House ramblings

For years now, dh and I have been going back and forth between wanting to stay where we are house-wise and wanting to move into a larger house. Both have their advantages and disadvantages - big ones, on both sides! For the past few weeks, we have been in a "let's move" phase. I know this, because now when I show dh a house - like I've been doing constantly for the past 5 years - he says, "Let's go see it!" instead of just getting all bug eyed and knowing thinking I'm insane. I think adding baby #5 to the mix has really tipped the scales in his mind in terms of us needing to do *something* one way or the other: either construction here or moving into something bigger. I know many families with more children than we have live in smaller homes, but something about the mix of our personalities is making our current home and layout very difficult.

I just need to "think out loud" about it all - it helps stop the crazy mind swirling that goes on where my thoughts go in circles and get me all wound up. It's funny, I can't seem to *think* in a straightforward fashion about this unless I actually write it down. When it's only in my mind, the first "pro" about moving is followed by 5 thoughts about how that really is offset by all these cons and oh no moving will be so STRESSFUL and how are we EVER going to do it and where is the MONEY going to come from and oh MY!!! ;-)



List form on the blog is ever so much nicer. :)

So here are the pros to moving/cons of staying as I see it:

• we can chose the neighborhood we want


• more rooms in a better layout and hopefully more square footage. And more closets. That would be very nice.


• we don't have to live through home renovations (that would include redoing at least one bathroom, one old kitchen, taking out an added-in firepace, and putting in a room in the basement if we stayed - also ripping up carpet and painting...basically the whole house would change! LOL)


• speaking of renovations, we live in a raised ranch/split-foyer type home, and adding on to the outside is either not practical or not feasible (we don't need a bigger family room, we need a bigger kitchen/dining room, which are on the second floor). Plus, we're on .2 acre, it would cut into our yard


• our current neighborhood is OK for now but going downhill: it's gotten very crowded/busy with many new "McMansions" going up, but at the same time crime is increasing as the city we live near expands and a new highway connects a more undesireable area with ours.
• we can have a little more land - enough for a good sized garden, a swingset, and a game of catch - all at the same time. We can do that now, but barely (like the swingset is second base, and third is on the side of a steep hill, my garden is a whopping 4'x6')

The cons of moving/pros of staying:

• we actually LIKE our neighbors, well, we like the fact that our neighbors care whether we live or die but don't actually meddle in our business. Our next door neighbor is even a bookseller on ebay and brings over picture books for the girls that he has found. We have had bad neighbors in the past, and don't want any new ones!


• we like our backyard. It backs to trees. We have a little bit of wildlife on occasion - foxes, rabbits, interesting birds now and then. And even though we have trees, we have never had a problem with ticks, unlike other families we know in the area. Can I tell you how much I dread having to check my nature loving girls every.single.day for ticks if we move into another "tree lined" area?


• the neighborhoods that are closer to dh's work are on the expensive side. The more affordable neighboorhoods are either way too unsafe for our tastes, or 45 minute commute each way to work (on a good day). We strive to be as debt free as possible, *including* a mortgage. We don't want to take on a big one. Heck, we don't want to take on ANY but that may be impossible. :)


• the nice/affordable/distant neighborhood has wells and septic systems. We are SO clueless about those - being spoiled on city water and sewer systems all our lives. Also, the wells in that area have been kind of "tainted" by something (I forget the whole story but not long ago they were telling people it's better not to drink that water straight).


• selling our house in this market will be HARD. I just read somewhere that there are 8 homes for every buyer (that may not be in our specific location). Many homes around here have been on the market for half a year or more.


• I love my laundry chute and family closet (can you tell these are in no particular order?)
• renovating, despite all we have to do, will most likely be cheaper than buying a comparable house (which I don't understand - aren't you supposed to LOSE money when you renovate and then sell?)
• staying keeps us from hoarding *anything* (i.e. keeping more than we need of any type of thing), which is a good, but sometimes painful thing

I'm going to stop here, but I know there's more. I've been obsessing about this for 5 years, remember? (Dh is going, "Boy, do I ever!!" LOL)