Philip and I are casually looking at houses. And by that, I mean we want to purchase our half-way house (remember, half-way between our first and our last) sometime in the next 3 to 36 months. So naturally, I am obsessed with looking for just the right house.
Both of these seem quite nice.
In talking to some friends of ours that are also thinking of buying, I've realized that I AM CRAZY, and have kind of ridiculous things that I think are important. Which I'll share with you.- First up, I want to be in Mesa, and when I say Mesa, I mean nothing further East than Val Vista, or Greenfield at the most. Why? Good question, it leads to my next requirement.
-I want a real back yard, with mature citrus trees, a big grassy area, and enough room for a pool. You know, like the perfect backyard for parties and BBQ's.
-Yes, I want a pool. What else can you do with kids during the summer in AZ?
-I would LOVE some brick of sorts on the front of the house. And please no stucco. Or slump block. Please.
- I want my own mailbox. I HATE going to a community mailbox to get my mail, I want my own in my front yard.
- I would like a path leading up to the door for two reasons. #1, so trick-or-treaters don't walk on my pretty grass, and #2, so I can plant flowers up the path.
-This house doesn't need to be enormous, but I would for sure like 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms (at least). I like the idea of a half bath in the front of the house that stays clean because it isn't a get ready bathroom.
- Floor plan, floor plan, floor plan. I'm a stickler about floor plans. I hate it when a house doesn't seem to flow well, or seems cramped or feel like things are awkward. I'm kinda not a huge fan of "open" floor plans either, because then you can't easily hide messes, and I like walls to define rooms so that I can paint them all different colors without trying to figure out where one room ends and the other starts.
- I want a garage. So badly. Our tools want to come out of the closet. (That sounds like the premise of a show that would be on MTV.)
-Ooooh, and I can't wait for a laundry room. A large one would be lovely.
-I'm a little bit leery of buying a house that has been remodeled recently, because then if I don't like the cabinets or tile or something I would feel bad ripping out perfectly good things.
- Okay, here's where the super duper crazy comes out. I would love a cute street name. I have been looking at different ones that I have strong feelings about, such as
Halifax; ugh, Haaaaaalifaaaaax. Not ideal.
Encanto: I-canto imagine ever liking that name.
Enid: barf.
York Circle: yes please.
Mallory: let me call you sweetheart!
Elmwood: makes me think of worms.
Jacaranda: mixed feelings, I love the trees, but would feel like I needed to say it all Spanish-y like "Hockarohnda" with a very heavy "hhhhhh" or something.
June Circle: can you say cute?
Just a few examples.
- If that wasn't crazy enough, I'm kinda picky about the house numbers too. I would like the house number to not end in an odd number except 5 or 9, and if there is a 3 involved, I would like it to be either the first or third digit. Unless there are only three digits, then the 3 can be first or second. I LOVE when house numbers end in a 5 or 0. That would be a dream come true.
19 comments:
pretty sure you want to live on harmony avenue.
house number? 3060
too bad we're not selling.
That first picture looks like it's in Michael's parent's neighborhood. Bad news, there is a community mailbox in their neighborhood... is that a deal breaker? They live on Inglewood Circle. Sounds pretty good. You could send your kids down to Carolyn's house to go swimming and I'm sure she would love it.
There's a 4-br house 2 doors down from me for sale. I'm sure our street name is on your "no" list, but you should hear Sophie say it. It's awesome. And it has a pool. And at least one citrus tree that I saw, but I think it was grapefruit. And your neighbors 2 doors down would be totally awesome.
Soemthing I learned: you get a loan for a mortgage, but if you want to do any remodeling after that guess what, it costs you money from your very own pocket. CASH. When we moved into our house, we said that we were going to instantly do a small remodel in the kitchen. But we didn't instantly have $6000 ready to do that (still don't). So a recent remodel might not be a bad thing so that it's still nice to live in while you save to change it.
First of all, you crack me up. I agree with a lot of your requirements. And many things I didn't realize I would hate until after we bought our house, such as the community mailbox, smell of dairy, airplane sounds, and no mature trees around..I hate stairs with kids, that was one of my biggest things. Trent HAD to have a 3 car garage. I think I compromised many of my "wants" for a house that worked for us.
Agreed.
I think a 7 in the number is completely out of the question as well.
Wow. I thought I was picky. I'm not, as it turns out. Thanks for the reminder.
You never mentioned your cool craft room! Don't forget that!
Halfway house! I'm dying laughing! You want a halfway house. I guess it's a good thing to have so many stipulations if you're going to have people moving in and out so much. Maybe it doesn't still mean the same thing, but on any account your halfway house is between your first house and the retirement villa, which if it didn't have stairs, or if you aren't a regular ORF you could move back into your condo. Just a thought. I think you have been thinking about this too much. When you find one that you really like, it won't matter if it has odd numbers or if it's on Batbreath Drive. It's kind of like you marriage partner list: taller than you, not a buzzed head, have such and such car... you know? Can't wait to walk through a few more with you.
Hilarious! Good criteria. House hunting is so much fun. I learned a lot about my husband during the process. I'm glad we found a house we both love. I think that was high on the priority list for us. Good luck!
ok can I just say I love this post!!! you crack me up!
ok be honest - what do you think of my house number...2441 (and I am not a fan of my street name, super short but I have to spell it for everyone over the phone - annoying!)
You really should let your craziness out in smaller doses.
you crack me up! i love it! i feel bad that our tools are in storage and at relatives' homes. "hey can i come over to borrow the sander that i left in your garage? will you be home? thanks"...sounds lame huh
by the way, i didn't tell you...we have our first interview next week!!!! YAY!
hahaha, we are going to be doing the same thing soon too, once we know whether we are staying or moving somewhere. Looking for houses is so addicting!! Good luck with yours. We want to come over when you move in, hoping if we are driving distance that is!
Oh my gosh, this was hilarious! :)
I must admit that I was a bit bugged when we bought our house and thought we were moving on to "Melody Lane", and didn't find out until later that east of Burk is in fact Melody Lane, but the west side? Well, that's Melody DRIVE. Drive is not nearly as cute as Lane...
You're a bit crazy.
you're a crack up. crazy, but a crack up nontheless.
I intended to be picky when we moved to Illinois but I was sorely mistaken. The first round of houses we saw with the realtor were hardly livable and made me want to barf. We bought the first house that met our minimum requirements after that. If you can't find anything you're looking for, tour a bunch of houses that you hate, then resume your search and you'll see things in a different light.
I am with you and street names. There was a really nice house that we looked at, but it was on Cinch Strap Rd! Seriously! Who comes up with these? My dream is to live on Pepper Place. I love that name.
Nat
this post is basically hilarious. your attention to detail/particularness is part of the melissa charm....love it!
ps: my dream house, aka larue's old house, aka grandma alston's house....the yellow one across the street from my parents is for sale. in the 200's. buy it & i'll live vicariously through you, k??
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