Real Estate Reality

       I've heard a saying that real estate is like porn for women (apologies for the vulgerity), and maybe, just maybe, you enjoy shopping around homes as much as I do, so I'll share. We've mentioned that we've been keeping our eyes on the real estate market here in our area for some time. We've been doing our research, working on paying down debt, and trying to think logically about the process. Some days we feel that we're about 90% ready to be homeowners but other days we still only feel about 40% prepared. We've been pre-aproved and we've punched some numbers to see what we can afford, but our reality is that things are still quite unsettled for us, as Jon is still in the thick of working on his fire career. But, if we do settle here, we want to know we're getting what we want and that we're getting the most for our money. So, even though we may not be on the brink of pulling the trigger we hope to be prepared when we finally get there.
       We're primarily looking in the Glenshire neighborhood of Truckee. It's a neighborhood nestled in a large quiet valley and has lots of pros: it's a very family friendly area,  has a neighboorhood pool and clubhouse, receives less snow then surrounding areas and we have lots of friends already settled out there! The downsides are that it is a bit out there (it's several minutes from downtown), and it takes about 35 minutes to get to Tahoe City and ummm... the lake that we love so much.

It's quiet beauty gets me every time we drive out there.

We viewed this house about a month ago. 

It was listed at a very competitive price and was in

 seemingly great shape for its asking.

It's what I call "Mountain Style," 

which accounts for a lot of homes in our area.
Unfortunately, I haven't really decided if "Mountain Style"
is our style. 

From the outside all seemed nice. 

But inside, the house told another story. 

Three words: Dog. Pee. Everywhere. 

Yep. 

The owners were letting the house be ruined by their yapper of a dog.

Viewing the home was definitely a disappointment, 

and sad to know that people take so little pride

in caring for their homes. 

We did love the large 1/4 acre lot, 

but it was all dirt and shrubs and would require

LOTS of dinero to get it into shape. 

Then two weeks ago,

 a house came on my radar and I kind

of fell in love with it from the photos alone. 

We got in to see it a few days later. 

We liked. A lot. 

The exterior photos that I grabbed don't really do it justice. 

It needed to be cleaned up a bit, but it oozed charm.

Maybe I was a little pre-mature in imagining it 

all decorated for Halloween?

Here's another view of the front yard, 

as seen from the master bedroom balcony.

Jon said that we could drink mimosas on that balcony. 

The house had a foyer!

An actual foyer. 

Homes in our area in our budget, 

don't have foyers. 

Sure, the tile wasn't us,

 and I already saw some upgrades to do, 

but I liked. 

The kitchen had cabinets that went 

all the way to the ceiling, 

which I love. 

I already had some ideas for a facelift for the space. 

But the bones were there.

On top of four bedrooms, the house had a small den. 

The den was pretty teeny tiny,

but had lots of potential for becoming a comfy 

room for games and family hang out time.

The master bedroom was charming, 

with angled ceilings and walk out french doors

(which I failed to take photos of).

But the thing we loved the most...

was the backyard. 

Sure, it needed a deck,

but we could also imagine a built in stone firepit, 

encircled with adirondak chairs. 

That house was definitely over our budget, 

which is probably one of the reasons we liked it so much. 

We're staying put for the time being,

and keeping our eyes out for new listings.