. . .And Then the Realtor Laughed

No big secret we need to move. Besides the obvious 27 steps in our home that I can't go up or down too often we also need to cut expenses because part of the hospital and some of my medications aren't covered. We are going to have more money going out than coming in with my illness unless we cut costs - and our biggest expense is this house [2,000/month plus utilities argh].

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So in the interest of expediting a home purchase I called our trusty [and very, very gorgeous!] realtor Clark and told him what was going on. Clark is a big sweetheart and besides being our realtor for the past 5 years he is also a friend [and did I mention - easy on the eyes? - which I don't think the man realizes how good looking he is. Oh, and he has a heart of gold. Seriously. The total package - but so is his sweet wife :D They are a pair.]

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Okay, enough about Clark - except after I told him what exactly we needed [I'll get to that in a sec] I swear I heard him laugh. Not mean or anything - just like he thought perhaps I was kidding because we live in an area that isn't market depressed - prices are going up and for what we want in this area it would be around $300K - $400K. No, I am not kidding. This is what we get for living so close to Washington, DC where the job market remains stable.

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So I ignored Clark's doubt that we would be able to find what we wanted AND cut costs because I had a trick up my sleeve that Clark didn't know - something that had hindered us in the past but doesn't now - because IT she is leaving for college and we don't have to stay in the same school system anymore. WOOHOO. We can move out of Loudoun County. Yippeeee! [For clarification - we didn't want to move Squirrel away from her High School while she was attending, but the Porcupine is still in middle school and much more ameneable to moving at a younger age. Heck, the Porcupine is just easier. Period. Hi Squirrel! ::waving:: Mommy loves you sweetie.]

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Now Clark knew that we had possibilities because we gave him the paramater of 50 miles from Pooldad's work, under 150K and all on one floor type rambler with no school restrictions. We didn't care about how much land or even if it had 2 bathrooms - 1 would be fine - even 2 bedrooms is doable at his point. I don't much care - I just don't want to see stairs and I want a home I can take care of for my family - y'know?

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Within an hour of talking to Clark he emailed me 18 - yes, 18 - single family homes that met every single one of our criteria and all of them had at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and most of them were on 1/2 acre or more - HELLO!

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Have I also mentioned my realtor is very, very good at his job? And the MLS is a wonderful thing?

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We have narrowed it down to a small town approximately 45 miles from Pooldad's work where there are three homes that we are going to look at on Saturday. His commute will double from 30 minutes to 60 minutes but 24 miles of it is a non-traffickey type highway so it should be smooth. Fingers crossed, right?

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The pic' above is of the backyard of the home I like the best. It is a raised rambler with 3 bed/2 bath on the walk-in level and a full finished, walk out basement and a huge, fenced in yard. It is also newer and in good condition. Hopefully we have a good chance at it because it has been on the market for 8 months [being as it is a bit outside the beltway and DC and subject to a lesser housing market than here] and the price is sweet.

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Happy thoughts and wish us luck, 'kay? And if anyone needs a realtor in Northern Virginia? I can so hook you up! :D