DPP 2009.

The December Photo Project 2009 is upon us. Find more information at Tredways.org.

Filed under: Uncategorized

buying decisions

“The roots of the mortgage contagion lie with all of us and our desire to own just a bit more house.”

-Ron Lieber, New York Times

Over the years as Andy and I have dreamed about and perused various home buying options, we’ve felt the pull for “just a bit more house”, which leads to a bit more mortgage. Our search categories have gone from an upper limit of $200k to $250k to $300k — because, of course we could get the person asking $300k to sell for $250k. It’s all theoretical, mind you, as we’re not in the market to buy, but understanding the pull is good.

As we’ve mused about what it would be like to live in high priced places like Seattle, Portland, and Chapel Hill, it’s led us to discuss how to make a small house work. We anticipate that wherever we end up we’ll need a guest room and an office. But those are more bedrooms, meaning more mortgage. Plus, I’d like a living space that is more than one room. An art room or library, perhaps?

So far, our ideas have revolved around finishing basements, converting garages, building screened-in porches, and, my favorite, buying a pre-fab shed. It’s not quite the same as the Not-So-Big House, which I also love, but let’s face it, those houses aren’t cheap and in some cases, not all that small either.

Perhaps our new motto should go from “not-so-big” to “more with less.”

Filed under: Personal finance, in process