House Hunting

This afternoon we spent 4 hours looking at houses. Our lease ends in June, and since it's a good time to buy, we felt like we should take a look around. I love looking at homes. Unless I'm actually considering buying one of them and making a long-term commitment to living in it. Then it's not as fun because you're also considering all the long-term implications of a mortgage, home value appreciation, etc. I've also found searching for homes in this part of the country to be a lot tougher than Houston. We knew when we made the move here that the cost of living was significantly higher than Houston, but wow. It's a lot higher. Case and point.

Houston area $204k

• 6 br, 3.5 bath
• 3558 sq. ft.
• Built in: 1998

Seattle area $220k

• 3 bed, 1.5 bath
• 1,340 sq. feet
• Built in: 1955
  

Awesome.

As we wander through houses built in the 50s, I remind myself of all that I love about this area.

Houston:
Seattle:

I'll take my mountains, beautiful lakes, and miles of hiking trails. Really, with so much to do outside, why would we need much house anyway?

And, really, really, I feel so blessed to be in a position where we can even consider buying a home AND to be extremely comfortable in the beautiful house we're in now. I'm mindful of the fact that so many others, like thousands in Japan, do not even have a place to call home right now. We truly are blessed.