I feel like a battlefield general preparing for a major offensive in my on-going search for a house for our last duty station. "It is only a rental, stop obsessing," Tim says. But a house is so much more than a place to just lay our heads at night, it has a tremendous impact on our lives, especially when we are usually in it 20 hours a day. For instance, while the house we are in now is okay, the cheap carpet has given me allergies ever since we moved in (and I am NOT a hypochondriac), the lack of storm windows increased our heating bills, and the fact that I couldn't open most of the windows for much of our stay was a major hassle (and dangerous).
So far the realtor sends me daily updates on all the local rentals, I have set up a trip up in about 3 weeks staying with my SIL, and have designated a special notebook to list all the houses that fit our criteria and location, rent, space, acreage... On top of these basics I have printed out a map of the county and marked out the train line and am in the process of plotting via MapQuest the 35 houses on my short list. By the time I drive up to tour and select a house I will have at my fingertips a page for each listing the benefits and downsides and take notes as I go.
One of the houses is on 2 fenced acres surrounded by an estate with a lovely view of a pond, however, it also is very far away from Tim's work and the master bedroom appears to be lavender. A new listing is closer in to town, on 3 acres, but is on a main road and with no pictures posted it could turn out to be a really horrible house. While the looks don't matter much, the layout, the amount of space for the kids to play outside, and a schoolroom are important. The funny thing is that after all this planning and research we will leave within days of moving in to spend the summer in Maine and won't return for 3-4 months.
Michelle, over at rosetta stone, is PCSing to the same general area as we are, but instead of doing all the above mentioned junk, a perfect house fell into her lap. I don't want to covet her good fortune, but I sure do want this over so we can just get to the fun: summer in Maine!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Oh, we are in the same boat. We're moving to another state in 10 days and so far have no definite place to live.
I don't think I'm THAT picky!
3 bedrooms, two toilets, a bathtub, and flooring that stays on the floor.
How hard could that be? Oh, and a backyard with grass, not a dirt field.
And so it goes. Good luck!
Perfect? I didn't see a photo of the master bedroom. Lavendar would clash with my red-toned bedding.
You will find something. Goodness, with 35 listings and an outline of the metro routes, you're all set!
I'll be coveting your stay in Maine!
I'd take lavendar over 10 year old primer gray any day!
And why DO they paint the kitchens of every single rental flat white? The better to see the grease stains?
You're not considering living on base somewhere? I promise I'm not a crazy stalker - but there's lots of ugly housing available on our base and we have our very own Catholic homeschooling group (which you're welcome to attend, no matter where you choose to live)>
We are going to be on the other side of the city and the only base housing available is for 07 and above. (we don't cut it, to say the least!)
The Army and AF treat their people right in at least offering base housing, the Navy and MC families don't usually even get that option except overseas.
I think I recall hearing great things about your homeschool group, maybe we will check it out.
Post a Comment