Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A week and a half since the last post? That's pretty pathetic. I don't really have any good excuses -- except I've had a few migraines lately. Actually, house hunting online and in person took up a lot of time last week. However, the most exciting news I have is that we found a house for my brother to buy, and the seller accepted our offer.

My parents and I spent Friday morning looking at several houses. One looked like a paint store exploded. I'm very surprised they have not painted at least some of the rooms since I'm pretty sure they really need to sell. But not only is the paint color an obstacle, but the price is strangely high. Yes, it's a four bedroom with good square footage, and yes, it has a huge backyard, but they are asking almost $20,000 more than comparable homes. It doesn't make sense.

Anyway, the second house we looked at was the one we made an offer on. It has four bedrooms, but all of the rooms except the master are pretty small. But the kitchen is very spacious with a nice wide bar that will be perfect for family dinners. Even better, the back patio is covered and faces the east, so the folks should be able to spend some quiet evenings enjoying the backyard.

I think the folks will use it as a part-time home for now. We'll see how well Dad can manage living even temporarily away from our hometown. Even though he retired a few years ago, he still works for the new owner. That seems to be common in that side of the family -- I've had several aunts and uncles who "retire" but still work in some capacity for their old employer. I plan to avoid that impulse.

House hunting has been very interesting. It has also given me a strong desire (even though I have no money) to update areas of the house. My plan is to make a list of things that need to be done, and try to complete one project each year as money permits.

Even though I've looked at a few homes that were very tempting to buy for my own family, at the end of the day, I still feel very confident that we are making the right decision to stay where we are. I know it will pay off in the long run.

I'm signing off for now. I should be able to post again soon since there are some other interesting developments in other areas of my life.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Congrats on finding the house. No need for apologies not blogging...I know how hard the house thing is. Blah.

"Other interesting developments?" What? Well-written teaser, my friend. ;-)