Homes to Swoon Over. . .

As I've mentioned before, Dave and I are *tentatively* in the market for a new home.  We've spent countless hours online scouring real estate listings for that perfect gem of a house - the home that combines a great interior with picky home-buyers, great location with a great lot (that's harder than it sounds), and modern updates without the modern price.

Not an easy feat.  With the exception of one home, we find fatal flaws in everything we look at.  I love to cook and we love to entertain, so a large well-equipped kitchen is an absolute must.  We won't settle for a home that requires thousands in updates, or one that has too much of a yuppy cookie-cutter development feel to it.   Several homes in the city we are looking in are right off the highway (too noisy and dirty), have no yard (deal breaker), or are in sketchy hilly dirt road neighborhoods where next door the collection of crap is the 'piece de resistance'.

Location is paramount, as Dave has to get up at 4.30 am for work and the typical mountain commute just doesn't make sense.  The tricky part, is finding that elusive mountain property, with views, in the city.   For what we are going to spend on a mortgage (and considering that this is not our first home, not a starter home, not a way to get our feet wet. . .but rather our home where we will raise children and  ideally live for a decade or more) we reserve the right to be extremely picky!

Our price range is right on the edge between 'small custom upgrade home' and 'so close but no cigar, here are some listings for a few homes with a view that need a lot of work'.  They might have the view but not the modern feel, or they have the best lot with lots of rocks and trees but are located too far south.  Maybe it has that gorgeous kitchen we dream of, but is right on the highway.  In any case, the city we are looking in (based on it's proximity to Dave's work) is a pretty expensive area of Colorado and that is obviously not to our advantage.

Ahh the perils of not being able to justify the mortgage unless the house is absolutely stunning. . . .

One home we found that really got our attention has been marked down $125K from it's original listing price.   That's a HUGE drop, and puts the home within $40K of a reasonable price for us.  The question is, would the seller (after such a huge loss) be willing to come down further?  Not likely, but we'd like to dream.  In our wildest dreams the seller will be so desperate to get out of this house (does a $125K drop sound desperate to you?) that he'd take us up on our ridiculously low offer.  I won't talk specific finances here, but lets just say that our offer ($40K below the current list) would be about half of what this home sold for 10 years ago.

Even at the current price it is a complete steal, and for one lucky buyer there is automatic equity in this home if they have time to sell it for full price.  It sounds like the current owner doesn't have a lot of time!

Perfect, quintessential mountain property: no fences, no golf-course lawn to care for, amazing views, blue sky,and a naturally landscaped yard dotted with pines, aspens, and rocks.  THIS is our dream property.  It's the perfect serene place to raise children; a safe neighborhood, paved road access, built-in-fort (it's on the property!), and close to town and schools.  Dave and I imagine the kiddos running around all day in the trees and enjoying the fresh mountain air: it's how both of us were raised and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Without a question this IS my dream kitchen.  It's a far cry from our current dated kitchen where the dishwasher blocks half the cabinets and there is never enough counter space.

This is open, has a natural feel, and is set up so well.

A warm, open, and inviting living room.  Perfect for entertaining, and perfect for family time.  Lots of windows and a large accessible deck are an absolute must, and this home fits the bill.

This home has both a formal dining area (here) and a breakfast area

For comparison, this second home I don't love nearly as much, yet it's current list is just $30K less that the one above.  It's really interesting how real-estate works!  This home is right on the highway and has no yard, but it's within walking distance of a park.  It has incredible views, but in my opinion that's about all it has going for it.

Very pretty log-cabin type feel

But the baseboard heat?  That may also be a deal breaker for us - it's dangerous and inefficient.

Smallish, but nice kitchen.  Again though, why pay for this house when for almost the same price we can get the one above?

I guess I'm just shocked at home prices right now.  Colorado is one of those areas that got flooded with California transplants that drove the home prices up.  Anything in a more reasonable price range ($250K or less) is run down, in a bad location, or would require so much in repairs we would be looking at a much larger investment.

Dave is the spreadsheet king, and he has all of our finances mapped out so that he can change numbers based on the mortgage amount and it will tell us how much we will spend and put into savings.  It's nice to see the numbers work, and know exactly what the top of our price range is no matter how perfect the home is.

We go house peeking on Monday with our agent, and I'm sure I'll come back with an interesting report!