I feel so blessed sometimes. I mean, I travel half-way across a continent within a matter of hours, stay with people I've never met, spend 3+ days with an organized/industrious realtor I didn't know(who kept me very focused), and come back feeling it was a positive experience! Hey! I even got to stop by and say "Hi!" to several of the regulars at HCM.
God always seems to know just what we need. The missionary friend lived near HCM and I felt like I found my long lost aunt (hope she enjoyed me as well as I enjoyed her!). The realtor was a wonderful lady with a sense of adventure (which was right up my ally). We even got to experience a little Springfield culture with a play and fireworks on Friday night!
Nope.... didn't put a contract on a house... but I think that dear realtor and I drove over most of the land mass within a 30 minute radius of Springfield! So the saga continues... but with me much more clued in to what life in that area is all about!
So, I thought I'd share a few tips I learned in my 4 day adventure.....
"House Hunting 101"
1) Fly to the place you want to live and rent a cute candy apple red car to drive around in! (nope, it wasn't a convertible... but zippy none the less)
2) Find a fun and adventurous realtor (trust me...you'll find the adventurous part is mandatory at some houses!)
3) Give realtor an impossible house wish list for our price range (as we say down South, "Bless her heart!")
4) Get in car and drive 8 hours a day in 90+ degree unusually hot, humid weather, getting in and out of the car to look at homes.
5) Take notes on houses to remember them by: (the following are few of the more humorous notes.... you'll see why "adventurous" is definitely a requirement in Realtors):
House #1 - We shall call it "Le Orange" (can you guess the color of the exterior?)6) Drive back to airport to check in hot red car, fly home, then drive in 9 lane stop-and-go traffic to get past a wreck to finally get home before midnight!
House #2 - "The Lodge" - gorgeous woodwork, you could build a ship from the beams of this house! Too bad the back deck loomed over the steep incline down to the train tracks where a lovely train blew it's horn as it passed by.
House #3 - Never saw this house. "Beware of Delilah the Rottweiler!" posted in the realtor's listing somehow helped us head to see a different abode.
House #4- The Spider House. I have NEVER, EVER seen a free roaming spider that large outside a zoo before! I mean when the realtor and I (and the male realtor with us that day) are all pulling out our cell phones and snapping pictures... it had to be big! I need to post an ad in the the Springfield paper that someones' pet is loose... seriously!!!!
House #5 - The "Charming" Dump. Well... er,... what can I say? The outside had some "charming" potential... such a well spoken realtor, she really is.... the inside... well.... The realtor looked at me and whispered, "Seen enough?" I responded, "Yep." We left...
House #6 - The Suspension Bridge. OK. You know she's a fun woman when you look at her and say, "If you go first, I'll follow!"... then she hikes up her skirt and carefully throws her leg around the gate pole (the gate was locked) that was the entrance to the pool and scoots around. I shall mention that the gate opened to a bridge suspended over a nice deep gully. Well, I couldn't NOT follow... so I hiked up my skirt, threw my flip-flopped foot around that pole and scooted over there too! Such fun! :o) [Remember.... "adventurous"]
House #7 - The Incline. Graveled road... straight up hill.... that little red car jiggled mercilessly.... [can you see a Georgia girl driving up that thing in the snow and ice?]...but, hey!, there was a hot tub on the deck we had to see..... 'nuff said.
House #8 - The Missing Sign. Or should I say... the one we went 10 minutes out of the way to find.
House #9 -
(ah.... I figure you've had enough.... I won't get into the 1980's wall paper or the 1970's colored appliances.... or the two different dogs that about scared us snotless.... seriously.... people should consider these things when they want to sell their houses...)
7) Kiss my honey and tell him that tomorrow is another day... and we shall keep looking!
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To "K": I loved hearing all your missionary stories! We are dangerous together woman.... we could talk all night! Thanks for the show, fireworks and your generous hospitality!
To "R": Thanks for the yummy Mediterranean pizza! Artichokes are my new favorite! Your company was just lovely!
To "D" [my adventurous realtor]: Your patience, kindness and adventurous spirit is awesome. We WILL find a house! We WILL!!
