House Hunting

So, back in September, we looked at some houses out here and thought most of them weren't for us, but we were told we could find something. We knew house prices had fallen drastically and we were glad because there was no way this would work otherwise.

Fast forward to now. There is absolutely nothing in the Pasadena area even close to our price range. The problem with house prices falling is that no one is selling. A tiny common sense fact we didn't think about when we decided to move here.

So, our realtor suggested that we look into the Valencia/Stevenson Ranch area. It would mean a 30-45 minute commute for Kevin. Not exactly what we wanted, for those of you in the ict area, it would be comparable to driving from Newton to W. Wichita. Not a huge commute, but something to consider. Anyway, the schools in that area are much better than in Pasadena, and the family quality of life is better. We've made a few trips out there and really like it. It reminds us of Colorado Springs in the fact that it's flat but surrounded by mountains. The best thing is that it just feels open and nice. It's clean and you don't have to pay to park anywhere, like you do here. The houses are much more affordable there as well.

We looked at 6 houses on Friday, 2 of which we could see ourselves in. Those were already under contract, but the realtor knows what we like now. It's so hard to look at another person's home and try to mentally put your stuff in it and figure out where things would go. It's also interesting that the homes that have the grossest carpet are the ones where we are asked to take off our shoes at the door. Weird. Houses spaced closed together. No brick. No basements. Beautiful landscaping. Not much of a yard. I guess it will just take some time to get used to California architecture. Oh, but I hope we find one, soon. I can't wait to have a home again. Hoping the market will pick up again after the holidays and we'll find something we all like.