It is official!

Well, it is official. Come May 11 at 1:30 p.m. Kev and I will be homeowners!!!!!!!

After about three years of searching, we have found a place. It is in the area that we really wanted to end up in, it has a double lot that will allow us to expand down the road and it is on a nice street that is across the street from Kev's parents' house.

We did get the house at a good price, however we have to do some major remodeling. The kitchen needs to be gutted. It's not functioning, has peach wooden cupboards, and the flooring is rotting. The rest of the house has hardwood floors, but they are so damaged we are probably just going to have laminate hardwood laid down.

All the rooms need to be painted (that isn't a big deal.) They are also going to tear out the concrete, tiny patio in the back and put on a bigger deck.

We are also going to have to update the vanity, mirror and put in an exhaust fan in the bathroom.

There is also a possibility that the whole house will need to be rewired because all of the outlets are two pronged and not grounded.

And if we have funds available, we are going to change the front a little by adding a different front porch to make it more welcoming.

I almost forgot, we are going to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the living room to open it up.

So there are a lot of things that need to happen to the house before we can move in. We met with two different contractors. One was way overpriced and said it would take 10 to 12 weeks to finish everything. Well, that isn't good for us because we don't want to have to pay for rent and mortgage for that long of a period of time.

The other guy we met with on Tuesday, and he said it should take only about 4 weeks and he will get us a price by Friday. So we are waiting to see.

But, here is a slide show of some of the photos of the house. Kev is going to take his video camera and we will tape a tour so you can get the full experience. But, these pictures will do for now.

Not Here It Isn't

For about 16 months my husband and I have been renting and living in a duplex. Well, actually it is like 3/4 of a house because we split the first floor with our neighbors, and then we have the whole upstairs. It isn't a bad place, rent is very reasonable and our neighbors are super nice. But, we would still like to own a place of our own that we could fix up and add our personal touches to it.

So we have been looking around at houses for awhile. We probably have toured about 20 different houses and came up empty. We actually put in an offer on a house, but they turned us down.

Our quest continues and we grow incredibly frustrated. For one thing, houses in our area are so over priced. If I hear one more newscaster say that the housing market is a "buyers market" one more time I am going to chuck the TV across the room. It might be a buyers market elsewhere, but not here.

I decided to do some research at different places throughout the country to see what a comparable house in each place would cost and here is what I found out.

Where We Live

This house is right in our area. It is 2150 sq ft, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has a two car garage. The house is brand new.

This house comes with the hefty price tag of: $224,900







Ohio (Closer to home, but a little more west.)

I have a friend who lives in Ohio and told us that the houses were pretty reasonable. So I thought I would check them out and see what they had to offer.

This house here is a little smaller then the one where I live. It is about 1544 sq ft. It has four bedrooms, two and a half baths, a two car garage and was built in 2004. It's a little older and a little smaller, but still a very nice house.

This house is on the market for: $100,000.

Now that is a major price drop!


Indiana (The mid-west)

I saw at a couple of different places that Indiana was one of the best places to find a nice house at a reasonable cost. I can now see that is very true.


This house is still smaller than the first house with 1,494 sq ft. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a two-car garage. This house is the oldest one so far. It was built in 1999.

It is listed at: $116,000.





North Carolina (Sign me up for warmer weather)

I one time went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach, and we decided to visit this town in NC. I immediately fell in love with the community and it's small town charm. It had several business downtown, and was a really pretty city. So naturally, it was a choice for me to look at their houses for sale.
This house might not look like much, but it is a completely refurbished 1920s bungalow with 1,085 sq ft, three bedrooms and one bathroom. There isn't a garage, but parking is available off street.

I know the house is a lot smaller then the one available in my area, but this house is right downtown in the adorable city. Within walking distance from farmers' markets, restaurants and great stores.

This house is for sale for:$114,950. Oh, I should also mention that a beach is only about an hour away.


Washington (The Wild West)

So we have hit the north, the south, the Midwest and now time for the west. I will say that a lot of places out west are very expensive. But, I did happen to find this community to have a decent amount of houses for a reasonable price.

The photo (being this small) doesn't do this house justice. It isn't run down, it is just the pixelation of the photo.

So this house is 1500 sq ft, three bedrooms and one bathroom. I can't find anything about parking.

But the inside is all new and looks very nice.

This house could be yours for: $120,000.



Now I understand that not all of the houses that I have shown are created equally. The one where I live is bigger than all the others, but the other houses have various other good qualities.

The biggest point I am trying to make is, that where I live is considered to be a distressed community. If we are that distressed, than why are our houses so expensive? Are we all doomed to rent for the rest of our lives while we wait for this huge drop in the housing market?

But, for now, I guess we will continue to look and keep our eyes peeled for "our house."