Just Looking

  Yesterday we went looking at houses. New houses. Pretty, clean and fully finished houses. Painted, decorated and ready to move into houses. I could hear my heart beating in my ears I was so excited. Then reality set in.

  We have lived in this house for seven years. The longest we have lived anywhere. And the list of things that need to be done is longer than my arm. The idea of walking into a brand spanking new place and calling it home appeals to me more than I can say.

  There is a catch though. The price tag. We saw a "small" two-story that had the best mud room ever. With a base price of $385K it's more than reasonable til they inform you that the model has $140K of upgrades. You know, the model you just fell in love with. No one wants the plain base model. Including us.

  The one both John and I liked was a whopping 3460 square feet. Five bedrooms....four of which had ensuites......and laundry upstairs. Main floor living included an office, mud room, formal dining room, formal living room, family room and huge, huge kitchen. This one started at $550K not including the  probably $250K of upgrades.

  Crazy enough no one, other than us, thought that was too much. Not too much house or too much debt. Add in probably eight hundred a month in taxes and you have a mortgage payment from hell my friends. 

  Walking downstairs this morning my house looked prettier than normal. The old, dated bathroom seemed less dingy than yesterday. My ugly wood fireplace seemed to shine in the morning sunshine. Everything looked.....nicer.

  Amazing what perspective will do. 

  Ang