House Hunting

We went house hunting today in Sioux Falls. We went even though our house in Marion has shown no signs of moving. Without it selling, we're going to have a hard time buying anything. Especially since the housing market is about twice here what it is in Marion.

The first place had a good deal of promise, although it lacked a big "hang out" space on the main floor. It did compensate with a finished room in the basement that would do the trick. I think it would suit our needs now while still giving us an opportunity to grow into the space over the years through remodeling. Amy and I talked about some of the things that we might do on the trip home, including a kitchen redo and shifting some of the space downstairs to expand family room type space into the existing dining room.

The second place was a bit of a dump. It had some nice character with built in sconce lighting and some good downstairs space, but everything needed to be touched up and the neighborhood was not so good.

The third place was a bit of a surprise to our realtor as it was only two bedrooms. It was a nice little house with some great features and existing decor, but it was too small for us to really consider. The neighborhood could have been better as well.

The fourth place looked great from the outside, but had some serious cosmetic issues inside. We're still not sure if the graffiti was intended as decor in the upstairs bedrooms or if it was the result of a break in due to the loud colors painted on the walls. The bedrooms were also quite small and, again, the neighborhood wasn't the greatest. I also had a pretty quick response to the house in my spirit. It definitely was not the place for us.

The fifth place was half a block from the first place we looked at. The realtor was a little embarrassed, but we thought it was funny. She was great; a lot of fun to be around and she has young kids as well, so she was really looking at the houses from a parent's perspective. The house was really nice downstairs, but a little squat upstairs and the only bathroom in the place made the one we had in Marion seem spacious. There also was no backyard at all. It is on a corner lot and if we wanted room for the kids to play we would have to fence in the rest of the yard to secure it.

It was nice to get out of the house for the day and to at least think about the next phase even if we're not quite able to step into it yet. Hopefully something will happen soon that will allow us to make the move before too much longer.