Thhuupppttt

Pshew. Can you say stress?

Currently the Pennycuff clan is seeking a new home. Well actually I've been watching the housing market since we moved here with all the little ups and downs and nonsense that a local housing market can have.

Now our lease is up the end of May and we really, really need to relocate.

We are living in a town I'll call E, hubby works in a town I'll call T, and we end up doing most of our shopping in a town I'll call R. Confused yet? Just hang on. We shop a lot in R because that's where the shopping happens to be. Also that's where most of our home school group stuff happens. Art lessons. Cooking lessons. Public speaking class. Also they have a fantastic YMCA in the area and that's where we've done swim lessons.

The problem is D never goes there unless riding with the kids and I. It's mostly me and kids. And while we can control our number of trips into town on a weekly bases he can't control his up and down the road for his job. Cause it's his job.

We looked in T for a house close to his job. Sadly it's a vacation town and by the time we could find a comfortable home it was either a little too much money or a little too easy to see the eye color of our neighbors simply by looking out a window. The houses seem to be on vast lots (5, 10, 20 acres) or on teeny tiny hardly legal lots that leave a neighborhood looking more like a camp ground.

So we widened our search early on. The town we're living in currently is E. E is a cute little town, but further north of both job and our shopping town. Very very easy access to the other two towns though. We have liked living in this area but not on this road where 24 inches of snow left us snowed in for 36 hours and D missing work. And the ice. Lots of ice on the roads here. But there are homes for sale here. Most that fit us are still a bit over priced but on lot sizes I like (2 acres) or have less neighbors built on top of each other and more space. Very cute. We've found one house here that we like. Internet (big deal for D and his web designing, us for schooling and entertainment) is a definite yes. It also has central air which isn't as a big a deal here until July. In July you'd cut someone for AC. Window unit or other. And as a proper southern girl I love my some central air. It is squished on a teeny lot in town where you can see neighbors but not eye color. No garages at all, which is a little hrm. We need at least somewhere to put the lawnmower and weed eater.

It is a foreclosure, over 3000 square feet, three stories, fantastic living spaces and a lot of oddities. Like the most interesting paint job ever. Let's call this one paint house. Because well, most surfaces inside are painted. The foyer includes chopped stones (that are hard to walk on) with faux castle walls and blue skies and bright yellow for a ceiling. Yep. There's also a master bedroom with private bath that has a shower and tub, laundry room on the top floor with the 3 bedrooms, bathroom for the two other bedrooms up there, 4th bedroom in the basement, another full bath down there and a 2nd kitchen. We'd also probably spend a few years attacking small remodel or finishing jobs. (But there's a total of 4 potties! No more waiting in line!) The picture makes it look like it's ON THE ROAD but it's because the house is a little below street level and there's 2 "pull off" parking spots there.

We also expanded our search to a little area between the three towns. Perfect location. Harder to find homes. The area is smack between two lakes with other smaller lakes where property is very expensive.

This one is actually a 2/2 but has been plumbed for a 3rd bath and has a full unfinished high ceiling basement waiting for a family room, third bedroom, bath and possibly another room. It's also on 20 acres with a huge 2 car garage. It's the most expensive and we'd only take it if we could get a really really good deal. No appliances means there'd be a bit of out of pocket as soon as we moved into it and there's a driveway that needs regular plowing. But it has nice fancy fancy everything that's there. Full wood though. Lots of yellow and very cabin like. This is our first pick just because we think it'd have the greatest resale and has the best options for expansion of space as we need it. Also I kind love that the entrance has doors to the garage and the living space and outside but once you close all those doors it's like an air lock. So the kids could come in and undress from snow play without cooling the entire house. Yay! Our current rental has a front door that opens to the entire living space and when someone goes out in the cold everyone in the room shivers. And while it's not lake front is is lake view so that's a free bonus!

The last one is a typical raised ranch with a sideways split foyer. Very 70's. It has had some updating but the kitchen has never had a dishwasher and the flooring and appliances in the kitchen look original. So do the cabinets. A small deck has a bit of wobble although it is brand new and the entire basement is missing flooring but is painted and laid our beautifully. 3 bedrooms one bath upstairs, one bedroom one full bath down. 2 acre lot. Not water front so no extra taxes. But an old kitchen made me manic in our house in TN (my appliances and sometimes my dishes didn't want to fit the 50's era cabinets) and the lack of dishwasher is not so attractive. Also the 3 of us sharing one upstairs bath for brushing teeth and such is a little less appealing. It does have a one car garage. This photo is taken from a fantastic angle! There are neighbors like a typical little house but they are across the road which apparently the photographer is standing in the middle of!

So we are going to make offers on the log cabin on first, then the white one in town, then the little 70's house.

What do you think? Which would you pick?