Role Change

I took boyfriend to tour the "curry house" last night. Usually boyfriend is pretty mellow and easy going and I contribute the dramatic flair to our relationship, however yesterday was a different story. Ok, the "curry house" is far from being Barbie's dreamhouse but it has great squarefootage, is located in a transitioning neighborhood, and is priced on the lower end of our budget. The main floor has beautiful hardwood floors but the upstairs is seriously in need of new carpet and the whole home needs new paint asap! After that we would move to the master bath, adding a second bath room, kitchen and downstairs bath. So there is definitely some work to do. Boyfriend and I have been talking about a cosmetic fixer since we've started this adventure. Boyfriend jetted off to Philly to spend time with family and tasked me with finding a house for him to purchase. I scoured at least 30 properties most of which were serious fixers that were totally outside our scope or move-in ready townhomes that sacrificed location, square footage and/or earning potential. So anyways last night boyfriend had a serious diva moment at the curry house. He expressed how the kitchen appliances were no where close to his standards and he would never consider cooking on them and the cabinets were so cheap he wouldn't want to store his food there. Umm what? You would think homeboy had been living in a four seasons suite for the last two years based on his reaction. I tried to point out the positives and potentials and boyfriend continued to say he would never live there and was hung up having to spend money to make the place liveable blah blah blah. After a few hours of what he referred to as "brainstorming" and I considered a lohan-esque tantrum I told him that it's not going to work and we should take the curry house off the table. It's important we both feel comfortable about a home and I honestly thought he would really like it. Boyfriend says, "boo, I think I'm 95% in and we should go for it." What!! I was exhausted and missed my mellow boyfriend!

Barbie's Dream House

After a hectic winter season my schedule has calmed down and I have decided to reopen my blog. Boyfriend and I are currently house shopping and it's crazy how comsuming this pursuit can be. I feel like I've become a woman possessed! Our goal is to one day move in to the dream house aka "Barbie's Dreamhouse" unfortunately Barbie's Dreamhouse comes with a price tag that far exceeds possible, so we're shopping for Barbie's starter home. There are two large hurdles I've encountered while home shopping. The first is price envy... Somehow homes in the next price bracket seem to have an enticing sparkle that tries to pull you in. The second hurdle is dissapointment. Boyfriend and I have scoured real estate listings and toured dozens of homes. We initially found a supercute greenlake townhome that was a little small on square feet but at the very bottom of our budget. We toured the home and saw major investment potential - it was a big tease. We told the agent we were ready to move forward with an offer and no go... the property already had an offer with an exclusivity clause, so we could make an offer but it was very unlikely our offer would ever be seen. We regrouped and toured more properties. After being underwhelmed by 7 or 8 properties we found another fabulous greenlake townhome. It had an ideal openfloor plan layout with a fabulous kitchen and cute yard for my future pup. We walked in and looked at each other and said, "This is it." The next day my dad came out and toured the property and we put an offer in. That night we spent the whole night laying out our furniture and discussing bathroom updates and landscaping schemes. I was so excited to start this new chapter of my life with Boyfriend. He left for a vacation and we spent a morning faxing paperwork back and forth to finalize the offer. - The seller took the property of the market! I was slightly more than dissappointed. Another comperable property in a neighborhood we like became available and I made an appointment to tour it with our agent. Before we were able to tour the place it had an offer placed on it and was pending inspection! Dissappointment again!

I started to question if we should expand our search. We began looking for homes all over west Seattle, North Seattle, and Central Seattle. We toured some interesting places. One "view" home sat under a flight path, smelled like death, and had a view of Boeing field! Another home was sinking and sloped a six inches in one corner... Ohh the horror stories! I was started to feel a little discouraged and I wanted to have something to show boyfriend when he came home from his trip. I loaded up my girlfriends met my agent and we toured 7 properties. The first was a spacious townhome in a fabulously transitioning part of the central area. The property had a great back yard, curb appeal and was situated amongst a group of supercute homes / townhomes. The interior smelled a little like curry and was in need of new paint, carpet, and cabinetry. Which is exactly what we are looking for. I have always wanted to rehab a cosmetic fixer and add our own design elements. It also has a "man room" that will exceed boyfriends expectations. After touring all the properites and comparing pricing and neighborhoods, we are all in agreement that the curry house will make a fabulous barbie starter home. I'm excited for boyfriend to view it Wednesday and give his feedback.

I'll keep you posted!