House hunt part II

Human Rights day is a fabulous time to check out houses. Here are 5 of the 45 photos we took.

I fell in love with this one; but I can't find it on Realtor.com; so somebody else fell in love with it first, or else it's so far out of our price range that nobody is going to love it (especially with a kitchen bereft of appliances) or else it's listed in South Carolina instead of Virginia.
The back yard just empties into this big patch of forest; so the 1/4 acre is augmented by woods forever. And there's a basketball hoop. Very homey.

This itty bitty house (also Virginia) has a 6x8 laundry room hanging off the back like a wart. Honestly, if you're going to add on a house, do it to some purpose.
The next door neighbor came over and asked if we was going to buy it, and hoped so, so's he'd have some white folks to talk to, cause ever-body else in the neighborhood is Hispanic, 'cept that lady there and a half-n-half family up there, and his next door neighbor, but they don't get on and have come to words over the neighbor arguing with our guy's wife. He gave us the scoop on the neighborhood, including that the previous owners sold a lot of marijuana. He seemed really nice.

This one is directly accross the street from the Marijuana house with the wart-laundry room. It's asking more than twice the price - which makes sense from the standpoint that it's nicer and bigger. Nose to the front-room window shows a very pretty kitchen.

And this one, located in Maryland-- indeed, located within 3 minutes of our church building, is also evoking some strong positive emotions. Yes, somebody painted those rocks purple and green. We'd change that. Unfinished basement would need to be finished and rented for us to actually afford both the house and my early retirement; but we can imagine ourselves there. It's got room to grow and potential to add value. Big back yard, shed, basketball hoop, and also a rotting piano on the back patio. (alas, beyond reclamation.) Just a little further from work than our current unsavory neighborhood.

Tonight we're meeting with the Realtor to ask questions, answer questions, and learn all there is to know about buying our first house. The lender conversation will happen right after my annual bonus and our Feb 1 paychecks hit the bank.

And finally, this photo is of our latest discipline tactic. We're trying to discourage hitting. You can see the stem part of the roses Clinton brought home. They were beautiful and surprising. Makes me want to buy a house as close to his job as possible to cut back the commute.