Latest on the House Buying/Selling

We ran an ad this week in a local paper for our house. It really hasn't generated any more call volume than the yard sign did. We did show it last night, though. It would be so nice to have someone come along who was pre-approved for a loan (or had CASH) and who didn't need to sell their home first. God can do it! But, will He? I hope and pray He will. I'm okay if He doesn't, though.

We went back to look at the house on Lakeside Dr. on Wednesday. Kimberly and Dewayne (and the baby) met us there. I wanted their opinion on it as well as another chance to make sure that it was adequate for us. We really like the house. Kimber and Dewayne liked it as well. The house has many more positive things about it than negative things.

The negatives are:

1. less counter space in the kitchen than here
2. no built-in bookcases like here (Michael can build them)
3. the overhangs in the back need painting (the front looks great, though!)
4. the third bedroom is a little small (but still adequate for a craft/guest room)
5. carpet in the bedrooms
6. no pantry (have to buy one)
7. older a/c unit

The positives are:

1. more drawer space in the kitchen than here
2. the type of cooking appliances I have always wanted (cook top and wall oven)
3. a large dining space in the same space with the kitchen
4. doors to close off the kitchen/dining from the living room
5. less house to clean than here
6. less yard to keep up than here
7. a large hall bathroom with a storage closet and plenty of drawers and cabinets (Laikyn and I will share that one)
8. a coat closet
9. a hall storage closet
10. a large (for this size house) master bath that Michael can have all to himself!
11. the rooms are equal to or greater than the spaces that we use in this house for those same rooms (I might need to explain this one. The living room we have here is HUGE, but we only use half of it as a living room. The space we use here is 206 SF; the space there is 266 SF. Our master bedroom here is also HUGE, but part of it is used as my crafting space now, which will go in the guest room there. The area we use as a bedroom here is 186 SF; the master there is 196 SF.)
12. an outdoor living space (this is a huge plus for us; we have so missed not having that here)
13. counter space on the side of the stove - something we don't have here
14. a workshop/storage space that is sturdy and close to the house
15. covered parking and place to park a future boat or small RV
16. laundry/mudroom off the carport
17. all on one level (no more stairs)
18. of course, nearness to the water
19. nearness to shopping, etc.
20. 1 year warranty
21. the roof is 2 months old
22. the field lines were replaced in 2005 and routed to the front of the property so that the backyard can be improved on (like with a pool or larger workshop) with no difficulties
23. a quiet neighborhood
    

23 to 7, the positives win!

That little exercise of going through the list in my mind and on "paper" really helped me. I think that when buying a place and making a commitment to something this huge, it's natural to think, "Is this place really right for us?" Going through and making this list reassured me that even though we are downsizing a great deal, it will be more than adequate for our needs. We really do have a lot of unused space here that we are having to take care of and pay for. I keep thinking about how fast housecleaning will go in the house on Lakeside! :-)