On the hunt! ...again

Ahhh, Dear Reader,

Sorry to leave you hanging for 5 month or so, but Bryan and I took a house hunting hiatus while we were waiting for tax season to get here. (Really, who actually is looking forward to tax season?) Well, tax time has come and gone and we have been able to find out how much the wise ol' lending system will let us borrow. After we found out how much those penny-pinching misers would let us lend, we hit the ground running!

Just to make sure that all of the dear readers are on the same page, I will give a quick update as to our current moving/house hunting plans. We have decided to head out south-east. We have decided to leave Corona and even Riverside in the dust and move on to greener and hillier landscapes. Lake Elsinore is now our current house hunting field. Some of you may ask, where is Lake Elsinore? Or, what is Lake Elsinore? Or even, why Lake Elsinore? All excellent questions. As to the where, it is 25 minutes south of where we are currently living and near Temecula. Here is a link to Google maps (handy little tool) that shows the proposed area that we plan to put down some roots in. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lake+Elsinore&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=42.716829,54.140625&ie=UTF8&ll=33.680068,-117.308922&spn=0.175988,0.211487&t=h&z=12 Specifically, we are looking for homes off of Railroad Canyon.

This leads me to the why. For starters, we can actually afford a home in Lake Elsinore and a newer home at that. Most of the homes that we are looking into have been built between 2000-2006. Also, I don't know if growing up in Prunedale had anything to do with it, but I like that it is a more remote area, it is less crowded, and a little more rural. There are plenty of nice, new parks, community centers, new schools and even some new stores popping up. Now, there is one point of contention for me...there aren't too many stores nearby. Actually, there isn't a mall within oh, 25 minutes or so! Ack! What's a girl to do? My hope is that the mall will come to me... and you better believe I've got my fingers crossed in hopes that they build a mall within the next 5 years. But, hey, there is an outlet mall and a Target and grocery stores and the necessities. Also, on the positive side, we already have a church to go to and some connections with friends there. Paul Aung and his wife Tracy (the pastor who married us) live there with their 2 children and have helped to plant the church that we would be going to. So, there are lots of pros for us in moving to the area. Don't worry dear readers, Bryan and I will still make the valiant effort to come and visit you all!

Now on to the fun part...the house hunting! Here are some pictures from one of our first times looking around the area for a potential home sweet home.

House #1

This house was on a cul de sac and was a 3bed/2.5bath that we really liked, but someone put an offer on it the same day we saw it, so it was off the market. But there are other similar homes in the area for sale.

Not a huge kitchen, but it was new and it did have a pantry! I always keep an eye out for one of those for all of my Grocery Gaming stockpile! Let's just say, I'll need all the space I can get in a kitchen.
There are 2 living rooms and the bedrooms were all a good size, plus there is a loft space upstairs. I don't really understand the functionality/logic for 2 living rooms right next to each other with a semi-wall in between them. I guess it's supposed to be the formal and informal living room/dining area. Also, another bummer for me was that the master bath didn't have a separate shower and tub like I am hoping for. I have champagne dreams of a jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom!

House #2

A little simple on the front, but hey, it does have a 3 car garage and it is a 5bed/3bath home. Gotta admit though, some of those bedrooms were mighty small- it would make for some good computer room space though.

Here is the kitchen. I am standing in the informal living room, looking through the kitchen towards the formal dining room. The kitchen needs some love- the cabinets could use some staining and there isn't much counter space.

This is the informal dining room. The entire downstairs has tile. There is a guest room/computer room downstairs with a full bathroom.

This is the entrance area and stairs. I am standing in the formal dining area. Upstairs, there is the master bedroom, which was just about long enough to be a bowling alley! I guess it is so you can have a sitting area/tv area plus your bed. The bathroom had a separate shower and tub (yay!), but no walk-in closet (boo!). Picky, I know. Then, there is also a HUGE living room upstairs that is connected to 2 of the 3 kids bedrooms upstairs. It is a cool idea- good for a play room, but they sacrificed so much space in the kids rooms that they were almost painfully small.

House #3

This was a cute single story home, with all the upgrades. It is a 4bed/2bath. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the freeway and that is really the older side of town with a few new homes sprinkled throughout. Now the neighbors to the left have 2 very large and very unfriendly dogs who were plotting their escape so they could make a snack of our legs. Not good for the future baby Hulls wanting to play in the backyard.

Here is the kitchen- nicely upgraded with granite counter tops and a tile back splash. The carpeting and tile throughout the home were also nicely done. To the left of the kitchen was the formal living room and dining room area. I am standing in the informal living room. Behind me is the hallway to a full bathroom, the 3 smallish kids bedrooms and the master bedroom/bath which was a good size.

House #4

This is in the same community as house #3 and is a 3bed/2.5bath and also has a loft area. It was a cute home and there were a lot of things about it that we liked, but the neighborhood was a little iffy. for example, looking out of the window of one of the upstairs bedrooms, you could see a lot with abandoned trailers. Classy? I think not.

The kitchen is nice....it even has an island and a pantry! The tile work was nicely done on the back splash and floor. They of course had the odd duel living room and the upstairs bedrooms were of average size. The loft is a nice bonus though.

I found it! Then there was the master bathroom....sigh. It has the jacuzzi tub like I am looking for! Darn me and my long legs! I barely fit in a standard tub...but it was nice and deep. :) I was sold on the house until we drove through the neighborhood, saw the abandoned trailer lot through one of the windows and then on our way out of the community driving back to the freeway, we drove past a dairy farm, where they not only sell milk, but fresh manure! Imagine that! If I have learned one thing from growing up in Prunedale, it's this: do not live near a dairy, the aroma that wafts upwards from the ground at night is just about unbearable. So sadly, this home and #3 are crossed off of our list for location reasons.

So, that was one of many house hunting expeditions to be had! (I am sure there is more house hunting in our future.) Also, our offer still stands- we would love your input on what you think, what you like, what you don't like and more. Hopefully all the dear readers can come take a look and visit us in whatever house it is that we chose to make our home. So, until next time dear reader...