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Tara Bradford Photography

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« Fall foliage | Main | Portals of discovery »

07 November 2011

Comments

margie

roots only work if you can nourish them. the right flower pot will come along and you will know it right away.

amber

Good luck Tara! I can't wait to see where you land, because I know you will make it beautiful.

Just the right place will open to you.

:)

jeanie

Catching up on all your posts, but this one resonated. You are wise to wait for the right thing. It's one thing to make minor repairs or repaint or manage things like this but to live in the wrong neighborhood, have the nagging view that displeases, too little space or too much noise are all big things. You will find the right thing -- this I know. And when you do, you will make it even lovelier than it already is!

Lisa, a.k.a. The Bold Soul

Everyone fears making a wrong choice especially when it's something as huge as buying a home (and when you've always lived the nomadic life!) You want to feel you're making the best possible choice, right? But how do you KNOW? Maybe you've already tried this but just in case, here's how I make big, difficult decisions (I used to do stuff like this with coaching clients, too):
1) Make a list of all the things you'd want in your ideal home. Just brainstorm without censoring anything (don't worry about cost or other factors).
2) Then, out of that list, PRIORITIZE. First pick your top 5 most important must-haves. The deal-breakers, the things you absolutely cannot and will not compromise on.
3) Next, pick 3-5 more things to add to the priority list, but this time permit yourself to be a little more flexible in terms of how essential they are. So, they're still super-important but maybe you could flex on one of them if you had all the other stuff.
4) After that, you're dealing with what I call the nice-to-haves: the extras, the bonuses. Once you've satisfied the majority of your must-haves, of course you want to try and check off as many of these as you can to make the decision even more satisfying.

Doing an exercise like this will help you narrow down the list of possibilities to a much smaller number because you can usually rule out several of the choices right off the bat based on the "must/essential" criteria you've established. It helps you determine what really matters the most to you; for example are you willing to trade a better neighborhood for a better living space? Only you can answer that.

At the end of it all, once you've got it down to a few choices, you have to just go with your intuition and how the place "feels". Can you visualize yourself living there? Decorating it? Waking up, going to sleep, sitting with a cup of tea, entertaining friends on the holidays? The pick the one that makes you light up like Times Square when you think about it!

Mary H.

This may sound silly but I believe once you and David walk into a space you will "know" if it is the one or not. You can feel it in your soul. We are recently owning a home for the first time, too. It can be frustrating and yet wonderful in so many ways. I am sending good karma across the pond that your search ends well...and soon!

Marilyn

I have found the more you look, the better the odds are of finding something you will love. When we walked into the house we are in now I wondered why our realtor sent us here, as from the outside it wasn't at all what I wanted. I walked in the door and it had everything on my list except the outdoor personality. It does get frustrating at times, but you will know it when you see it.

Tara Bradford

Sheris, thank you. It might still work out - we're negotiating. But some repair issues need to be resolved. Meanwhile, nearly all these places are along a canal (but not as pretty as the one I photographed). :)

Sheris White

Sorry the one on the canal didn't work out.

Ally Bean

We've owned four house and two condos. Here's what I've learned.

1) Ownership is always more expensive than you think it'll be-- but incredibly satisfying once the deal falls into place.

2) Know your undertones. The wrong ones side-by-side will make living in your new home seem like fingernails on a chalkboard until you can get your neutrals coordinated. Which might take years if you're replacing counters and appliances.

3) Cheap is as cheap does. If one aspect of the home has been done half-assed, you can be certain that other areas were done just as poorly. Walk away from this property even if it seems perfect.

FWIW.

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