This weekend Mr. A and I thought we had found the house of our dreams. I mean seriously look at that amazing staircase.
It had a two story foyer and a large family room attached to the kitchen. There were four beds and two and a half baths. A beautiful backyard. Lovely hardwood floors. And the price was even below our budget.
Sounds too good to be true, huh?
And that’s because it is.
When I initially saw the listing, I was apprehensive about the house because I heard that the neighborhood wasn’t the greatest but I was willing to overlook it because the house was districted to a great middle and high school.
So after we looked at the house, I insisted that we drive around the neighborhood and see the elementary school and the local shopping spots.
It’s a good thing I did because what we found wasn’t promising. A mere mile away there was a dilapidated shopping center with some abandoned cars and a lot of loitering. A few phone calls to the local police department later we learned that this area was the hub of the major crime in the area (not like shootings and murders but stuff I would rather not expose my children to). We even had one police officer tell us that they wouldn’t live in that neighborhood if you paid them.
Then suddenly the underpriced beautiful house started to make sense. It was under our budget because it wasn’t in the best area. Sadly, after thinking we had finally found “the one” after months of searching, our dreams were crushed only several phone calls and a few hours later.
So needless to say, we’ll be back at the house hunting search again this weekend, with a renewed interest in the local surroundings. Looks like this hunt is going to be an agonizing one.
Have you ever had a dream house be eliminated from contention due to less than desirable neighbors?
