Nesting Instincts

The house hunt continues, but proves to be difficult, time-consuming, and, at times, heartbreaking. Housing prices have fallen all over the country, but not so much in the Bay Area, where crazy people continue to bid up prices. The crazy-people factor is compounded by the paucity of available houses. Most of the houses that are on the market now are not ones that we would seriously consider.

Except for one. It was a beautiful house. The master bedroom was enormous, with a huge walk-in closet and another large regular closet. (For a total of TWO closets! Two!) The master bath was similarly large, with a beautiful tub, and was connected to a room that would make a perfect (hypothetical) baby's room. These two bedrooms and the bathroom formed the upstairs. Downstairs were three more bedrooms and two more bathrooms. The bathrooms were well-appointed; I can't stand ugly bathrooms. Oak floors, recessed lighting. The kitchen was the masterpiece: cherry-wood cabinets, granite counters, including a large island, and by itself was about the size of most of the other houses we've seen. To top it all off, it was, unbelievably, within our price range. (A stretch, but still...)

Of course, it sold before we even got close to making an offer. Heartbreaking. I doubt we will see another house like it within our price range. Our price range, which already puts us in the frightening position of mortgaging both of our futures, seems laughably small for the Bay Area, although our broker has been kind enough not to say this explicitly. For a gal with a hankering for a place to call home, it's almost enough to make a person move to Texas.