Waiting Is The Hardest Part

No, I did not intend for that to sound like a song lyric, but there is truth to the statement.  We finally had our first showing for the house on Saturday with no news since.  Of course we didn't think we would sell it off the first showing, but it sure would be nice.  I have mixed feelings about it selling right now.  There are a couple of houses on the market that we like, but none that we are in love with.  OK, there are a few we are in love with, but they are at the top of our price range and we don't really want to be eating ramen noodles for the next ten years.  If we didn't have our pesky student loans, it would be a different story.  The day those are gone, I'm throwing a party.  This party will involve a live burning of all student load documents.  You are all invited, of course.  I'm sure there will be alcohol as part of the celebration.  I think we are maybe about ten years off from that mark.  A few of mine have about seven years left on them.  I have to keep reminding myself I really have been out of college that long.  Of course, every year that passes is another year closer to having that monkey off our backs. 

The problem with having a range when house hunting right now is that I have seen what the top end of the range gets; it gets me a jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom, a large walk in closet, and in some cases it gets us a really nice sized kitchen.  I think I have mentioned before that the kitchen is probably the one thing that kills a house of me the fastest.  Case and point; there was a house posted online yesterday without the photos uploaded yet that sounded like the perfect house.  I got online this morning to do my normal rounds and saw the photos for the house were posted.  I got two photos in before I saw the kitchen and knew it wasn't going to work.  We both cook, and many times we are in the kitchen at the same time.  If a kitchen isn't large enough for one of us, there is no way it is going to work for two of us.  I would love to have a center island in a kitchen, I feel like it ads tons of counter space which I can't get enough of when I am baking. 

I always come back to the list of needs and wants in a house.  Do we NEED a jacuzzi tub in our master bathroom?  Of course the answer is no, but it would be nice.  Of course then I ask myself how often I take a bath and I really can't tell you the last time I took one.  To be honest it has probably been at least ten years.  Whenever we got to a hotel with a hot tub though I'm all about that, so it makes me think I might be more inclined to take a bath if we had a jacuzzi tub. Plus, you have to admit there is just something luxurious about them.

The question I keep asking myself is if a jacuzzi tub, more space, and a potentially larger kitchen are worth $200 to $300 more per month?  I haven't decided on an answer yet.  I had to ask myself the same question when it came to buying my amazing Rogue.  Was it worth trading in a car that was paid off and ran fine for the rogue?  You bet your butt it was worth it.  I love driving that thing every time I get behind the wheel, and it has been so nice to have something with a little more space to haul things.  I wouldn't trade that in for the world.  Unless of course it was for a newer rogue, but that won’t be for at least five years.  We should probably get the student loans paid off before we think about buying another car.  Of course, we will have to see how much longer Andrew's car lasts.  His is going on the nine year mark now. 

But, back to the house hunting situation; we need an offer on the house before we can really get our hearts set on anything.  If our house doesn't sell for several months, the housing market could look way different at that point.  For now, we wait and try to keep the house clean without going mad.