MAYBE I Am Too Picky

As we continue to look at houses I am starting to wonder if I am being too picky. I look at house after house online each day. Some are existing houses, and some are new builds. I have never found a house that is perfect....well not in our price range.

When we went over to Mark's parent's house for Easter I was talking with his dad about moving. He reminded me they didn't buy their "dream house" until they were 40. I used all my "yeah buts", but I realized he was kind of right. I am only 27 years old, own a home we bought when I was 23, and already looking for a new one.

We bought this house with the thoughts of it being our forever home. It has enough bedrooms(4) for all of the kids we want. First floor laundry room. Attached garage. Finished daylight basement. Plus all of the upgrades we have done(tile, granite, new carpet, etc). The frustrating thing is our neighborhood as we have mentioned. With interest rates being as low as they are, and the housing market picking back up people are buying like crazy. NOTHING is staying on the market if it is good. This could be our chance.

Now that we have started looking for a new house my wants have changed.

• 4 bedrooms-plus a bonus room off of one of the kids bedroom for a play room(that can be the shared room when 2 kids have to double up). 
• First floor laundry room. 
• Attached 3 car garage, there is no room in a 2 car garage with 2 cars and all of our stuff. The garage needs to be on the side too, not the front
• Daylight basement, doesn't have to be finished but needs a good amount of light for when we finish it. 
• Granite
• Hardwood
• Tile bathrooms
• Nice carpet
• Good paint
• Brick exterior
• Dark cabinets
• Brushed nickle fixtures
• Gas fireplace
• Mudroom
• Office that is NOT one of the bedrooms
• Dining room
• Kitchen island with hang over for bar stools
• Pantry
• Catwalk staircase
• LOTS of windows(do they make any that clean themselves, because I would want those too)
• Split upstairs floor plan. I would prefer the kids room on one side and ours on the other. I don't want their bedrooms by our bathroom for when we get ready in the morning. I want those suckers to sleep as long as possible
• At least half an acre but would REALLY prefer a full acre

My list can go on and on. I am sure there are 100 things I forgot that have made it a make or break for a house.  I am even more picky when it is a house someone already owns. I have a very tough time seeing past their decorations and clutter.

After feeling a bit discouraged from looking at houses yesterday we started to talk. Maybe we don't HAVE to have the bonus room. It would be nice, but if we don't end up with our 4 munchkins, it wouldn't be a necessity. We can also just look for a house with large enough bedrooms for 2 kids in one. I am sure if my mother was reading this she would remind me how small her bedroom was when she was growing up.

Maybe we don't HAVE to have granite right now, that can be done at another time. Luckily a lot of new builds are including that, so it might work.

3 car garage isn't a deal breaker as long as the 2 car garage has a storage area. Mark does say that a 3 car will be nice for when Eliza is driving, but he doesn't realize that day will NEVER happen.

Maybe I we need to start being a little less picky. If we continue to nitpick every little thing, we will be stuck in this perfectly fine house forever!!



Here is my latest "bookmarked" home plan. I am sure it is TOTALLY in our price range. I would have to change around a few things, of course, but we are on the right track. Who wants to build this one??