House Hunt

It's a good thing my Volvo only sips gasoline, because Lee and I have burned a considerable amount of it driving around this town the past few months and looking at houses. And I am so undecided.

We ADORE our current house. It is our first house, and is a very good house. It will turn 80 next year, and has that old charm and cozy details we love. It's just too small. Especially with Lee running his business out of our house, we no longer have room for guests. When everyone was in town for Erin's wedding, they were stuck on an air mattress. No one complained, but I would love to have a guest bedroom again. And one day we'd like to have children -where are they supposed to sleep? The air mattress?

The first problem is that I have NO idea how much to sell our house for. When I've looked at other homes and seen the asking prices, I've often thought, "If they think they can get that much for that piece of junk, we can sell our house for a million bucks." But in reality - I'm clueless. And how much we can get determines how much we can afford for our next house.

The next problem is where to move? We love Ardsley Park, but the houses there cost so much. We probably wouldn't be able to get a house much larger than the one we have now and still be able to afford the payments. But the neighborhood is very desirable - I love all the parks and squares. I think it would be a good place for a family, if it weren't so overpriced.

On the other hand, we could take a chance on a house in the Victorian District. There are so many AMAZING homes there - huge homes with all those old details and charms we are drawn to. But there are also crack dealers and prostitutes on the street corners. The area is being revitalized. We could buy there, fix up a house, and maybe the prostitutes and drug dealers will eventually leave the area when more reputable people move in - and we'll have made a great investment.

Or we could get robbed on the way to the mailbox. Daily.

There is a part of me that would like being involved in the revitalization of the Victorian district, because I think it could be a great asset to the entire town. But at what expense to my personal safety?

At least we have the guard bassett hound to protect the house. Right.

Anyway, we're not in the biggest rush, and it's always fun to look and wonder and dream.