Saturday, July 21, 2012
Last weekend Chris and I went to a couple of builders looking at possible floor plans to build a house but this weekend we decided to meet with a realtor to see what was currently on the market. I asked some friends from Sunday school to recommend a realtor and we got a fabulous recommendation with Robyn Scharlach. She's with Keller Williams Realty in Conroe and thus far has been absolutely fantastic. All four of the houses that we went to look at today were in the north Conroe area.
We were only able to look at four today because we had both kids with us which in and of itself was a chore. Actually Natalie was very well behaved at all four of the houses and enjoyed going into the houses and running all over which she's not allowed to do at our house right now. At the very first house we went into there was a kitty cat and she just love it. She would chase that poor cat all over the house. Of course you also found a "Scentsy" wall plug-in full of wax and put her hand in it and dumped the wax all over the tile floor. I didn't notice until we were about to leave the house and our poor realtor had to get on her hands and knees and scrape it up. Another reason why she's fantastic. At all four houses Luke did pretty well and stayed asleep in his car seat for the most part. Whenever he would wake up or start to get fussy the realtor would pick up the car seat and swing him around. Even though she's a "texas ex" ut alumni I've forgiven her. She really is amazing.
Our first house we went to was on the very far north side of Conroe and in the Willis School District. It was about 2600 ft.² and had four bedrooms plus an office. It was very well updated and maintained throughout the home. Each bedroom was painted a different color including a pink room and a blue room, which would work out perfect for our family. It had a two-story living room and a game room upstairs. The backyard was a very large and included a wraparound deck plus a play set. The kitchen did not have an island and was kind of small but that was really the only drawback in my opinion. When we left the house I was pleasantly surprised and began to think "could I live here?" Chris was not overly impressed with this house but he liked it.
The second house we went to was also in North Conroe in a neighborhood of some of our Sunday school friends. It was also in the Willis School District. It was 2800 ft.² and had five bedrooms. It did not have a formal dining and only a breakfast area off of the kitchen. The kitchen did have an island and was very open. The bedrooms however we're incredibly small each ranging in size from 9 x 10 to 10 x 10. These were about the same size as our bedrooms in Shawnee which were very small and made it hard for guests to come and stay with us especially for extended periods of time. Another thing we did not like about this house was that all of the bedrooms were on the first floor with a large game room being a "bonus" style upstairs. We decided we really wanted the master downstairs and the kids bedrooms upstairs. This house was fine but the bedrooms were the real kicker and so we decided to cross it off the list of hopefuls.
House number three turned out to be a complete bust. It was in the city of Willis in the highly acclaimed "Seven Coves" subdivision which is approximately 7 miles west of I 45 on a small 2 lane Hwy. That alone was a little discouraging to Chris and I since Willis is already pretty far north plus the 7 miles to the west would make for very long commute. This house was about 2300 ft.² and was a little bit older than the houses we previously looked at. They too had cats which made for a very entertaining visit for Natalie; however I noticed that the cats in this house had scratched a lot of the walls, landings and the baseboards as well as other areas of the house. This screams maintenance to me and I immediately was disappointed. The backyard was also very large but it was almost a complete garden which also means maintenance for me. Those of you who know me well know that I cannot grow plants...in fact I actually kill plants so a garden is not a good idea. When we walked out I told the realtor "this ain't it!"
House number four was in the middle of Conroe off of Loop 336. This is a lot more central for Chris and I since our jobs are in Aldine ISD and Spring ISD. This house had never been lived in and was built in late 2011. It had four bedrooms with the study and was 3100 ft.². It was a "base model" of a home without anything special or any amenities. The kitchen was large and did have an island plus Formica countertops which made it look very pretty but the rest of the house was very "PLAIN"! It also had 3 1/2 baths which would be nice when company comes to stay so they don't have to share with the kids. Chris and I both thought this house had potential but we were not sure about the elementary school that our children would go to if we lived in this part of Conroe. That is a big concern of mine ANYWHERE we live but I just want to make sure my kids are going to a great school distric and schools.
Overall the day was a success! Sure we didnt find "THE HOUSE" but we were able look at four houses and compare each of them with what we liked and didn't like. Again I liked house number one but Chris was not enamored with it. Chris didn't have a great feeling about any of the four houses but enjoyed going and looking to see what we like. We spent the rest of the weekend just talking about the four houses and the things we liked in each.
So from this weekend I have learned a big lesson: "It takes two to tango" AND TWO to buy a house. There were things I liked about houses and things Chris liked about houses BUT we are going to have to agree! We're going to continue to look on the market as well as other builders before we plant our feet down.
This is going to be an adventure...
But nevertheless
God is good… All the time!
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