaky floors, excessively tiny bathrooms, dangerous stairs, carpets - especially in apartment-beige, corner lots, ancient appliances that would have to be replaced quickly. After the one place we looked at yesterday, we added a rule of thumb - compromise on a number of things, but not a combination. One drawback, we can cope. Two gets iffy, three and we walk away. Because other problems will always crop up later on top of that. We want a place to live, it's not primarily an investment. It can't make us crazy within a year.
The cat needs a bit more space to run. We plan to net off an area outside for him.
*Sqift - Square Feet.
8 comments:
Best wishes with your house hunting, Z and D. Home will always be where ever the three of you are, but nice surroundings are always a plus.
The crossed paws, the look of serious, intense study of his humans - I love this photo!
good thinking, hope what you all need turn up
It's out there somewhere, and I hope you find it.
You have lots of criteria, I hope something is found that meets all but one or two of them. It sounds like an almost insurmountable challenge.
Oh, and about not being handy - if you can get something at a deep discount, ask among your coworkers for references of construction contractors. It could be that with the money you save by getting something at a deep discount, you spend a bit more to have changes done to make the property more closely match what you want. You could continue to live where you are living now while the work is done so that you don't have to 'live through it'.
It's a good time to be house hunting. You can take your time and be picky. I'm sure the right thing will come along soon. Best of luck.
Has Moby ever been outside? It is a big change! When we moved from London to the French countryside, I took my London streetwise cat with me. He adored it,and probably terrorised the country bumpkin cats for miles around.Hope you find the right place.
How very exciting! I do hope you find what you want.
Crow,
It's very cute.
gz, RR, Anne, Isabelle,
We will keep our eyes open.
Phil,
Ha. Yeah, wanting a place with ceiling and floor is going to be a big order.
Rosie,
He has, in the yard in the Fenway, on a leash. He seemed to like it. Never just free to roam, even within a cat-fenced area.
http://onewordisenough.blogspot.com/2006/06/door-photo.html
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