Home Searching

Out of our price range, but this oceanfront home could be yours for $2.1 million.

As our return to the States looms in the not to distant future, Matt and I have begun the search for a home in Virginia. We’ve been looking at homes online through a site called ZipRealty, as well as reading up on the home buying process. We’ve also been studying mortgage information and working on saving up for this all important purchase, our first house. When we arrive in June, we want to be knowledgeable and ready to make a decision on the place we will be living for the next four years.

It has been fun as well as informative to look at the pictures of the exteriors and interiors of potential homes online and discuss what we want or don’t want in a home. Fireplace, nice backyard – absolutely! Aboveground pool, very open floor plan – no way! Another intriguing thing is how much our childhood homes have affected our concept of what would be the ideal house – we both prefer two-story homes and Matt likes cul de sacs while I have a penchant for trees and landscaping. And we also discovered that both of our mothers had no-touch rules concerning the good living room furniture.

The other aspect that has been really interesting to me is the interiors of homes – these are places where people have lived and though there are no people present, the pictures reflect the lifestyles and tastes of their owners. We’ve really liked some, and I can definitely say we’ve gotten ideas for interior design from a few of the homes. On the other hand, others are dated and depict bygone eras. It is always amusing to pinpoint time periods by the colors and patterns present in a home.

There have also been homes that left us wondering “what were they thinking?” These are usually the ones we trade back and forth to the Snyders with the subject line “Your new home is ready to move in”. When they sent us a Native American/Southwest themed home replete with woven rugs and pelts hanging on almost every last bit of wall space, we returned with a lovely red brick with Pepto Bismol shutters and matching interior walls. Trust us, we’ve seen everything from a completely mirrored disco throwback to gratuitous usage of the color aquamarine (it’s actually pretty popular, can anyone explain?)

The list of our favorite homes is diverse – from a folk Victorian with charming hardwood floors and a wrap around porch to a brick colonial with a warm interior and large backyard. However, they do share similar characteristics: quiet neighborhoods, lots of windows for natural light and places we can imagine putting some of our favorite furniture and new treasures from our year in Japan. We’ll keep you posted as our search continues, and please keep your fingers crossed that we find a great place to call home.