House Hunting is Hard!

While preparing for our move from St. George, I was grateful to separate the stress of selling one house from the complexities of purchasing a second.  To tell the truth, I had these idyllic dreams of Jason and I house hunting together, savoring the personal Parade of Homes while my parents enjoyed quiet evenings with our children.  (Okay, okay, I never really thought the kids would be quiet, but since Jason and I would be on a house hunting date, I figured that was their problem.)

In some ways, I was right.  My parents have been great to watch the munchkins whenever they can.  But as for the rest, house hunting has proven far more overwhelming and stressful than peaceful and idyllic.  There are just too many choices!!!

Moving to St. George, our plan was quite concrete.  We knew where Jason would be working and where we wanted the girls to go to school.  We had one weekend to look, and those were our choices.  We did our best to choose from those limited options--and it worked out splendidly.  The more I look at homes, the more grateful I feel for our old home.  It may not have had a ton of square footage, but it used the available space extremely efficiently.  We loved the yard, we loved the privacy, we loved the location.  (Oh, and can I just say that we loved the weather?)

This time around, the decision is much more complex with a multitude of factors creating what feels like an infinitesimal number of possibilities.  To give you an idea, here are a few of the homes we are considering:

We're attracted to the older historic homes in Omaha, closer to the downtown area.  This home is lovely because it overlooks a park, giving some incredible views while you wash your dishes, not to mention a very cool Master bedroom.  It doesn't have a garage right now, but there is room to build one, plus you could finish both the basement and the attic space.  The downside?  It's a bit pricey for us.  After purchasing the home, it would probably be a while before we'd have enough money to actually do any of these projects.  That could translate into many more icy windshields.





 

Believe it or not, this home in Red Oak is also an option:

But while we might be able to afford to purchase the home, could we afford to heat it? While space is nice, I tend to appreciate cozy as well.

On the other end of the spectrum, we are also considering this Red Oak home.

Not a whole lot to look at, but the price is definitely right.  If we lived here, we could save a lot--I'm thinking vacations in Spain.

Or, as long we're living in the country, we could purchase this 11 acre homestead about eight miles outside of Red Oak.  (I'm not sure, but it may be off a dirt road...) 



There's a couple of barns and a few silos--but not many neighbors.  I'm definitely thinking chickens.

And last but not least, speaking of silos, there's Jason's dream.  He would love to find a piece of Iowa prairie and design our own home, consisting of a couple rusty silos, some interstitial space, and solar panels.  I stole this image from his computer--just to give a very rough initial idea.

The bedrooms would be stacked in the tall skinny silo (with lots of windows punctuating the space and a spiral staircase wrapping around.)  The kitchen would be in between with most of the living spaces in the other silo.

So as you can see, we have lots of possibilities--just very few answers.  What would you choose?