Welp, Marty brought up how nice it would be to have one extra room. Don't I know it. We were spoiled in Mesa. After a cursory search through Tessa's site, I found three that might fit the bill for us and sent them to Marty.
Once I started rummaging through Tessa's real estate site, it sent her an alert I was looking again. Last time this happened, she instantly called me with her best Realtor voice and asked what I thought of the properties I found and what time should she set up appointments to view them? This time, I saved her the trouble and sent her a text: "I'm looking at houses. I will let you know."
Of the three houses I found, the first was a custom home, much larger than Marty and I need, once the kids move out in 100 years. It had four bedrooms--all upstairs, a fabulous kitchen and all the space our hearts could want. It also came with a workshop. The price is more than either of us are ready to pay. The house is 45 years old and not going to get any newer.
The plus side is that this house has a brand-new roof and is North of Interstate 30--which is where I'd prefer to live. The price, though more than I want to pay, is a steal for the neighborhood it is in. It will be perfect for a growing family with better knees than Marty's and mine. The minus side is that all the bedrooms are upstairs. Marty's other minus was that he'd have a five mile commute.
The second house was slightly larger than the house we have now, but had that fourth bedroom/den. I loved the front porch (squee!) and was north of Interstate 30. The house was 25 years old. It had a fire pit in the backyard. The house was one story.
The downside was the kitchen wasn't nearly as fabulous as the one I have now (or as fabulous as the first house I showed him) and Marty would still have that 5 mile commute. Also, the walls are all painted garish versions of brown, and not the same garish brown. "Do you really want painters back in your house for weeks on end?" Marty asked as he quickly jumped out of glaring distance. "I'll just paint it myself," I replied. We've decided if the price comes down, Marty's commute be damned, I'll go look at it.
The third house is behind me in Wake Village. It is seven years old, about the same size as mine and currently backs the woods. However, given how Wake Village is growing, I predict there will be houses behind this place in a couple of years. That's too bad, because the train noise will be much more predominant. The house is two-story, but the master bedroom is downstairs. It is also a three bedroom home (no office).
The only reason it made the initial cut was the listing said it had an additional living space. I suppose that's true. That living space is a smallish "reading nook" upstairs crammed between the two bedrooms. When Marty and I looked at the pictures again, I estimate that reading nook is about four feet wide. "Why didn't the builder just make the bedrooms two feet longer and forgo this stupid space?" I asked. We didn't really spend too much time reflecting on that because we then realized there was no place in the not-at-all fabulous kitchen for a kitchen table.
The plus for this house, is that it is newer (newer roof, AC, hot water heater, etc.) and Marty has a half-mile commute to work. The downside, other than the weird floorplan and the price they are asking for this bit o'crazy is it backs the woods where the snakes live.
There is still the option of adding on to our current house. But I am not ready to explore workers being here for weeks on end. Nor do I want to be stuck with anything that resembles a tacky addition to my house. I want an add-on to be done correctly. For the price it will cost me to get something done "correctly" I might be better off finding that elusive property with the extra space. But it must have a fabulous kitchen.
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