Not jumping for the first thing

We walked in there resolute in our decision that we would not jump at the first thing we saw. No, you don't want to do that when you're shopping for the biggest investment you'll ever make. None-the-less, that's exactly what we did.

In our defense, we've been scouting the market for a while now, and what's out there and affordable for us is less than desirable. Most of them are in ugly parts of town, run down, need a lot of work. If we wanted all of those things, we'd stay right.

So the house we looked at Sunday was perfect for us. Not huge, but certainly not tiny, with a great kitchen (my main requirement in the house hunt) and nice bedrooms. The main attraction to the house, though, was the florida room right off the kitchen. It's all sunny and glassed in, under air, and overlooking a spectacular back yard. Did I mention that the back yard is spectacular? Well, it is. They've landscaped it in red brick paths that all converge to a central patio surrounded with various species of native plants.

There's no fence, but the Bouganvilla growing all along the property line creates a natural screen that blocks out the rest of the world and makes you feel like you're in your own little paradise.

The owners tell us that this is where they spend most of their time. Who can blame them.

We want it. Bad.

The one thing in our favor here is that it's within our price-range, and they're not in any hurry to move. The lady is scheduled for surgery soon, and after that they are moving north to be near family. No rush though, her surgery has been postponed. That gives us time to fix this place up and get it sold. If I'm budgeting correctly, and I'm probably not, we'll need about $10,000 to get this place up to a sellable standard. In other words, replace the A/C, fix the master bath, the stucco, repaint outside and in, replace the carpet in the master bedroom. And if there's anything leftover, we're going to put in a new kitchen sink and faucet, maybe even new counter tops. They say that updating bathrooms and kitchens are your best investments when trying to sell a house. I'd have to agree. The kitchen has always been the selling point for me. It's not that ours is bad, as a matter of fact it's roomy and great, but the white counter tops are boring and easily stained, and the stainless steel sink is, well, stained. Gotta love well water, right?

So, instead of sitting here dreaming about being in our new home, I guess I need to be on the phone getting a few estimates, eh?

Wish us luck. We both feel that this is truly the perfect house for us, and it's so rare that we EVER agree on anything that I can't help but believe that it's the right decision.