House Hunting

Alex and I have officially (or unofficially) started our house hunt. It all started a little sooner than we thought, but we came across a house that we really just wanted to check out... next thing you know we have a realtor, we are pre-approved for mortgages from multiple lenders, and we're making lists of our needs vs. wants. Life really catches up with you. In some regards I don't think we could possibly be old enough to be house hunting but in other ways it just feels exactly right, and almost easy in a sense. (I think that's where Alex's personality comes into play big time!)

  

I blame the whole thing on our personalitilies. Alex and I love to plan ahead and when it's something that we both put value on that means we'll be real go-getters. Before Alex and I got married I really wondered what it would be like to make life's big decisions together, and how our space would look (after all, we have different taste).

I love seeing what things have come out on top of our list as important:

• Ranch (with basement), 1.5 Story (with or without basement) - anything 2 stories (with or without a basement) is likely to be bigger than we need
• Size - 1500-2000 sq ft
• 2-3 bedrooms (looking for a master bedroom, office and/or guest room)
• 1-2 bathrooms
• Flat medium to large backyard (fence is a plus)
• Garage would be ideal, but at least off-street parking
• Houses that need work would be considered, but definitely not interested in new builds
• An older neighborhood with trees and front yards (sidewalks too!)
• Anything close to a park or within walking distance to shopping etc.
• Good school district (not important for us - but for resale purposes)
• Fireplace

Now actually picking a house will be interesting because I'm a lot pickier than Alex. Just got an email from our realtor right now so it looks like we'll be looking at some houses this weekend! I'll post pictures on my flickr! (Reminds me of the show House Hunters on HGTV).