Where Have All the Good Homes Gone?

Months and months of house searching and still not finding anything. What is with the housing market? Who came up with the idea to have two full bathrooms on the main floor and none on the second floor where the bedrooms are? I want to find that person and give them a wake up smack in the face. Who wants to run through the living room or dinning room to take a shower? I am not looking for a mansion. I just want a nice 3 BR with at least 2 full bathrooms near the bedrooms and one guest bathroom. The next realtor to show me a house with bedrooms the size of 9x9 will be mentally flogged. My idea of a master bedroom is a large bedroom with two walk in closets and a full bathroom. Not just the largest room in the house with a small closet and walking distance to the bathroom.

I have found one developer who can provide me with my ideal house. The problem is it wont be ready until next summer. I needed to move last month so that doesn't work for me. I am tired of the 3 hour round trip commute. I want my family moved so we can spend more time together.

Not finding what I want in a purchase I start looking for a house to rent in the mean time. It appears something major happened in this state between 1957 and the present. Okay, there were a few built but still eww on the layouts. What they call condos here we call townhouses back home. They are larger than most town houses I have seen but you only own the inside of the house. The roof, the yard and the sidewalk are all the responsibility of the Condo Organization. That sounded great at first! Woohoo! I would not have to move the yard or shovel the snow! If the roof leaked or anything I wouldn't have to dip into saving to have it repaired. It also meant that I could not put up the play ground set or a tree house, a sandbox, or even a shed in the back yard. Now when I see a condo listed I just skip right by the listing.

After three months of searching I finally find a rental. I would actually love to purchase this home. It has everything I want plus a few extras like a laundry room the size of a normal living room. There are clothing racks installed so you can hang things up right away, a "dry flat" area, room for a sewing machine and peg boards for thread, ribbon, etc. There are many large storage closets and all of this extra does not take away from the living space.

The big hiccup with this house is they do not allow pets. My jaw dropped as I have asked each property manager on the phone, before setting up an appointment, if they allowed pets. The property manager called me back later to say the owner is allergic to cats and would be ok with a small dog. My little girl has a cat who she adores and loves her right back.

After a week of debating on this house and looking at the lack of houses in the area I have a little talk with my daughter. A few hours of answering all of her questions she agrees to swap out her cat for a small dog. I find a great family to take the cat upon our move in date. I call the property manager who becomes very excited at the anticipation of renting the house. She calls me back later to say the owner would rather not have a puppy in the house but will allow you to keep the cat with some minor provisions. You must pay one months rent, regular deposit, $1700 pet deposit plus the cost to ________ the property when you move out. I cannot remember the term she used but sounds of it are similar to the cleaning after a nuclear fallout. She will get back to me on the cost.

At first all I thought about was YES we are getting the house!! Then my mind started reeling. How much was it going to cost to get in to this house? Are they pulling my leg? It would be cheaper to buy the house. I wouldn't have to put that much down and I could forget the nuclear cleaning.

I give up on this house and look again at the news paper. I have an appointment on Tuesday to look at another house. I just cannot imagine any other house being as wonderful as the one I wanted so bad. Oh well, maybe that just wasn't the house for us. I console myself with the thought it must have some hidden faults such as horrid plumping, mold hidden somewhere, etc.