Goldilocks and the Three (hundred) Houses

This house:

• is too small
• has no back yard
• only has a tiny bathroom
• needs appliances
• is too dark
• only has a one-car garage
• is too close to the freeway and is noisy

This house:

• is too big
• has too much yard to maintain
• has too many bedrooms, that are all too small!
• is too tall with too many steps
• is too far from the kids

This house is just right!

After selling our home in Colorado we turned the wheels of the motorhome toward San Francisco. Our son and daughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandson-to-be live in Oakland, and have indicated they would enjoy having us nearby, at least part of the year.

The hunt for a home began. Well, actually, we had been looking at homes for sale in the area long before we arrived using online sources. However, once we arrived it gave us the opportunity to see neighborhoods and explore areas near our son. The motorhome and our Florida RV lot gave us a lot of latitude. We didn’t have to find something right away. We had the luxury of time. We could even wait until next spring to find our next home. Basically we said if it doesn’t “float our boat” we don’t want it. 

As we visited homes for sale and talked about what we liked or disliked about each one we began to create a list of criteria (in no particular order) that we were looking for in a home. We desired:

• a small village feel with walkability
• enough back “yard” for the dogs to potty when (insert one) 
• it was raining. 
• I was too lazy to take them for a walk.
• I didn’t feel well.
• I was out for the evening. 
• I was too busy doing something else.
• We wanted a carefree front yard so we did not have to hire a landscape maintenance company in our absence.
• a garage with space for Mr. Dreamy to stash his tools and create a bit of a workshop, oh… and to park at least one car.
• an extra bedroom or extra space that could be a sewing/craft room for me
• a location within reasonable distance to our son and his family
• space to park the RV

And then…. just like Tony seeing Maria across the dance floor in West Side Story, we saw it. It dazzled our eyes. Love at first sight. And even now with a contract on the house, I can’t say exactly why we fell in love with this house. 

It could be the quiet neighborhood with virtually no traffic..

It could be that outside of rush hour we are only 15-20 minutes from the kids.

It could be the bright, spacious rooms. 

It could be the view from the “Romeo & Juliet” balcony.

It could be the historic town around the point, two miles from us.

It could be the walking trails in the hills above us.

Who knows?

Could be..… 

But, the house ticks a lot of our boxes. It has an amazing “away from the city” feel about it, and we are looking forward to moving in.

Screen shots of the staged home:

(apologies for the arrows and extra "stuff")