And I'm probably forgetting about fifteen other things. Let's just say while Paul and I make comfortable living, especially considering we are relatively young, we do not make enough to realistically afford all of that in the neighborhoods we want (North Beach in the city or a school district that's ranked top 50 in the nation in the suburbs).

This particular home is in an area we haven't given a thought to in the entire two years we've been looking. My mom started to think outside of the box for nice areas that would cut down our commute time in comparison to the suburb we were focusing on and came across this place. With no traffic it's a 20-25 minute commute to the office, the negative being we would have to cross a bridge. But it is close to a BART station so that is an option as well. It's generally considered a wealthy area but has proven not to be resistant to the recession and housing crisis. This is bad, but also good because it means we can actually afford to live there. This house is still at the bottom of the price range for the area and it's towards the top of our price range.

It's bigger than we wanted. Since we live in a studio we are actually more comfortable with smaller spaces, ideally we thought we'd get something around 1,500-2,000 sqft and this place is double that. While it's not what we ideally wanted, getting more space is not a deal breaker. The downside (besides all the cleaning!) is we would have TONS of room to entertain but the only guest parking would be on the driveway because of how narrow the streets are. I'm also not sure how I feel about maintaining so much house and the cost of heating it. I'm thinking, I don't feel so good about it.

The house is on a hillside so we are particularly considered about what the inspection might have to say about the foundation. The roof looks like it might be a bit warped so we are curious about that too. And there is some water damage on the second level (it's tri-level) so that is an area of concern as well. From our untrained eyes the house looks solid (we were actually able to see underneath two of the levels because of how it sits on a slope) but what do we know.

It has nice views from the top level and the view from the bottom two levels are obstructed by the neighbors trees...if we do buy this place we'll probably have to make nice with them and eventually let slip how much we'd *love* to have a view from our kitchen..hint hint.

What else should I say about this place...

Everything in the house is new enough and nice enough that it doesn't have to be remodeled (except the floors because of the aforementioned water damage). Although Paul has ideas about changes he wants to make (because, of course he does) he's admitted he can live with everything for good long while before getting serious about any upgrades. Because of the price point of the home (again assuming a relatively clean inspection report) it's not unreasonable to think we can put quite a bit of money into the house and still not come close to over-improving it which is a huge bonus for us since Paul has the remodel bug.

The elementary school is excellent, the middle school is acceptable and the high school is, well, awful. At least by our standards. We've been told by people in the area that most people send their kids to private schools. This is not ideal since it can have a major impact on the resale value of a home and we both want our kids to go to the best schools possible. BUT we figure high school is at least fifteen or so years away so maybe it's not that big of a concern. As far as resale goes, it seems like the people who buy in that area don't buy for the school district anyway since we've been told that a lot of them actually bypass the public school system altogether, including the excellent elementary schools.

I think my major hesitation about this home is that it's not in the city, which is a bit schizophrenic on my part since I know I don't want to raise kids in the city, but also, my kids are only figments of my imagination right now so I'm still feeling a bit selfish about what I want versus what my imaginary kids might need. I like being five minutes away from the office. And I like my neighborhood. Sometimes I just look around and think, wow, I live here and I'm amazed.

Oh yeah, and not that people in my current neighborhood aren't liberal (they are, very) but the new neighborhood appears to be full of those hardcore IN YOUR FACE liberals who also have money and are therefore the absolutely most annoying type of liberal there is.

I think when it comes to buying a home, part of my trepidation comes from the fact that I really don't know what I really, really want. Do I want to be in the city or do I want to be in the suburbs? I want the best of both worlds! I want the convenience of the city and the convenience of a suburb and realistically? I am being unrealistic. I know. I think I'll probably end up being happy no matter what happens.

Or at least I hope so.

Labels: house hunters