We Found The Perfect House For Us

Four years ago, my wife and I purchased a new home.  With three kids, we needed a place that was big enough for a family of five, close to work, and within our budget.  Here’s how we found the perfect house for our family –

First, we looked for a house located within reasonable driving-distance from where we worked.  There are several neighborhoods in our area, but we managed to narrow our list down to a top five.

Second, we each jotted down a few must-haves and would-likes – to create the list– the things we were looking for in our new home –

Must-Haves:

a quiet neighborhood with paved streets

four bedrooms

two bathrrooms

a two-car garage

space for a workshop

outdoor space for the kids to play

paved drive

trash pick- up  (If you have lived in the country, like me, you’ll get this one!)

less than 10 years old

municipal water / sewer

   Would-Likes:

front porch

covered back porch

workshop / shed

area for a garden

tall ceilings

extra-large closets / plenty of storage

tank-less water-heater

With our budget, our top five neighborhoods, and the list – we began our search –

We started online – using sites like zillow and realtor – and we also searched the local papers and spoke with friends.  We walked through several homes – and drove by dozens more – but none of them met all of our criteria.

We searched for several weeks, driving through our preferred neighborhoods, checking with local realtors, and talking with friends.  We were beginning to feel like we would have to change either our budget or the list – but then, it happened.

We stumbled upon our perfect house – our home.

We were driving through one of our preferred neighborhoods, checking on a house that I had found online.  We decided to take an alternate route, a road we rarely used.

My wife spotted the “for sale” sign.

I pulled into the driveway – and we knew.

I dialed the number and scheduled a walk-through.  The house had almost everything on the list – and it was within our budget.  We were so excited, but we knew that finding the house – and finalizing its purchase – were two entirely different things.

Thankfully, i only took a few weeks, to negotiate the final price and sign all of the paperwork.  Four years late, we are thrilled with our decision.  The kids love the place and we couldn’t be any happier.  I’m glad that we created the list and stuck with our budget – and I’m thankful we took that road, that day, to this house.  Now – to pay if off in less than 10 years!

Side note – For those interested, we got almost everything we wanted on the list – except for the covered back porch and the workshop.  For now, my shed will serve as a workshop – and my next project is to put a roof over the back porch.  Also, I added gutters to the house, which were not on our list, but should have been!  (Sounds like an idea for a future post….)  Blessings.