Looking for a Home

Growing up in southern California, I never really thought that I'd ever make enough money to buy any real estate -- not as an historian, at least.  I've lived in several places where buying a home was prohibitively expensive, so it's never been something I've thought much about.  However, here in Smack In The Middle, although home prices are pretty high for the region they're very affordable for someone in my position.  As a result, I find myself scrolling through the local real estate website fairly frequently, looking for a house that we might call home.  A couple of times one has piqued my interest enough that I called a real estate agent, and have even talked to the bank, but in the end did not make a purchase for one reason or another.

We have some boxes that need to be ticked before considering a potential home.  Central heating and air conditioning are key, mostly for the Emperor's comfort but also for mine.  We need a two car garage so that the Emperor can have a garage as his empire again.  A basement is crucial, so when the sirens start screaming we have somewhere to hide.  After that, we'll need enough room for our books and my craft stuff.  Oh -- a place to sleep would be good.

There are two on the market right now that have me thinking about calling those real estate agents.  Both tick all the boxes.  Both would be affordable if I could talk them down to our purchasing level (we need to keep it at or below $135K to be able to live decently).

One is a little 1925 brick bungalow on a very pretty street.  It has a boatload of charm, along with new windows, modern wiring, and some pine trees in the yard.  The other is a little 1950s brick ranch house, with xeriscaping out front including at least one pine tree, and lots of modern updates inside.  It even has a bay window push-out made from logs -- it's rocking a real mountain vibe.

Two things stop me from calling up the real estate agents: one, I don't want to get multiple calls offering to show me homes that I'm not interested in (this happened with one of the past homes we wanted to see).  Two, I do not relish the thought of packing all of this stuff up and moving it, even just across town.  Add onto this that I'm convinced  that everything currently in the garage is filled with poisonous spiders, and you have a person who is paralyzed at the idea of moving.

I know.  I know!  I do plan on hiring strong persons to move the big stuff, but still.  I know!