I'm back from Vegas and a 5-day house hunting trip.
I know you're dying to ask . . . Did you find a house?!
The answer is, no.
But . . . we did narrow down our search to a few select areas. I got a feel for what Vegas homes are all about -- definitely a different style than we have here, something I'm trying to get used to. And I got to spend 5 kid-free days with Scott which, even if we didn't find "the house", made the trip totally worth it.
We walked through 7 houses, visited 3 wards, and racked up 200 miles on Scott's disposable car (which deserves a post all its own) as we explored the area.
We are both optimistic that the right house will come up. Hopefully sooner rather than later. But we want to be patient so we find the right house and don't settle on something because we're in a hurry. In the meantime I'm online checking new house listings daily and Scott will visit homes that peak our interest.
So, because several friends & family members are interested, here is our house hunting search -- Part 1.
House #1 -
Pretty nice looking house. It would definitely need all the carpet replaced and a new paint job inside, but it had beautiful kitchen cabinets . . .
and a beautiful pool and casita in the backyard.
The problem -- we felt a little iffy about the neighborhood. And the middle & high schools in the area have a 5 or 6 rating out of 10. It's kind of sad, because I feel like the house would have worked for us and had lots of great features, but I knew that if we signed on a house in this area I would always have an uneasy feeling.
House #2 --
Huge house inside with 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, and 4300 sqft. Like almost every house for sale in the area it, too, was a short sale (and missing several large, custom appliances from the kitchen). We discovered that the power had been turned off so we had to tour the house using the light on Scott's phone. This was Scott's second walk through and the first time he made a video for me, so I had a basic idea of what it looked like.
The problem -- it also falls into those bad school boundaries.
House #3 --
Gorgeous home, gorgeous pool . . . I would steal this house in a second for the backyard alone.
But -- it's priced too high. We don't know if the owners are on crack or what, because their house is priced $120,000 higher than a house just across the street that has the exact same floor plan, similar upgrades, also has a pool . . . its lot is just a smidge smaller. On crack, I tell ya.
House #4 --
We both liked this house. Nice inside, move-in ready, great master suite, roomy kitchen & dining, pool in the backyard, on a really quiet street. In fact the culdesac backs up to the desert. It's as far south as you can get -- the edge of civilization! Which means . . . a longer commute for Scott. 25-30 minutes. We had hoped in this move to find a place that would significantly cut down on the 35 minute commute he has had for the last 10 years.
House #5 --
This house had several things that didn't work for us -- it got cut pretty quickly. But we had fun discovering all the unique decorative features the owners put into this home. Much of it with a Santa Fe feel. Can you picture me in a Santa Fe style house? I think not!
And how is this for the ultimate time-out spot?!
House #6 --
The smallest of all the houses we looked at (2800 sqft), and it felt it after walking through houses with large entryways and vaulted ceilings. This had neither. But, it did have a cute kitchen with white cabinets. I love white cabinets. :) I liked this house overall -- it was clean, well kept, and cute -- but it felt too cramped for my 6-foot Scott.
House #7 --
Another gorgeous house. Another one over our budget. But we still went looking anyway. This house has been remodeled and upgraded from top to bottom -- no expense spared, every detail addressed, and it looks brand new inside. It falls in the ward boundaries for one of our favorite wards we visited on Sunday. We may submit an offer (with a number that is in our budget), because, hey, what do we have to lose? They can always just say no. Plus, their asking price is $60,000 above it's value on Zillow right now.
So that was our house-hunting trip. It was fun, but tiring. Exciting, but frustrating. The master bedroom closets were amazing and the astro-turf looked so real. We'll see how Part 2 of our house hunters search goes. Cross your fingers and hope we find the perfect house!
