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Here house... here house house house
So I still really want a single family house. I still feel selfish and a bit greedy for wanting a single family house. I still feel frustrated that the type of house I would like either:
a) costs WAY too much money
b) is not in a city/town/neighborhood/area I want to live in
c) perhaps does not exist?
I spent another unproductive evening ignoring my husband to look at MLS listings in the Boston area to try to find our new house. MLS is the multiple listing service which shows houses for sale in an area, regardless of the listing agency. It typically does not show for sale by owner (FSBO), so I look through broker listings, Craig's List, and the Boston Globe to make sure I see EVERYTHING. Did I mention I am a bit obsessive-compulsive?
Anyway, I wouldn't mind putting this type of effort into a task if I actually saw some results. But damnit, the market continues to tease me. Beautiful homes for semi-reasonable prices in Holliston. What's wrong with Holliston? OK, first - where is it? It's nearly at I-495 (i.e., not even close to Boston) and no commuter rail runs to Holliston. For Aaron to get to his job at BU would take nearly an eternity. So, what about towns closer to Boston or at least near the commuter rail? Well, Aaron wants to walk to the train, and I can't hold that against him much even if it limits the area. Fortunately, there is this lovely neighborhood in Natick (30 mins. outside of Boston) that is in walking distance to the train. Problem? Very few houses for sale there; most houses there are either too small or cost too much for the size. Maybe I should look closer to home so that at least the train issue is taken out of the equation. If I look at the surrounding towns, housing prices go up about $50K from Natick unless I look at houses much smaller than where we currently live (or in particularly fix-it-up condition).
Most of our friends can't even think about owning any kind of home - condo, multi-family, or single-family. We are so very fortunate to have been able to save money from the time we graduated college and even to own a multi-family now. I know I should not complain. I know I should count my blessings, and I think I do. Our current home is in good condition (lead paint and icky garage aside), and we've improved it greatly since moving in almost 6 years ago. We have enough space for the time being including a bit of a yard in the back (nothing huge but OK), and the location certainly is convenient for most of what we do. We live near many of our friends (sadly, not near our dear cousins, but we do get to see them fairly regularly), and we like our neighbors. We've lived on this street since moving to Boston, so we are comfortable here. I just want a different style house. I want a house which I don't share with a tenant, our own driveway (no more carstackey!), and a slightly larger yard. I suppose it's just not in the cards.
Speaking of cards, I sort of know it isn't in the cards in the short future. My good friend Josh gave me a Tarot reading the other day on this housing matter. I asked how I could more efficiently/effectively find our next house. Like a good rabbi, the cards counseled patience and answered with a question. Said less politely, the cards told me to back off and think about why I'm getting so worked up over this. *pout*
I backed off for a few days, maybe about a week. That clearly wasn't long enough. However, there is a house for sale around the corner from us, and the open house is this weekend. I think I'll go on Saturday while Aaron is at Habitat, and perhaps he will go on Sunday while I teach. It's not often that something in our area comes on the market, let alone at a mostly-reasonable sounding price.
a) costs WAY too much money
b) is not in a city/town/neighborhood/area I want to live in
c) perhaps does not exist?
I spent another unproductive evening ignoring my husband to look at MLS listings in the Boston area to try to find our new house. MLS is the multiple listing service which shows houses for sale in an area, regardless of the listing agency. It typically does not show for sale by owner (FSBO), so I look through broker listings, Craig's List, and the Boston Globe to make sure I see EVERYTHING. Did I mention I am a bit obsessive-compulsive?
Anyway, I wouldn't mind putting this type of effort into a task if I actually saw some results. But damnit, the market continues to tease me. Beautiful homes for semi-reasonable prices in Holliston. What's wrong with Holliston? OK, first - where is it? It's nearly at I-495 (i.e., not even close to Boston) and no commuter rail runs to Holliston. For Aaron to get to his job at BU would take nearly an eternity. So, what about towns closer to Boston or at least near the commuter rail? Well, Aaron wants to walk to the train, and I can't hold that against him much even if it limits the area. Fortunately, there is this lovely neighborhood in Natick (30 mins. outside of Boston) that is in walking distance to the train. Problem? Very few houses for sale there; most houses there are either too small or cost too much for the size. Maybe I should look closer to home so that at least the train issue is taken out of the equation. If I look at the surrounding towns, housing prices go up about $50K from Natick unless I look at houses much smaller than where we currently live (or in particularly fix-it-up condition).
Most of our friends can't even think about owning any kind of home - condo, multi-family, or single-family. We are so very fortunate to have been able to save money from the time we graduated college and even to own a multi-family now. I know I should not complain. I know I should count my blessings, and I think I do. Our current home is in good condition (lead paint and icky garage aside), and we've improved it greatly since moving in almost 6 years ago. We have enough space for the time being including a bit of a yard in the back (nothing huge but OK), and the location certainly is convenient for most of what we do. We live near many of our friends (sadly, not near our dear cousins, but we do get to see them fairly regularly), and we like our neighbors. We've lived on this street since moving to Boston, so we are comfortable here. I just want a different style house. I want a house which I don't share with a tenant, our own driveway (no more carstackey!), and a slightly larger yard. I suppose it's just not in the cards.
Speaking of cards, I sort of know it isn't in the cards in the short future. My good friend Josh gave me a Tarot reading the other day on this housing matter. I asked how I could more efficiently/effectively find our next house. Like a good rabbi, the cards counseled patience and answered with a question. Said less politely, the cards told me to back off and think about why I'm getting so worked up over this. *pout*
I backed off for a few days, maybe about a week. That clearly wasn't long enough. However, there is a house for sale around the corner from us, and the open house is this weekend. I think I'll go on Saturday while Aaron is at Habitat, and perhaps he will go on Sunday while I teach. It's not often that something in our area comes on the market, let alone at a mostly-reasonable sounding price.