The Search is on

So we looked at three houses yesterday. The first one was a total dump. The carpets were stained, doors had holes in them, the garage windows were broken out and the yard was a disaster. The Basement ceiling was partially pulled down and the paint colors were horrific.The second house was better. It had a three season porch and a huge fenced in yard. The house would have needed some minor repairs, like new steps in the basement and the porch would need leveling. The down side was that the house was across the street from a bar and a little farther on the north side than is ideal for us.The third house was nice, well maintained yard, large rooms, decent yard. It would have needed a new roof and it is VERY close to the highway. I thought that maybe this was it, then we went to the basement and found a foul odor and about two inches of standing water.We came home frustrated but informed. In spite of myself, I am getting excited and looking forward to having a new place. I am so not looking forward to moving (the piano may kill us), but I think I am ready to be in a house.We have been spoiled being in this townhouse for 8 years. The location is ideal, the rooms are big and the price is right. I know that we will find a place that is larger, but all the houses I have looked at online have much smaller rooms. More rooms and more square footage, but small size rooms. We have to think about where the huge piano would go and we have three large cages for the pets that we need to consider as well.We don't have to be in hurry to move, we are content enough here that we could do another year or so here. I'm just nervous because this is such a huge decision and financial committment. I'm currently in college, and Christopher is hoping to get back in school too. We also have to think about Ashley's college costs, that is not that far off. We also want to be able to keep sending Ashley to summer camp and putting her in the UW summer courses, which costs quite a lot also.Being a grown up can really be stressful.