The One??

After being up in Milwaukee with the kids and involving them in the process, we needed to make some progress faster.  So last week Joel and I went by ourselves for a few days while Mom and Dad watched the kids here at home.  We saw 15 properties in two days - most of them on the first day.  Our realtor told us that the rules of the game are - if you don't like it when we pull up and aren't interested, we can just move on.  I thought that seemed kind of crazy.  Come all this way and not go into a house?  Then we pulled into the place by the county landfill.  Literally - we drove past the dump on our way, turned the corner, went down the street a bit and there was the house.  Cute as it could be, but I sure wouldn't ever open the windows!  We didn't go in.  So on we went - property after property.  One had a beautiful yard, but everything inside was outdated.  One had a gorgeous house, but there was almost no yard to play in.  One had good potential, but it was just too much of a fixer upper.   One had a beautiful house, but so much road noise we had to raise our voices outside of the car.  One had a lovely home with a nice pool on seven gorgeous wooded acres, but the taxes were impossibly high.  So many almosts.   We got to the end of two days exhausted, overwhelmed, and not any closer than when we had left.  I went to bed that night praying - Lord please find us our new forever home.
Four days later our realtor emailed us a property to look at.  It had potential, and Joel thought so, too.  Enough so that I wondered - is this the one?   We knew Joel was working in Milwaukee this week so we made an appt for him to see it Tuesday night.  We had learned the hard way that photos can be VERY deceiving so I said , " Let me know if you're disappointed, but if you really like it you could make an offer."  He said, "I can't make an offer without you!!"  To which I responded, "Yes you can!"  I was thinking I have seen nearly 20 properties in locations all over the greater Milwaukee area and beyond.  If this meets our criteria, I don't need to see another 20.
Tuesday night Joel called and said he wasn't disappointed.  In fact it was his favorite yet.  We spent an hour on the phone after the kids went to bed.  He talked me through it room by room and emailed pictures.  By the end of the conversation we had decided to make an offer.  The next day he called the realtor, and by Wednesday night we had our offer emailed to us to print, sign, and return.   Tonight Joel gets home and we'll have to read through each form, fill them out, and hopefully fax it back tomorrow.  Then we wait and see...  Until then here are some pics of the house.

House Hunting with Kids!

This week Joel started his new job with Caterpillar Global Mining in Milwaukee.  His office is actually in Oak Creek.  It's close to Milwaukee airport so he sees planes going overhead all the time.  We stayed at a hotel, and the kids and I did school while Joel was at work.  Then in the evenings we did some house hunting. 

First of all let me just say - Hail to my minivan.  We had a rental for the week and oh my goodness sakes.  We were like clowns in a VW.  I can't count the number of times we said to the kids- stay on your own side and keep your hands to yourself!  Except that their own side had them almost shoulder to shoulder.  Certainly no DVD player, and it took us two hours before we found the cup holders in the back.  It's fairly embarrassing to get out of the car to meet a realtor, and have water bottles and Pringles cans falling onto the ground.  As for the trunk - we showed no mercy.  Lesson learned - the gas money is worth it.

So we saw four homes on our trip.  Since we've already seen three - we'll call them house 4-7.  

House 4 was absolutely beautiful - professionally decorated and a newer build.  3 bedrooms.  It was on three acres with a pond.  Here are a few photos.

The problem was there was almost no storage.  And the yard was so sloped that I don't even know where we'd put the trampoline let alone a pool.  So beautiful, but I'm not sure how functional it would be.  

House number 5 was on three acres and had a shed larger than most homes.  Seriously.  It was very expensive, but just not as well kept up.  Cross off the list.  

House 6 was a bit further from work for Joel, but in a beautiful area.  Hills and fields all around and a wonderful yard.  The property had 5 acres with an above ground pool that had seen better days.  The house was fine, but just not updated anywhere.  Pink tub, bright yellow sink, etc.  We'd have to put in a lot of time and money - so cross off the list.  

House 7 was the last one we saw.  It was a possibility.  It was built in the 70's but the family had done many updates.  There were four bedrooms and a small bonus room.  There was a huge basement, and two family areas.  They had a deck off the back with a hottub, and an above ground pool.  There was an extra garage with a wood stove and electric run to it.  It was on 7 acres and backed up to a nature preserve so no one will build behind it.  Oh - there was a Koi pond, too. :) Here are a few pictures.

Joel and I head back next Monday and Tuesday to see several more.  We're going back to house 1 and house 7.  I'll let you know how it goes!