The Scavenger Hunt
When you move (In case you missed the memo -yes, we’re moving), one of the first things you need is a place to live. Duh. I know, I’m stating the obvious, but work with me here.
Until you find a place to live, you can’t really go forward with the moving process and decision making. You won’t know what your morning commute will be, or where to buy your morning smoothie. You can’t have internet installed or the utilities put in your name. Without a house, you can’t decide where to put the kitchen table or the toy box.
We’re in the process of house hunting (rental properties) because without a house I have no where to put my bonsai or the toy box and I can’t have internet installed, and it is the most complicated scavenger hunt I have ever signed up for. It’s more than a scavenger hunt, it’s a scavenger hunt and one of those crazy critical thinking word puzzles combined. Smoke starts to spew out of my ears when math, English and science collide into one big ball.
When we started this house hunting process, Steve and I came up with a list of things that we could not live without, a list of things that would make life much easier, and a list of things that were bonus items. For example, we need a minimum of 3 bedrooms, life would be much easier with a bonus room (aka play room) and a pool in the neighborhood would be a major bonus. Although down here in “Hot-Lanta” a pool has quickly been bumped up as being a darn near necessity.
We have been very diligent when perusing houses online that our Realtor has been sending us. The past few weeks we have been playing this scavenger slash word puzzle game. We spend hours staring at the computer screen reading description, checking the vitals, squinting at tiny pictures and mapping the properties with Google Earth to make sure they are in a good location. We’ll find a house that is perfect and in our price range, but it’s a good thirty miles outside of the area that we want to live in. Or, it will have everything but a play room. Price will be great, location’s great, there is a pool down the street, but no play room. It gets really frustrating when it has everything on all three of our lists, but the neighborhood is crappy, or the house is dingy.
Somehow, by the grace of God – that’s how, we’ve pulled together a list of about a dozen properties that meet most of our needs and some of them meet most of our wants. Now it is time to see them in person. The scavenger hunt goes from virtual to reality. I’ve mastered the first level of this game, but I need help with the second level. I need your cheat codes and secret combo moves.
How did you approach looking at houses in person? What were your deal breakers? How did you peacefully compromise with your list of needs and wants? How did you know that you had found your new house, your new home?
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Looks like you might have to sacrifice the playroom. Location and price would be my top two factors. I hate commuting, so I would want to be close to work. I don’t know if you are both working, but you may want to factor that in.
Location is key. Steve will have to travel all over the Atlanta area on a regular basis, so being strategically placed commute wise is critical
We just moved about 2 months ago, so the process is still pretty fresh in my mine. I think your lists are a good place to start. I think you have to figure out what is most important to your quality of life and go from there. For me, location was key ( no more than 30 minute commute to work and safe neighborhood) and then size (need at least 3 bedrooms and some storage space). Because we are in a rental too, a third factor was was how the condition of the place was. We’re not going to put work into a rental, so it needed to be basically cleaned and renovated already. I don’t trust landlords to promise to fix something in the future.
Good luck with your search.
I thought I was reading my own thoughts just now. When we were looking at places today, I told Steve that if we were buying then I would be more than willing to go for the houses that needed some extra love and attention, but since we are renting I want it to be move in ready and worry free.
pray before you go out each morning. houses are notorious for hiding damage. pray that the spirit will be with you so if something doesn’t feel right (whether with the house, the landlords, the neighborhood…whatever) you can know not to pick that one. be honest with yourself…will you get used to not having a playroom or will it cause you constant stress? what about some details…like dark colors (cabinets or walls), will those continually dampen your mood? look at how you feel when your in a place…does it drag you down? feel alright? or best yet, does it make you smile?
also, is there anything now that you have you really like (maybe a closet to put your broom and vacuum?) or with you really had (a bigger linen closet?)
Praying has been vital in this process. We looked at a house today that we feel really good about, but don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch. It didn’t have everything on our list, but it felt like home.
Your search brings back memories of my Realtor days. Sometimes it was for a rental also. You will just have to prioritize. Location, location, location!!!! More important when you are buying but if you expect to rent a while….it’s important too. If a home has the necessities you require the ‘feel’ of the home is important..cleanliness, light, traffic flow, etc….it’s just something instinctually you will know when you see it. Compromise the little things. I’m sure you will do great
Grandma
Whoops!!! Forgot one major thing. Get the costs on utilities. However, I think you both are aware of that. And……who takes care of the yard.
Yeah we were given a sheet with how much money the current residence pay for utilities. We know the highest and lowest cost for each. We’re pretty conservative and tree hugging when it comes to saving on energy.
Location, condition and affordability were always the priority. One feature that I consider an essential is laundry hook-ups. It costs too much in time and money to go to a laundrymat. It’s also a safety risk as far as I’m concerned. You have to be very alert to people around you and you’re kind of stuck with the gang once your laundry is spinning. Sometimes a little distance from the more populated areas is an advantage as long as you place yourself stratigically. For example,when I was nursing via agencies, I realized that although Lexington was kind of “out there” I actually had easy access to many places in all directions that I wouldn’t have had if I had lived in the middle of a populated area. Looking foreward to hearing about your new place. Love mom.
One of our requirements is in house laundry. I’m not afraid of being kidnapped at the laundrymat, but it just takes too much darn time and energy especially when laundry is such a crappy chore in the first place.