Few to none of us have our dream homes. The home you buy typically has some of what you hope for and some elements you would rather not have. Most of us have to prioritize what we want and give up on some of what we hope for.
Where I live now has incredible light, privacy, and comfort. It doesn't have a good house-land flow, our favorite style, and is not great for entertaining in the warmer weather. Those are good positivies and not-so-bad negatives.
Now as we think about the potential of moving, we're exploring a number of nearby areas and house types. We're thinking about our priorities too.
So far, our priority list includes the following:
- a good level of privacy, but probably not too remote
- a house that's in good shape and doesn't require a lot of extra money
- good light
- nice land-house flow
- a place where we can entertain and welcome our loved ones
- near places of employment
- enough space to live comfortably, but not too much space
- a safe environment
- affordable--we don't want to challenge our income with a too expensive property
- in relatively close proximity to our loved ones
- in northeast USA
- an attractive piece of land
As we explore, we'll discuss the order of these attributes and likely debate that order time and again as we look at a number of places.
It may be that we stay right where we are, or we may move. We don't have to make that decision right now as we have time to explore.
Way back when we bought the home we live in now, our first home, we looked at about 60 different properties. We essentially bought the worst house in the best neighborhood we could afford--a neighborhood where our children could play happily and a neighborhood not too far from our work places which cut down on commuting time. We've had many good times in this house over the years--there are many wonderful memories here, but I'm not sure that this home meets our interests and good living for our current chapter in life. I'm thinking of that.
Of course, this problem is a luxury to have. In hindsight it was worth the hard work to get to this place, though if I were to live life over, I might have chosen to work a little less as a young mom, but that time is past and this is where we are. I wonder what the next steps will be. Onward.