...One day. Since I started my "new" job, almost three years ago now (!!!), I've known that the commute would eventually do me in. It's 30 miles each way. Considering Atlanta traffic, that means somedays I get to work in 45 minutes. Usually it takes me over an hour and sometimes over two. And then the same at night.
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| Atlanta traffic. Courtesy Business Insider. |
Sigh. And did I mention I now go to grad school downtown two nights a week? Something had to give, and as much as we love where we live-having lakes, restaurants, bars, and an adorable downtown all steps from your front door is seriously amazing-in the end we knew we'd have to move. The commute is killing my soul and sapping my already limited free time.
We knew we'd have certain difficulties finding a great place to live. I work in an incredibly expensive part of Atlanta, which is also not a part of town that's super easily accessible. We agree that living as close as possible, with multiple good routes in because you never know when trafficmegadon might break out, would improve everyone's quality of life.
We seriously considered renting an apartment, and we searched for one for a good long time. Finding something in our price range close to my work that accepted all three of our pets (two is the limit most apartments would accept)? It was a unicorn.
Plus, we knew the time was right.
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| Courtesy Anne Taintor |
That's right, we are buying a house!
In an effort to be completely transparent, we actually started looking in April. It was during this time we found out that J's identity had been stolen and we had to put the brakes on searching. We've since been able to work things out and are back in the game.
What Do We Want?
The first thing we needed to decide was what sort of house we wanted. J really pushed at first for a townhouse or condo, for a couple of reasons. There are plenty of great townhouse communities super close to my work. He also liked the idea of minimal outdoor maintenance.
However, there were a few things that made us decide against this route. The biggest is, again, the pet thing. Most communities we were interested in limited owners to two pets per unit. Still have three furry family members. The other consideration is resale value. And finally, for various reasons we are obtaining an FHA mortgage and many complexes weren't FHA approved.
Another important consideration is access. Over the last few years I've sprained my ankle/hurt my knee multiple times. We actually had rented a townhouse during the J's stolen identity debacle but had to back out because I badly injured my ankle and there was no way I could get up into the townhouse and, once in, I couldn't get up to a bathroom with a tub/shower. And, honestly. J's health is still iffy. Easy access in and out of a house and easy access to a bathroom is really important.
So that pushed us over to single family homes. And, honestly, with our price range and with where we want to live, that means an older home. There are modest new builds in metro-Atlanta, but they are way out on the edges. New houses closer in tend to be very large.
I mean, not that I mind old houses! However, we HAVE to have more than one bathroom. J's illnesses make sharing a bathroom tricky. We've also had a reeaaaaalllyyy small house (800 sq feet) for almost five years ago. I don't want a large house-neither of us do- but a little bit more space, and especially a little bit more storage would be amazing.
I'll be back soon with details about house searching. Until then, happy holidays!
