Today Was Not the Day

We looked at five houses today, and not one was fabulous.  The first was tiny.  New and cute, with very nice views, but tiny.  Ed really liked it and kept saying that he really didn’t need much room and I kept reminding him that he has a family that has more stuff than could possibly fit in that house.  Fortunately it is also occupied, so he had to admit it wasn’t a really good possibility.  Then we looked at a house that might be adequate, but which has almost no kitchen counter space and is very uninspiring.  The third house has potential but Ed says it would be too much work.  It is another old house -1949 – and has different colored carpet in every room.  It had that “old house” smell, lots of ugly wall paper, and a steep staircase up to the third and fourth bedrooms and half bathroom.  On the plus side, it has an acre and a half of very nice land and a roomy first floor with two bedrooms.  The living room and dining room are supposed to have hardwood floors under that yucky carpet.  It is out in the country, though, so nearby playmates for the kids might not be likely.  Anyway, Ed wasn’t crazy about that one so it probably won’t happen.  The fourth house would have been great if it weren’t for the price – the realtor “forgot” that we are firm on our price limit, telling me “Oh, I thought you had said you might be willing to take out a small mortgage.”  Considering how clear we have been with him about the amount of money we have to spend, I found this annoying.  Oh well, I guess he figured it was worth a shot.  The last house felt cramped.  It had a “sun room,” which I’d thought might be a room where we could put bookcases and desks, but it was all windows on three walls, which was very pretty but useless for my purposes.

Tomorrow we are going to look at some newer houses that Ed likes.  At least, that’s the plan.  Tom, the realtor, has had a hard time getting in touch with the listing realtors, and Ed is mad at Tom for suggesting that we reconsider the brick house with the poor inspection report.  Tom says the inspector was too picky, and that the sellers might repair the air conditioner (which is one of the things Ed thought he could fix anyway) and, rather indelicately, said that in our price range we couldn’t expect a house in pristine condition.  I told Ed that we don’t have time for him get huffy with the realtor, and he’s promised to try to let it go.